As most people know now, I have a Nacra 5.5 uni and I'm a newbie cat sailor

My latest question involves rigging. I have the awful suspicion that last time I went sailing, I attached the mainsheet rigging upside down. I could not figure out how to attach it to the traveller on the aft beam. And the nacra user manual wasn't much help.

Are there any pictures out there of what a correctly rigged mainsheet and traveller should look like?

Thanks!

-Aaron

I'm at Bear Lake for the next 10 days--come up and we'll rig and sail.

Hey Eric!

I ***DESPERATELY*** want to come up to Bear Lake but my fiancee is stopping me! And I can't ditch her and go alone because we're getting married in 2 weeks (and it's not nice anyway)

Maybe I'll try some last-minute nagging. Do you know how long the drive form Salt Lake City is? If I came up, where should we meet and where would you recommend I stay?

(email me)

-Aaron

NOW is the time to set expectations, Aaron...!!

AHAHAHHA, he's right, try saying "I'll just be underfoot and in the way while your doing the planning" That worked for me on several days when i went sailing instead of helping to plan my wedding.

It helped that she wanted her girlfreinds to help he instead of me anyway(apparently I'm less on looks and more on funtionality) heheh

After being married only 20 years last month I'm not going to give you marital advice like the other guys...... I haven't figured out women yet to feel qualified to give any advice.
Regarding the mainsheet system I have in the 5.5SL it goes like this. Mainsheet block is connected to the traveler car by a shackle. Other end is connected on the SL to the outhaul but I'm not sure if the uni is different. Anyway I tell my crew that they can tell if the block is right-side-up if the camlock is at the bottom (closest to the tramp). The mainsheet and the traveler line are tied together with the traveler line fed first through the camlock (attached on a swivel to the rear beam), then through the bullseye on the same swivel, then through the pulleys in the traveler car itself, then through the strap eye in the middle of the back of the rear beam. I tied a stopper "figure-eight" knot and I'm done.
Does that help?
Why do you think yours is set up wrongly?
Greg

You can find manuals on "www.performancecats.com".

Groet, Bart

Actually it's www.performancecat.com but I agree with prior posters, the manuals, at least for the Nacra 5.5's, SUCK. They explain in detail meaningless stuff and gloss over or leave out entirely items that should be addressed.
For example, they talk about tensioning of the diamond wires and bridle but leave out pre-bend of the main beam.
I wish someone knowledgeable would write a tuning guide for us.
Greg

Thanks fellows -

I suspected it was something like that. But what is the purpose of the traveller? Don't we want to be able to fix the mainsheet so that we don't need to continually hold it in place?

As for pre-marital issues, my fiancee has a bit of "utah disillusionment" and despises anything that might actually be fun in this state. Fortunately, she wants to move to Miami, so my catamaran hobby won't suffer too much

Aaron,

From Salt Lake, Bear Lake a 3 hour drive, at most. It would be a comfortable day trip; ie come up in the morning, rig, hope for good wind, sail, take down, drive home. Keeping it a day trip will cut down on the prep time and hassle factors. You can rig and launch off the expansive beach in front of my cabin. No hassles. No cost. No crowds. Very low key. How much easier can it get???

Your fiancee should not get disillusioned. SLC has tons to offer.

Right now I'm lookng out at the Carribean-colored water with a mild 5-10mph breeze; perfect for learning cat sailing.

Send me a "private message" if there's a day you can come up and I'll give you directions to the cabin. Next week sometime would be best.

If you can't swing it because of your upcoming wedding, I completely understand--I'll catch you next time.

Both the traveller and the mainsheet have cleats which allow you to fix them in place. The traveller cleat is attached to the front of the rear beam, and the mainsheet cleat is attached to the lower block on the mainsheet assembly. I'll take pictures of my Square if you're stil confused. Good luck.

That makes a lot of sense. I remember using cleats on rental cats I'd sailed. I suppose I hadn't figured out how to use the cleat on the aft beam traveller.

Eric - I won't be able to make it up tomorrow but perhaps next weekend? The wedding is coming up soon but that will be before the guests start to come. Hopefully work won't be too much of an issue!

-Aaron