Hopefully I won't post many more questions about which entry level cat to buy. I'm getting that 2001 Nacra 450 in CA. Thanks for the post, Josh! It's only 955 miles to drive there from here. But I only have to make one round trip :-)

I'll be looking around the site for more info and definately getting the sailing books recommended for cat sailing.

Any suggestions on anything that might be a concern for me are welcome.

Take care,
Dan

post pics when purchased!

WOW, your have my respect, I didn't wanna drive 4 hours for my newest boat, so I told my freind abou that one, he bought it, I found one about 20 minutes away, for a little less, but his turned out to be nicer. Well lessons learned lol. Hope this turns out to be what you want, but it seems to me that for that price a 2001 with a new set of sails(try to get the old ones too if he still has them), and a trailer, you really can't go wrong. If I lived closer I would volunteer to go take a look at it to make sur eyou weren't driving all that way for a lemon, but its too far for me to go in one evening. Congrats!!

Yeah, I saw what seemed to be a decent opportunity. If it's as the seller says, there shouldn't be much risk financially if I just don't like it. It'll be an adventure. I've got 2 boys, one 14, the other 16. The 16 has his drivers license and will hopefully want to go. My wife will most likely stay home. Hopefully she won't have my stuff packed in a suitcase on the front porch when I get back. Haven't told her about it yet and I'm sure she'll object.

Anyway, life is short and there ain't anything else more important than having fun.

Cheers,
Danno

Did you buy the boat on Ebay?

Question about trailers: This nacra I'm getting has a trailer that supports each hull in only 2 small spots. They're just rubber rollers, so maybe only a few square inches of contact per site. I am considering adding V bunks, which seems fairly simple, at least in my mind. Suggestions?

Thanks,
Danno

PS: Should be a pic attached to this post.

Here's a pic of it on the beach.

Dan

There are alot of trailers out there that just use two rollers on each hull, I do like cradles, but they are kinda expensive. you can get them from www.murrays.com You can probably make them too. The boat looks sharp in the picture, I really suspect you are getting a good deal. I just looked at the picture of the trailer, one thing that you will want to pickk up0 I think is a mast craddle. This attaches to your rear beam and supports the back of the mast, without bending your tiller crosspiece, or your tramp. The way it is now, I would take some towels to wrap around the end of the mast for your drive home. When are you planning on picking it up?

Danno,

Those Nacra 450's always looked like a lot of fun. Congrats!

If for some reason the deal doesn't go through, I've got a Hobie 14 Turbo up for sale on Ebay right now.

Josh:

Thanks again. After quick search here and on the net it doen't look like people are too concerned about cradling the hulls. For the trip home, I could put something between the rollers and the hull. Maybe a piece of pvc drain pipe, cut in half, about a foot long. Pad with foam and lash to hull so when bouncing it doesn't fall off.

When am I gonna get it? Still working that out. Probably a weekend, probably not this one. I'll certainly post when I'm going. Know of any nice roadside attractions?

Oh yeah... the rear mast support. 'spose I could span the hulls with a 2x4 and rest the mast on that? Speaking of mast, I saw only one place that gave the length: 27 ft?

Gotta get off my butt and make some money now :-)

Danno

Talking about wives and catamarans? I had my mind set on repairing my busted Nacra 6.0 but my wife talked me into buying a brand new Nacra F18. I love her so....

I doubt that it's 27 feet long - the F18 mast is something like 29'6". For a temporary support, go to West Marine (or Walmart near the coast) and buy one of those square 'throwable' pads and put it between the mast and the rear beam. The Nacra rear beam has an integrated traveler track and you don't want to put wood or anything that could damage that track on top of it. Pad it well with the cusion and tie/bunji the mast and cushion securely in place.

Rollers on the trailer is probably OK for that boat because it has skegs. The bottom rear of the boat is well reinforced with the skeg. The front could probably use cradles but as long as the rollers are near bulkheads you should be fine for a while.

Perhaps before you get cradles for your trailer you should be asking about the right way to mount wheels and tires. That photo shows a rather unusual design. I wouldn't tow it over 45 mph that way.

Jake,thanks:

I've got a seat cushion life saver for the rear mast. 27' mast length seems big, but that's the only number I got. Could have been a typo. Was on a german site. Und ich lese deutsch, ab und zu.

And how do I know where a front bulkhead is?

Ohh!! David: Thanks for the detailed analysis of the photo. Are you planning on finding WMD in Iraq? Sounds like they could use you. But you're obviously on the wrong page with the trailer. All's I have to do is rotate the tires frequently. Should be easy to do once I fly a hull.

Ciao,
Danno

PS: Measuring grossly from the pic I posted, the mast would be 22-23'

For independently measured specs on boats try the Texel page. They have the Nacra 4.5 (450?) at 7.6 meters or 24'11".

Texel numbers

The forward bulkhead will be right under the front beam. But that boat has a pretty serious "V" shape and should be fine with the roller farther forward than that.