I was looking at adding CatRax to my Prindle and noticed while checking the Murrays catalog that on page 43 there is a picture of a Prindle 18 (or maybe a 16) that looks like a boomless rig.



Did prindle ever offer this? would it be possible to have a new sail made so it could be used boomless on this boat?



Also the cat in the picture has a furler for the jib, and a bridle crossbar like the H17. The bridle crossbar looks like a Prindle item.



Does anyone know if Prindle made this setup? Is the crossbar required?



Thanks in abvance for any input!!!

I think it was called the Prindle escape and it never was a big succes. It was mainly a P18 without a boom, with a smaller mainsail and a furler jib.



Personally I prefer boomed rigs over boomless rigs. A cat is not a monohull where the boom occasionals swings over the boom violently. And the sail control, especially in stronger winds, is far better with a boomed main.



Wouter

The picture you saw was of the Prindle 18 ESCAPE. This is designed to be a rental boat and does quite a nice job at it. We have a BRAND NEW escape mainsail that would convert your system to a boomless mainsail in one easy system.



Drop me a note if you might be interested in this mainsail or have any questions about Prindles....

Hey Mark-

Isn't the mast on the Escape different from the "stock" P 18 mast? I don't remember the Escape mast having spreaders-

My point is, it might not be that easy a "switch", also the stock P 18 has the rotation control on the boom so another means of rotation control would have to be rigged if going boomless.

One could also maybe try the Hobie approach of a "mini-boom" on the stock mainsail towards the clew to adapt the stock sail to boomless config.



Kirt

It's a simple conversion to a Prindle 16, not an 18 although with a Prindle 16 mast ($299) you could convert your Prindle 18 to the boomless escape model pretty easily too.

Dear Mark (aka Sailing Pro Shop),

I think you have fallen off the fine line you have been walking.