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3rd cross beam on Solcat? #216211
07/20/10 04:31 PM
07/20/10 04:31 PM
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 34
FarNorCal
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ridge_pilot Offline OP
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ridge_pilot  Offline OP
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FarNorCal
I just puchased a '75 Solcat 18 for parts for a '78. It has a third cross beam between the hulls forward of the mast and just aft of the bridle. Does anyone know what this is for? And was it original or something installed later?

Thought maybe it was for a forward tramp, spray shield, hull stiffener in the surf, or maybe just somewhere to step while raising the jib. Let me know.

-- Have You Seen This? --
Re: 3rd cross beam on Solcat? [Re: ridge_pilot] #216214
07/20/10 05:36 PM
07/20/10 05:36 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 216
Lakewood, Colorado
MUST429 Offline
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MUST429  Offline
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Lakewood, Colorado
sounds like something added as an aftermarket item installed later. I don't remember anything like that on any of the Sol Cats I used to sail or race against.

could have been added for any one of the three reasons you guessed.


Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...
It's about learning to dance in the rain
Re: 3rd cross beam on Solcat? This is a good thing..! [Re: MUST429] #216215
07/20/10 06:15 PM
07/20/10 06:15 PM
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 144
Near SLC, Utah
tomthouse Offline
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tomthouse  Offline
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Near SLC, Utah
I wished that we had installed one on our Solcat.

Though wet, compared to many other recent designs, they are great boats.

We sure had fun with our's.

Anyway, the Solcat's design has a very long hull section that is forward of the mast and aft of the bow.

That long section does not "well resist" the "squeezing" of the bows, that results when the bridle is strained due to sail, mast and main sheet loads.

The hulls must resist this squeezing, with only the integrity of the hulls themselves.

The Solcat used the "cutting edge" technology (of the time) of foam core laid up between the outer and inner fiberglass skin of the hull.

Over time, many Solcat hulls have softened or become partially delaminated, due to the elements and the passage of time.

The result is that many Solcat's have met their demise by the catastrophic breaking of their hulls, just forward of the front beam.

This kind of demise, may be forestalled by simply installing a "third beam", as is the case with your's.

I also have seen some who have installed a bridle spreader just above the forestay tangs.

Both approaches solve the "hull-squeeze problem" and add life-expectancy" to the hulls and the boat.

Personally, I like the bridle spreader because it is carried higher above the water.

That is an advantage to the "low slung" design of the Solcat, which makes it a wetter boat than some, created by all the bow spray coming back onto the tramp area.

Great boats and lots of fun to sail.

If we had installed a third beam or a bridle spreader, we probably would still be sailing and enjoying our's.

As it turned out, we didn't know and didn't install a spreader.

The result was the boat broke as described above.

That's the bad news.

The good news is we enjoyed the boat and it gave its all.

Even after breaking in half, you couldn't sink that boat, due to the foam sandwich construction of the hulls' skin.

After dragging the various pieces and parts back to shore and finally home, we said a few kind and reassuring words and then cut the hull into very small pieces with a circular saw and put it into a casket (dumpster) for a proper burial in a boat cemetery (the local landfill).

However, prior to burial, we did "harvest" some essential organs and such and then transplanted some of them to help other's live yet longer, while also enhancing the quality of life these other boat's enjoyed in their aging years.

In that sense, parts of our Solcat live on.

Tom

Last edited by tomthouse; 07/20/10 06:51 PM.
Re: 3rd cross beam on Solcat? This is a good thing..! [Re: tomthouse] #216282
07/21/10 06:03 PM
07/21/10 06:03 PM
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 34
FarNorCal
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ridge_pilot Offline OP
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FarNorCal
Thanks for the replies. Tom, I appreciate your nostalgia for the Solcat. I sailed them as a kid, and we have owned one for 22 years. Heavy snows brougth a few trees down on it last winter so it was a blessing to find this other boat for the right price since parts for these things are getting very hard to find these days. Your reasoning for the the extra cross beam makes sense, and now that I look closely I can see that there was a repair done on the hull just forwrd of the mast.

Re: 3rd cross beam on Solcat? This is a good thing..! [Re: ridge_pilot] #224024
11/12/10 10:48 PM
11/12/10 10:48 PM
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 7
Dixie
CaptainScuvey Offline
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Dixie
I have a 1976 and a 1977 SolCat 15...
the 76 has a front cross bar and the tiller is behind the blocks.
On the 77 the tiller is in front of the blocks and no front cross bar...but has cool ice chests in each hull.
All the Solcat 18s I have are without a front cross bar...not sure what year my oldest 18 is...I think 1975

Last edited by CaptainScuvey; 11/12/10 10:51 PM.
Re: 3rd cross beam on Solcat? This is a good thing..! [Re: ridge_pilot] #268504
01/17/14 12:30 AM
01/17/14 12:30 AM
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 5
California, USA
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MarkO1 Offline
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California, USA
I think you need to try aluminium cross beams because there are two benefits of these cross beams one these are less expensive and the second is aluminium cross beams able to bear more load than wooden cross beams or any other !
Aluminium cross beams are easily available on 30$ to 40$ and more efficient in work !


! __________ Keep concentrate ___________ !
Re: 3rd cross beam on Solcat? This is a good thing..! [Re: MarkO1] #268581
01/20/14 03:57 AM
01/20/14 03:57 AM
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 5
California, USA
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MarkO1 Offline
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California, USA
Originally Posted by MarkO1
I think you need to try aluminium cross beams because there are two benefits of these cross beams one these are less expensive and the second is aluminium cross beams able to bear more load than wooden cross beams or any other !
Aluminium cross beams are easily available on 30$ to 40$ and more efficient in work !

It's right choice according to my opinion .


! __________ Keep concentrate ___________ !
Re: 3rd cross beam on Solcat? This is a good thing..! [Re: MarkO1] #268584
01/20/14 06:39 AM
01/20/14 06:39 AM
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 524
Petten Netherlands
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northsea junkie Offline
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northsea junkie  Offline
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Posts: 524
Petten Netherlands
I have since several years two extra beams: one in front and one
behind the tiller.


See after 20 sec.:




The advantages are numerous.

They are great for grabbing during pulling the cat.
They make a support rod for the mast as you see on the video. And they are stiffening the torsion-strength of the cat.

Finally it makes a fine attachment-point for the pulley for raising the mast.(see the video)


So you are lucky to have one.

Last edited by northsea junkie; 01/20/14 01:09 PM.

ronald
RAIDER-15 (homebuilt)

hey boy, what did you do over there, alone far out at sea?..
"huh....., that's the only place where I'm happy, sir.

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