Besides the Nacra manual scans at
http://www.thebeachcats.com/index.php?module=pictures&g2_itemId=35212


Airborne's 5.2 rigging photos are at
http://www.thebeachcats.com/index.php?module=pictures&g2_itemId=35563

Bobcat, Thanks again for the advise. On the jib blocks, the fore/aft (wire) stays are loose. Any idea on how tight or how much slack should be present. The are not easily adjustable as they are a fixed length and rivited to the beams. I recall that my other boat had them laced under the tramp. thx - Dean

Wow - I couldn't agree more. Shroud covers (on order:))should take care of the main stays. And I will tape the remaining. We beached a friends cat, started to de-rig and noticed one of the circlips was missing. Why the mast didn't fall was a miracle. Excellent reminder!

Dean

Nope no real idea. They just keep the block from rising too high off the tramp. So I expect that they would be just long enough to allow convenient shackling onto the beams. This is something else that I replaced with spectra line. I don't remember why I did it, but I noted that the line didn't appear to chafe at all.

have attached a combined pic showing my 5.2 tramp area while sailing from front and back you can see

-jib blocks are under load and floating about 8 inches off the tramp, limited by the jib wire. they are tied to the rear beam with nylon line and are about halfway along the tramp and as per the factory there are no fore/aft, or left/right, (barber hauler), system. for racing you'd want both

- see the bungee side loader system for the dagger boards

- mast rotational has been limited so that arm points to about the leeward stay. that seems about right for my sail fully sheeted and traveller centered

any other comments welcome

these pics were from 3 weekends ago and since then i've pulled the rear beam off so i could slip the tramp bar back into it's sock. last weekend was experimenting with the 1 trap wire that i left on when rigging the boat last month. have only a windsurfer belt to play with and it lacked back support but i was able to get my weight further out and hook my butt out over the hull for a bit leverage

my favorite photographer was out there again and he got at least 1 closeup which i'll have to pickup from him;-)

Great shots. I see the side loader system and the shock cord clip forward of the front beam. Looks like your boat came with the fore/aft daggerboard holder originally.

Thanks for the photos of the jib blocks and location. I'll move mine forward to mid ship and cover the cables with PVC and padding once I know their likely range of adjustment.

I do have a barber hauler system, but have not yet installed it. It has been crazy here with all the very high winds, smoke and fires - yuck.

I wasn't able to get the old style mast rotator (rod), so ordered the standard Nacra wishbone and plan to through bolt the mast. I'll also flip the boom hardware to the top.

New mast rod, shroud covers, pivmatic cleats, end caps, etc are in the way. Hopefully this weekend the high winds (55-75mph) will calm and I'll re-rig again, take some photos and see what you think this time!

Thanks - Dean

yes mine came with the old style "pull forward" daggerboard holders. i think they worked quite well but stressed the dagger wells and boards at the weaker ends rather than the stronger sides

would be interested to see your barber hauler when installed

i have the pivamatic rudder release but am not happy with the lack of a hold up system for the rudders for when i'm trying to pull the boat out backwards up the beach

think i will modify over the winter to airborne's style with a separate cleat for both up and down on each side

1 of my shroud covers has been forced on upside down at some stage so may replace both with bits of dark blue hose

good luck with winds and fires

Erice, what´s that block in front of the daggerboards for?

Yes, older 5.2s had antirotator which was a rod under the boom. Easy to imagine why it was removed - between that & a center bar, crew was always having to hunch down to get through a tack. One of the university boys probably wanted to sail with his girlfriend again, so after she complained vociferously about the "big hard thing poking me in the back", he probably disconnected it.

Jim Casto
previous owner NACRA 5.2 #456 (HIN dated 1976).

those extra blocks just forward of the daggers were the previous owners jib blocks

he wanted the extra tramp space and when he got the boat the original harken fiddle blocks had been lost

i've fitted a couple of over sized ronstan fiddle blocks that look they were for the mainsheet on a laser or something else small

eric e

jim it looks like your old 5.2 and your 5.5 had the same serial number

how do the 2 boats compare?

Those blocks on the deck seem way forward, they should have been near the middle of the tramp I think, like where you have them now. But on the other hand, I´ve seen some 5.2 or 5.0 with the jib blocks on the front beam, also the barberhauler system that Airbone implemented (for those who saw that post) confused me, it seems to have a similar effect on the jib sheet angle. Maybe the forward/aft position of the block is not that significant?

Something you will notice when you get fully out on the trapeze (if you haven´t already), is that the fiddle block cleat angle (the angle at which the sheet gets out of the block towards your hand) becomes more critical, if it´s off, it will be hard to cleat/uncleat, because your movements are more restricted, also you are farther away. And if you are there, the wind is probably strong too. I noticed that when I attached the blocks to a line on the tramp instead of the padeyes on the deck. (I ran the line from side to side, not from beam to beam like in your case)

thanks for the comments Andinista, i found i couldn't trim the jib correctly for any kind of upwind performance with the blocks in that forward position on the hulls. bringing the hull blocks further back would have helped close the slot a little but not as much as taking them back to the middle of the tramp has

perhaps that kind of barber hauler system is only used for downwind???

i haven't been all the way out on the trap as i haven't got a full harness and non-slip tape yet

but when getting over in the trap position that the angle between the mainsheet and mainsheet clamp isn't enough to get the sheet free with a simple pull and flick of the wrist

simple matter to adjust the clamp to a better angle when i get round to it

haven't had that problem with the jib blocks yet as sailing solo means i set and forget the jib before getting out on the hull

Same here, I cleat everything, mostly because I´m lazy...
But as trapeze work and speed come together, I usually find myself needing to re-trim shortly after getting out on the trap. That is because apparent wind effect is more noticeable in cats than in monohulls I think.