Hi Gang,
<br>
<br>This site looks like an awesome resource! I'm glad I found you!! I've owned my boat for about 5 years and have loved every minute of it!!! I've noticed a few of you have Nacra 5.2s as well, so I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?
<br>
<br>I haven't been sailing much for a couple of years because I was burning the midnight oil at a startup, but now I've gotten the boat back out and refurbished quite a bit of it and am greatly enjoying being back out on the water. (Lake Travis, Austin, Tx) My questions are rigging related. The previous owner used it for a pleasure sailor, not a racer, so they disabled all non-essential, tune-related rigging. The outhaul and Cunningham/downhaul are knotted up and non-adjustable and it looks like there's some sort of block arrangement on the front crossbar out by the hulls that has been disabled as well. Was this a jib outhaul? (Please excuse my improper terminology, Ive been sailing solo for a long time and forgotten what the correct terms are (at least I didn't say "rope" or "doohickey"... )
<br>
<br>Do any of you 5.2 sailors have any pics of the correct rigging or can just describe the function of the mystery blocks. I have figured out the outhaul, but what about the downhaul? I recall seeing a block arrangement on that on another boat, but mine is currently rigged like a laser, I don't even know where it's really supposed to cleat off!
<br>
<br>I apologize for my ignorance that's why I came to you guys for help. I really am a decent sailor, I just got this boat in a stripped-out fasion and am trying to get it right
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<br>Thanks a bunch! If any of you are from Austin, I'd love to meet up w/ some more cat sailors!
<br>
<br>-Scott<br><br>Nacra 5.2

The original stock 5.2s, which I had up until a year ago, had no outhaul
<br>for the jib. This is a custom modification. The downhaul should be a 3:1,
<br>a double block on the main and a single block on the mast. The downhaul
<br>should finally run through a cleat on the mast and down through a block
<br>on the front crossbar.
<br>
<br>I am also in Austin, but I sail mostly at buchanan. If you want me to take
<br>a look at your setup, email me and we can meet at some lake. I can bring
<br>a copy of my old 5.2 assembly manual for reference.
<br>
<br>Manfred Trent
<br>Nacra 500 #107
<br>Nacra 5.2 #2094<br><br>

Scott, good to hear from a 5.2 owner. The downhaul in question is open to a good bit of customization. I've included a picture from the Nacra manual for the 5.2 (I belive this is a 5.8 though). I used this for a short while before I realized the obvious shortcomings (i.e. adjustability while in motion). I do not use this pictured system but now use (and am quite happy with) the following setup (no pic yet). I use a harkan micro triple block (for 1/4" line - 22-0228 at Murrays) and use the two "head-banger" cleats at the bottom of the mast (I think these are stock although mine were missing when I bought my boat - got lucky and found someone with extra at a regatta - let me know if you need manufacture, etc). My triple block is mounted directly to the eye on the sail with a threaded d-shackle. I also use the two stationary sheaves at the bottom of the mast. The way I have the cord run allows adjustment from both sides of the boat and is one continuous line with a 6:1 purchase (7:1 is class legal). I tie the excess lead to the crew's trap handle so he/she always has it. The routing goes like this: tied to the port trap handle then through the port headbanger up to the triple block down to the port stationary sheave up to the triple block (middle sheave) down to the starboard stationary sheave up to the triple block down to the starboard head-banger and finally to the starboard trap handle. I hope you understood all that.
<br>
<br><p>[img]http://members.home.com/jakekohl/pictures/downhaul.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="front.jpg (65223 bytes)[/img]</p>
<br>
<br>I have blocks at the ends of my front crossbar tube but I don't know if they are factory issue or not. They are used for the barber hauler. A barber hauler is a seperate line that runs through each of these to a pulley attached to the jib leads. This allows you to pull the jib leads farther outboard (toward the blocks) when sailing down wind. The stock jib sheet positions will not allow the jib to be placed far enough out in light wind. The barber hauler let's you force the jib way out for down wind screamin'. How you terminate the barber hauler is also open to customization and I haven't figured out a good system for that yet. A buddy of mine attaches both lines to a single line through another 'head banger' attached to the center tube that goes from the front crosstube to the rear cross tube (if your boat is post '83 you probably don't have this knee banger). I realize this is a lot of info in text - questions? le'me know.<br><br>[color:blue][b]Jake
<br>[color:blue][b]Nacra 5.2 (2112)
<br>waaaanaaa coookie?

ahh - just found this - this is very similar to the setup I recommend:
<br>
<br><p>[img]http://www.f18.nl/Pics/F18_Nacra_F18_3.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="front.jpg (65223 bytes)[/img]</p><br><br>[color:blue][b]Jake
<br>[color:blue][b]Nacra 5.2 (2112)
<br>waaaanaaa coookie?

Hey there-
<br>I recently bought a nacra 5.2. The blocks are for the barber haulers as jake said. On my boat, the line is continous and runs inside the beam. The two ends of the line terminate at the single blocks with becket that the jib sheets run through. To engage the barberhauler on the leeward side, the crew just has to pull and cleat the line on the windward side. My downhaul is an 8:1 ratio. I use a quad bullet block on the sail and a harken "4:1" downhaul addition with two stationary blocks on the mast. The harken downhaul product is a silver plate with the two blocks and a center stationary block. (i know this is confusing) The line runs through the cleat, to the quad, to the mast stationary block to the qaud to the center stationary to the quad to the stationary on mast to the qaud and back down through the cleat. Hope you caught that. My outhaul is set up with a small track and traveler that is used on the nacras with boomless mains. I have a line to pull the sail out and a bungee to pull it in as the line is uncleated. If you go the harken website you will find the downhaul upgrade and stationary blocks to mount on the mast if not already there. Enjoy the 5.2. It is a great a boat.
<br>
<br>Josh
<br>Nacra 5.2 #2551<br><br>

Wow, awesome information gang! Thank you so much!
<br>
<br> I took a long hard look at the downhaul last night, and I can see now how the factory meant for it to be setup: Up through the 2:1 on the sail, down to the single on the mast, back up throught the 2:1, and then down to the cleat. I'll look into the Harken upgrade. I "see" what you guys are saying, and that really sounds like the way to go as far as the downhaul setup. The pics helped a lot!
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<br>This time of year, the wind is really flat here, so a barber-hauler would be awesome! I had my crew holding the jib out last night off-wind, and even that had a noticeable "seat-of-the-pants" boost!
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<br>I'm going to print out all of your posts for reference for when I decide to "upgrade" the current setup!
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<br>Manfred: That would be great to meet up sometime. I will be out of town most of this month, so maybe in the fall once the wind fills in a bit. I've never sailed Buchanon (been to Canyon once or twice) how is it?
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<br>Are there any online dealers for Nacra-specific parts? I'll need a new tramp and a few little things (like cross-beam end caps, etc.) that may be hard to get from a local dealer. I believe my boat is a 78, it has the center bar up above the tramp. I've thought about re-engineering this and moving it below, can I upgrade using post-82 parts rather than fab a new bar? That would be sweet!
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<br>I hope you guys don't mind me bouncing Ideas off of you!
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<br>Thanks again gang, this is awesome! I have a lot of "outfitting" to do as the summer winds down, so I'm trying to roll in a few upgrades as well.
<br>
<br>
<br>-Scott
<br>
<br><br><br>Nacra 5.2 (2153)

There's quite a few places to buy items online for the 5.2 and a lot of cats in general
<br>
<br>http://www.sailingproshop.com
<br>http://www.murrays.com
<br>http://www.saltydogmarine.com
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<br>As far as the bar upgrade - I went through the same thing when replacing my tramp earlier this year. The purpose of the bar is simply to keep the front and rear cross tubes from rotating - post 83 boats, without the center tube, used a large bolt from the center of the tube into each hull which was reinforced for this - it would not be easy to reinforce the pre83 hull for this but I imagine it could be done. I know some people have drilled and put screws in the metal straps that hold the tubes to the hulls so they can remove the tube. I thought about putting the bar under the tramp myself but decided to leave it as is (not real comfortable with the screw in the strap idea). It really has kept me from sliding down the tramp on several occasions when hit by a surprise puff (i.e. hello capsize). I've since gotten used to moving around it I don't really notice it anymore. I do still wonder what it would be like to have it under the tramp though.<br><br>[color:blue][b]Jake
<br>[color:blue][b]Nacra 5.2 (2112)
<br>waaaanaaa coookie?

Hi, Scott, this is Jim Casto. I live in Austin, and sail out of the Austin Yacht Club, off of Hudson Bend Road. Several members have 5.2s, and if you want, we could get together out there one evening and look at all the different rigging options.
<br>Let me know, my home phone number is in the local phonebook.
<br>Jim Casto
<br><br><br>

Hi nacrascott,
<br>a few tips from my days of sailing a 5.2. First, you will need at least an 8:1 downhaul to really flatten the main. Incidentally this depowers the rig when its blowing (if you did not know) Second, just take the stupid kneeknocker bar off and put a stainless steel poprivet in each of the beam straps. This will stop rotation of the beams and make your knees happy. I sawed the 2 inches of extrusion off the post where the traveler cleat is located after I took the bar off. rig tension; it is pretty accepted that your diamond wires should be just loose enough to be able to touch the mast 12 inches up from the lower attachments when you grab them and squeeze them to the mast. This gives you the right mast shape. The jib blocks should be adjustable fore and aft depending on wind strength and conditions. When sailing in anything less than 20 the jib blocks should be all the way forward I think somewhere near, or just in front of the shrouds. When its blowing, bring them all the way back. I installed a system that allows me to do thisfrom the opposite side of the boat as the jib block(because that is where you will be sitting). As mentioned by other posters, install or repair your barberhauler(jib outhaul), it helps tremendously.
<br>Hope this helps
<br>dave mosley,
<br>www.SEACATS.org<br><br>

Awesome Dave, Thanks a bunch! I'm running my diamond wires way too tight currently then! My crossbar broke a while back, so I fabbed a new one and I have them a lot tighter than that! I'll back it off. It seldom blows 20 here, so I'll have it set for light air most of the time. Currently, my jib blocks are not adjustable, they slide freely along the cable coming up through the tramp. That makes sense, I'll look into enabling an adjustment there!
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<br>That would be great Jim! I may have met you several years ago. I came over to AYC when they tried that multihull series. I brought my boat the day that it was completely flat and nobody raced, so I chatted with several people in the clubhouse. (One guy had just got a new 5.5 uni) Anyway, I took it out the following week in a really strong wind and destroyed my old sails. It took me a while to get new ones (I was in school at the time) so I didn't come to any more races.
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<br>Thanks again! All your tips are wonderful guys!
<br>
<br>-Scott
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<br>Nacra 5.2 (2153)<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by NacraScott on 08/07/01 10:19 AM.</EM></FONT></P>