Hi everyone. I'm looking to upgrade from my Hobie 16 and found a Nacra 5.7 in excellent shape for very little money. My problem is there seems to be very little info on it anywhere, including the Nacra site. The boat is missing the jib and forward jib assembly but is otherwise complete.

Does anyone have any advice? I'm not looking to race so do I need the jib assembly (is it structural?) or can I just have a jib made and rig it similar to my H16. Also if anyone has a manual or spare parts please let me know!

Thanks,

John

What do you mean by the "forward jib assembly"? Pretty much everything up there other than the jib itself is necessary for holding the mast up.

Are you talking about a bridle foil? Some Nacras have them, but the 5.7 does not.

The Hobie 16 jib system is unique, and would not be a good thing to adapt to a 5.7.

I have a N5.7 and have had the same problem finding info.I think that what you are refering to are the jib blocks. On the Hobie 16 they are attached to tracks on the main beam. on the N5.7 thet are either attached to similar tracks that run along the sides of the tramp behind the rear stays, (at least that's where mine are), or, attached to the tramp just inside the rear stays.if there are no tracks along the tramp, you may need to find another cat that has them set up on the tramp and copy it. the positioning of these will depend on the cut of your Jib.
You are going to love the 5.7. The ride is smooth as silk compared to the round bottom cats wit boards. Very fast.
I have done a lot of work to mine so if you have any questions keep posting and i'll try to help

The "forward jib assembly" I was referring to was the bridle foil. I was confused because some of the pictures I had seen of the 5.7's had them but they must have been a user modification. This boat comes with the stays, forestay and bridle for rigging as well as the blocks and sheets for the main and traveler. Anything remotely having to do with the Jib is gone.

Any help in trying to get this boat going would be great since it is in amazing condition otherwise.

JF

Attached is a Nacra 5.7 Sales Brochure from 1987 I just came across while cleaning up. Not much info, but interesting.

I used to sail with a friend on his 5.7. They are nice boats.

Nacra still sells essentially the same boat as the 570.

The generic assembly manual is here: http://nacra.us/nacra/nacra.pdf

I guess I still dont understand what is missing. I take it you dont have a jib. Bridle is there, forestay is there, there should be a jib haulyard(small cable) going up and over a block attached to an eye just below the hounds, back down to the base of the mast,on this end of the haulyard there will be a small block, now... attached to the base of the mast is an eye with a line attached to it (approx 3'x 1/4")which is then fed up thru the little block at the end of the haulyard and then back down to a clam cleat on the side of the mast. the haulyard cable(1/8") is about the same length (I dont know the measurement ) as the forestay . So there is a detachable line(rope-1/4") attached to the now lower end of the haulyard cable, this is detachable so that you dont have to have it messing up your tramp or mast.
At the bridle there is a chainplate. either hook the jib directly to this or go to the catsailor store and buy the clip that came on the boat when it was new.
Hope this helps.

Thanks....the brochure was fun to see and enough let me know I have the standard package.

Azcat....I'm not confused on the rigging or halyards but I didn't know about the standard jib differences vs. the deluxe 4 way jib system. I have talked to the Performance Cat guys and pretty much figured out that the cat I was basing mine on was heavily modified. I'm going to order the standard jib rig unless someone can convince me that the 4 way is a better choice. Either way there is a new sail coming and I have 3 weeks to choose the blocks. Again, I'm not looking to race right now so any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for the help so far guys....I will take pics when I pick the boat up and look forward to more advice.

JF

as you don't intend to race then the standard jib mount should be fine

I have a 5.7 and can send pix.
You don't need bridle or "4-way" adjustable system, it's overkill for an old cruising cat like this.
The std location for jib block mounting is on a pair of short tracks. These tracks are located where trampoline meets the hull, near the side shrouds. If they're not mounted on the boat, and you're going to add them, you'll want to work out a way to have good backing for the screws/rivets (porthole into hull?)
Some boats don't have the tracks, that's OK to just mount them to a single point. However you mount you jib blocks, you'll find that you need a small "pigtail" to keep the cleat part of the jib blocks, up off the deck. Otherwise, when under load, and you try to uncleat, it will be difficult to get it to release from the cleat. If it's up off the deck, you'll be able to just flick it and unsheet.

jim casto
NACRA 5.7 "Wind over Water"
Lake Travis, TX

"an old cruising cat like this."
Hey, this matbe an old cruising cat but I have a blast on mine. I had the GPS on this last saturday and once we had a couple of good runs I checked it and it said that we had maxed out at 48.8 mph. I thought "that cant be right. thats got to be pretty close to a new world record", and then remembered that my buddy had been messing with it on the way to the lake and I hadn't reset it.
So, once i reset it, we maxed out at 21mph. the wind mas maxing at 19-24mph and we were a little light in weight at about 335lbs. I was having a hard time keeping her flat at higher wind speeds. I think that with a heavier crew I could get a lot more speed. I have another crew who is 250lb and with my 180lb, we were going a lot faster but I forgot the gps at home so I dont know how fast we went. I will put it on next time and see. that's not too shabby for an old cruising cat.
I picked up the 5.7 and sold my older solcat 18 and the difference is huge. what a thrill this cat is.
Spin should go on mine iver the next week or so. I cant wait!!
I use the standard rig with no problems or complaints.
If you are just learning the boat you will have enough to do with the lines on the simpler rig. above 12 mph I set the jib tight and forget till I tack.
Have a great time on your 5.7.