Greetings, my name is Mark, not new to forums and the internet, but about as clueless as they come when it comes to cats. I had one about 6 years ago that was purchased for all of 200 bucks from a person who just wanted it gone. It was a little of a fixer-upper, some of it was held together with duct tape. It got used all of once before it had to be sold due to a move.

Well last weekend, my old man went out on a whim and bought another one and tasked me with setting it up and seeing if it works. It is a bit bigger than the last one, and in better condition. However better condition is a relative term. The last time it was registered was 97' in oregon. However the sail is in good condition, and it appears that all of the rigging is there and just needs to be put together. Now the dilemma, i have no clue what kind it is. There is not a single sticker or marking or indication or what brand or model or anything. So my first question is what the hell is it? If need be i can always make another thread. Here is a general pic, but if you guys know where i should look to find out what kind it is let me know or i can take pics of specific areas to help you experts figure out and narrow down what i have.





Thanks in advance!

Looks to be a Prindle. If it has two sails then it is a 16, if it has one sail them a Prindle 15....

No diamond wires so it's a Prindle 16, not an 18. Great boat! Rudder castings should have a P on them.

The year should be the last two numbers of the VIN# located on the right rear transom. That is if it hasn't been refinished or repaired in that area.

That's very quick learning..

WOW, you guys are awesome and know your stuff like the back of your hand! You guys nailed it exactly on the head, went out and found the P on the rudder, measured it, 16', its got 2 sails, and i found the vin that i didnt even knew existed on the back of the hull.

Must be an old one, ends in 78.

Thanks for the help and quick responses! Im sure ill be back shortly asking more blatantly novice questions once i start putting it together.

So it looks like these are the wires i have, im going to take a wild guess and assume im missing some because i am reading through the pdf of the owners manual and not seeing any turnbuckles with the wires i have.

so after setting up the mast it looks like there is no place for a boom. So now it looks like i have a boomless prindle 16.Is not having a solid boom a huge disadvantage, or is it not that big of a deal if your just sailing lakes?

Also after setting up the mast and securing all of the wires it seems like the mast is somewhat loose the the moves around a bit. I was wondering if there was any way of tightening it down? There are no turnbuckles on the wires so i cant figure out how to tighten the wires down. Any ideas for that?

slide the white covers up that are at the bottom of the shrouds. You should find the shrouds are attached to fittings that have holes so you can move the shroud down to tighten the rig. You should look for a P-16 Assembly Manual on line and read it.

Are you saying there is no boom with the boat?

These are called "chain plates" and should have a series of holes in them to adjust the shroud length where it connects to the hull. These are normally left very loose so you can step the mast and pin the forestay without any resistance. Once stepped, someone usually hangs off a trapeze line to preload the rig and then a second person pins the shrouds as low on the chainplate as possible. Adjust them side to side to get them mostly even while tight. We tighten them so the rig doesn't flop around in light air (causing a slight loss of performance and adding premature wear on things)...but when sailing in any kind of breeze, the leeward shroud will always be loose. Tension isn't super critical.

Moved the rubber covers, and found the chain plates, and tightened it another notch so the mastdid dn't move around too much when i walked on it.

I now discovered i have a serious problem. I have no boom, it wasn't rolled up with the sail or anywhere on the boat. I need some serious help finding one, i wanna get this boat in the water! If anyone knows where to look or where i can get one let me know!

Recap: The boat is a 1978 Prindle 16, and I need the boom!

will the boom for a P18-2/19 work on the 16?

I have a Prindle "Escape" which is the 16 footer's rig, on the 18' hulls, and it is boomless.

Look at the aft, bottom edge (the clew) of the mainsail, see if there is a metal plate about 2" wide by 18" long, with about 6 holes in it.

If there is, you have a boomless rig, so you simply shackle the blocks directly to one of the holes in the clew plate. I didn't like the hassel of using a shackle to attach the blocks so I bought a stainless steel 4" carabiner at Home Depot for about $5, put the top main blocks to it, then clip it into the clew holes. It works great and I never have to unscrew the shackle when I'm done sailing.