I know the H-16s do it, but how safe and sturdy is this arrangement. Are compression loads and other factors too great for me to add another trapeze to my non-spreader mast?

David Mosley
www.seacats.org
BTW I beleive my mast is 28"

What kind of boat is it?

It must be a really small boat, it's only got a 28 inch mast!!!

Tim J.

The boat is a G-Cat 5.0
Tim, just checked your website and saw the current temp of 9 degrees, WOA ! Thats cold ! Hope you guys thaw soon, its a cool 55 here, but still sailable.

David Mosley
Columbia NOAA Website

So you're saying I shouldn't be wearing shorts today? Darn! I knew there was a reason I was turning blue!

Actually, it was 15 below the other day, so I'm delighted to have it be above zero!

Spring is coming......

Tim

Dave-
As I remember, back in the "good old days", when G-cats were new and there were some around racing I saw a number with double traps. There is one at our club but I've never seen it out sailing. I could check and see how many traps it has or if there are any Class rules around and they allow double traps then you'd be safe for sure. Also, a number of Supercats and the old Sol Cats didn't have spreaders but were double trap boats.

Kirt

Yes, the Sol Cat 18 was a spreader-less, 2 trapeze boat. The mast was really heavy though and might have been a thicker aluminum than that which is used in boats with spreaders.

Tim Dry
http://www.catamaranracing.org

sdds

Kirt, I beleive we are the only G-Cat fleet around these days(7 boats) so class rules can probabaly be made here. I have never seen old class rules anywhere, but I do have the original 1981 owners manual and it shows single trapeze. If you find some old class rules I would love to see them.
Thanks,
David Mosley

Dave-
I'll take a look at the house- Don't really remember. You might also check the old results from the PMA Monterrey Classic I think it was from the days when the G-cats were "new" to see if they were double trapped in those days in racing trim and possibly old Portsmouth numbers. Another suggestion is to check your mast wall thickness and presuming it's the same as a Hobie 16/Prindle 16 then you should be safe.

Kirt

Friend of mine used to race his GCat5.7, original 1976 model he got when in high school. He always raced double trap. Don't remmember if that model had spreaders or not, though.

Here is a PIC of a 5.7. Not exactly in optimal position, but as you can see it does have spreaders.

Hello,
I was racing in FL when the G5.7 came out in the early '80s. We did pretty well on their racing team in such places as Holland, Monterey, and Ft. Walton Beach.
We sailed double trap on a mast w/spreaders.
There was no mast rotation control, though making it difficult to control the sail to weather. Downwind we passed everyone in sight.
The 5.0 didn't have spreaders. Both used the H16 extrusion.
Hope this helps.