After much thought, I really want to add a jib to the Nacra 5.5u! I'd asked this before and briefly considered a spinnaker - but the extra power upwind beats dead downwind speed as a priority. (not to mention spins are expensive!!!)

Unless I miss my guess, I need the jibsail, rigging and forestays.

What would be the easiest/cheapest/best way of doing this?

NOTE: it's not urgent. I'm still learning to sail and haven't even trapped before. But eventually if I keep my 5.5u I'll want to have the jib as an option.

Aaron

Couple things to think about,

The uni has a taller mast then the sloop. Make sure you get the proper length cables.

The sloop has the cable that runs across the tramp that the jib blocks connect to. I dont remember if the Uni has the tracks rivoted onto the hulls to accomodate this?

I put a spin on my 5.5 sloop when I had it. I had a bunch of pictures on how to do this, Ill see if I can find them. However, from past experience, I would REALLY recommend switching boats to a F16 or an F18 before I put a spin on a 5.5.

I see... that makes sense.

I was under the impression that a 5.5u was very similar to the sloop (basically the same, but without a jib)

But knowing that it's not, I'll probably leave it as is and enjoy it with just the mainsail (which is quite sizable)

Is the 5.5u buildt to take the extra loads a jib adds?
I dont know this boat, but it sounds like you have two forestays, one to each hull? If so, be warned that putting on a single forestay and a bridle strop really loads up the hulls. Unless the hulls are buildt to take this load, they will probably fail in compression.
Also, just adding a wire for the jib sheeting between hulls can rip the hulls apart unless they are buildt for it.

Very gloomy warnings, but something you really should be sure of before proceeding.

If you decide to add a jib, you should also know that your mainsail will probably be backwinded, as I guess it's much deeper in the low part than a sloop main. So you will not add as much power as you might be thinking.

If you have an old main, getting a new one might give you more power than adding a jib in your current configuration. Especially if you go for something that's not class legal (I guess you dont race one design class). Check out the "Agent Orange" thread on the F-16 forum for some inspiration.

If I had your boat, and wanted more power, I would have gotten a new large-top mainsail cut for the uni rig, and added a spi for some wild downwind sailing (the spi also loads up your hulls, but unless there was some prior negative experiences with these boats and spi's, I would have tried it).

Do you know how old your current main is, what cloth it is and how much it has been used?

Thanks Rolf -

Interesting thoughts. The 5.5u page at www.performancecat.com says that it has the same hulls as the sloop, so I'd be surprised if that was a problem. But it could be that the shrouds where the forestays are anchored are at a different position on the hulls, and as mentioned above the 5.5u has a taller mast. So even if one could take the 5.5sl jib and attach it to the 5.5u, I would need custom forestays.

The mainsail on the 5.5u is actually a newer mainsail. It seems in excellent condition, and in all honesty I can't complain about the boat being slow. It even tacks pretty well (although all I have for comparison is my old sunfish and a bunch of rental hobies and prindles).

The spinnaker would be nice - but it is an expensive addition (might as well get a new boat!). Also, I want to try sailing downwind when my mainsail traveller is fixed. It should be a bit easier.

Whow, really?



No doubt!
You will also find more power downwind when you are able to travel out and sheet in.

Well... I meant "might as well get a new USED boat with a spinnaker already installed!"

I'm told a spinnaker will cost around $1500, and that's without a cushy snuffer system and doing a lot of the hardware modification myself.

You can find a used F18 spinnaker for dirt cheap. Find a fiberglass windsurfer mast for a pole and you're set.

Can be done for less than $500.

3 cheers for old windsurfer masts, Looks clean and works like it was designed for that purpose.

The 5.5. uni is a boomless rig.

I would be cautious with a chute on this kind of rig because the boom is used to translate force to the mast and induce the proper rotation. This is critical in a blow in order to save the mast with the chute up. I also remember an elaborate positive mast rotation system which required some attention down wind.... attention you won't have with a chute to worry about.

With respect to the jib. The jib kits use a spreader bar to distribute the loads to the hulls.


For some reason, Neither the Prindle 18-2 or the Nacra 5.5 sloops.. both 18 footers ever caught on in the US. In fact... Performance 18 footers were dead in the US for years until the F18's... sort of took off.

Good luck
Mark

We had a small fleet of 5.5 sloops in Florida a few years back, Tim Bohan and I switched to I20s, Seth Stern and Mike Crawford switched to F16. Greg Henry still has a sloop and Rush Bird still has a uni. You should get in touch with Rush, if he doesn't see your post here try the 1Design.net forum.

The 5.5 sloop for a lighter crew is one of my favorite all time boats. In 15-20 that boat hauled butt.

Ahhh, but the Nacra 6.0 is also a boomless rig, and they rigged those huge 425 sq ft spins on them at one time (I know I did). I put an F18 spin on a a hobie 17 for $585, so I know it isn't that bad. When you decide to do it, shoot me a pm or e-mail, and I'll walk you through all the details. All in all, you can do everything in a saturday afternoon with a good drill (if you have all the parts handy).
Trey
N20 314
Layline Rigging
www.velocitysailing.com

Are you just trying to pick a fight? Name another class that has, in four years, gone from nothing to nearly 40 boats on the line for a NA event? "Sort of took off"?... I don't think so.

As Trey pointed out - spin on a boomless rig is no big deal. The 6.0NA has a positive mast rotator with or without a chute...it's something you would have to deal with anyway but you don't have a rotation limiter like on a boom rig so it's pretty much tit for tat. I'm pretty sure the 5.5 has a positive rotator in a stock configuration as well. I've sailed on a 5.5 and 6.0 with spinnaker and it works just fine.

Did all the 5.5uni's have carbon masts or was that a option?

It was an option, and only since the late 90's. They rated/rate level with the aluminum masts, but are universally faster.

I flew an F-18 chute on my Nacra Uni. The Uni is wider, taller, no heavier, and carries more sail area than the Inter 17. The F-18 kite is bigger than the Inter 17's, and like another poster said, can be had for extremely affordable prices. I don't remember what I paid for mine, but it couldn't have been more than a couple hundred dollars back in 2000. For singlehanding, I never felt like I was lacking power upwind - if it was light, I eased the sail and outpointed everyone, and if it was heavy, I trapped and went fast. Good luck with a great boat.

Hi,
I've owned a 5.5 Uni and two 5.5SL's. They are excellent boats. As Mark said, you'll need the spreader bar to distribute the loads for the stock sloop jib.
However, I was wondering if anyone has messed around with a pole-less spinnaker? I sailed a Dart 6000 that had a small wire bridle attached to the bows and the cutest little spinnaker that launched and doused from a bag on the trampoline. It was great. This is what I want to do for my present boat. The jib is inefficient upwind and too small for downwind. I believe that even a 120 square foot spinnaker without a pole would dramaticlally improve offwind performance. I made a spinnaker for a Stilletto 30 from Tyvec - got 3 years out of it. Cost about $40 in materials.

Steve Bellavia
Hobie FX-1, Sail #211

Ok...now you're just scaring me!

Two things from a theoretical perspective. (Which is all I've got since I a) hardly have any time on my cat and b) it's neither an N5.5 uni or sl)

1. I would assume that the uni rig is balanced for and aft with the daggers. Wouldn't simply tossing a jib out front shift the combined center of effort too far forward with out radically raking the mast or relocating the daggers?

2. It's my understanding of aerodynamics that a non-slotted, high aspect ratio wing (uni rig) can out point a slotted, lower aspect ratio wing (slope rig). Why give that up?

Hi Jake,
Don't be scared - it's all gonna be alright...

I was co-owner of Polaris Sail Loft, Holtsville, Long Island for about 10 years. We made over a thousand sails before we finally closed the business (too much work, too little profit). The request for a low-budget Tyvec sail was a strange one, and we were skeptical. However, the customer is always right. We plotted directly on the Tyvec (Using a Carlson plotter), used transfer adhesive for all the seams and only sewed the corner patches, where we used some leftover scraps of dacron. We were very happy with the results. The customer was too.

Steve
Hobie FX-1, Sail #211