Yes - I was curious about this as well. Thanks for asking Dick. That manual's seems pretty generic too.

I see that the bungie attaches to each end of the dolphin striker. My boat has two 3/4 open eyelets about 1' in front of the forward crossbar on each hull. Is this an alternative to tying to the dolphin striker ends or are they used for something else?

David - I'm in Montgomery AL and sail at Dixie Sailing Club on Lake Martin AL (900 miles of shore line). We race every weekend, but there is with me at total of 2 cat sailors. The other boat is a FX1. Sitting next to my #3002 in the boat yard is 5.2 #3005 and it has not been in the water for probably a decade, and is currently for sale for about $1000. I'm trying to get him back on the water with it but there seems no interest at this point. Oh well. Check out "www.dixiesailingclub.com" if you want to see a shot or two of where we get to race.

Dick

I see that the bungie attaches to each end of the dolphin striker. My boat has two 3/4 open eyelets about 1' in front of the forward crossbar on each hull. Is this an alternative to tying to the dolphin striker ends or are they used for something else?

I've attached a photo of this.
It seems to make sense as an alternative to tying to the dolphin striker ends. The opening is facing forward and the placement allows for easier access to the leeward hull in the event of a capsize. that is of course your still on the boat and able to step down via the mast.

Tim

Actually - those eyelettes are for attaching a bunji to from the top of the daggerboard. It pulls the board forward and keeps it from lowering itself in the water. Nacra came out with an upgrade that has a bunji that wraps around the board with a piece of PVC covered in foam. This puts a side force on the board and doesn't get in the way of the crew getting forward out on the hull in light air.

I'm not posting that dirty picture again! but you should be able to see the newer system above.

I just remembered that I tied pieces of string to the ends of the dolphin striker and used that to attach the bunji (my 6.0 uses a buni forward to the bridle - either should work). My 5.2 bunji went from the end of the dolphin striker, inside the diamond wire, around the front of the mast, around the other diamond wire, and to the other end of the dolphin stricker. Worked pretty well as a jam preventer.

Jake,

Oh, OK.

I actually have the side force padded pvc units but they were off the boat until yesterday. The bungie needed replacing.

So the eyelets are just a remainder of a previous design.

Just curious, do you happen to know when the pvc units were introduced?

Thanks your input.

I'm guessing that the PVC style board holders came about around 1985 or so.

We've got 2 boats from 6/85 here and it is on both of them as original equipment.

Dick

I am replacing the lines that the jib blocks slide on. I have just been using no-stretch line for a while and am noticing some wear at the eye straps. Going back to the SS lines. How tight should the wires be? My wires run on top of the tramp as Jake's did. They are partially covered with PVC tubes that are padded with foam and covered with sunbrella (to protect the foam). Should the wires be "Banjo String Tight" or should they have a little slack?

Terry

Terry,

For what it's worth, mine have about 3" of slack but they're the ones that go up through and back under.

Tim

Mine always had a decent amount of slack in them. The stresses on the beam fittings goes up exponentially as the wires get tighter.

I've received my tramp material and will start soon on the new tramp. I have not seen the wires ran under the tramp as described above. I can't see how the tramp would be as solid? with slits cut in each side. Photos and pros/cons?

Terry

Terry,

It's re-enforced and is pretty solid.
Attached photo.

Tim,

When you are on the tramp, close hauled, sheeted in tight, is there a lot of pressure on the tramp where the line comes through? This set up would clean up the tramp a lot, I just don't want to create a maintenance problem. I assume that with this setup, the eye straps are under the tramp, the same distance that they are above the tramp, on my set up?

Jake, do you feel that this will limit the use of the jib blocks in those extreme conditions that you may want to move them further than the slot will allow?

Terry

Terry,

I wish I could tell you. I just got the boat two weeks ago.
Jake and company have been helping sort out a few things for me, so they would know best.
It doesn't seem like there would be that much pressure on the tramp since the cable only has 3"-4" of slack.
The eyelets are directly under each crossbar facing down so there might be a slight length difference due to placement.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Tim. Appreciate the quick responses.

Terry

Tim - if you and I keep asking enough questions and Jake and David and a few others keep helping we will have formed our own Nacra 5.2 web site without even having to work too hard. My tramp has the wire coming up thru it just like shown, but not having the tramp holes edged quite as nice. I too am wondering about the short length available for moving the jib block, and also, if moving it will make much noticible difference, key word "noticible", for a person new to a 5.2 or if that is best for the real experienced racer. Wonder what the opinion will be on that!

Dick
N5.2 #3002, "Cats Paw"

Dick,

You might be on to something there.
The length isn't really that short - mine is 1' which seems about the size of a track (like in the .pdf manual).
I imagine it would take a season or two to really notice the difference.