After a few months of fixing minor things and replacing old and worn items, a friend, my kids and I finally took my Nacra out to Mission Bay. Things went smoothly and it was a blast! Thanks to all of you who answered my "newbie" questions and helped to make my introduction to cat sailing a positive one!

Doug, Did you sail the boat like that or did you get the main all the way up before going out?

Let's hope not !!!

The 5.0 is a kick A** boat for its design. The 5.7 even better.

That's what the dude in the Sunfish was yelling as he blew past us!
We did get it all the way up, the pic was taken after we beached it to make some adjustments.

Hey Doug,
Did the Wire halyard for the main sail have a little piece that once the sail was up all the way that locked into a tab on the front of the mast??
If not, you are missing it, which does happen with some older boats. It helps lock the Mainsail in the Up position and when you go to lower the sail you have to just Pull the Halyard down an detach that piece from the tab to drop the sail.
Also, do not put too much downhaul on the sail unless the wind is cranking, to me the 5.0 loves power.
Good Luck
If you have the correct setup, just ignore that part of my post.

It should be noted that the fork Craig refers to is near the top of the mast and in front.

What Jake said !!! I said the front part, just not the Top part. The term "Fork" albeit it looks like a 2 prong "Fork" is a good description of what should be there.
It was on all NACRA Halyards back in the day when I sailed them.

Yes, the the tab and the fork are still there and are working. The cleats at the base of the mast, however seem to be mounted upside down. Intuitively, it seems like the halyard(s) should routed thru the cheek block so that you're pulling up on the halyard to raise the sail. Then, the halyard is locked into place using the cleat (mounted above the cheek plate) while still pulling up on the halyard. The cleats on my mast are mounted so the halyard are pulled down to lock in the line. They are mounted above the cheek blocks. It doesn't seem right. But, I am a beginner and know next to nothing about sailing.

It probably seems upside-down because the original setup probably had some sort of downhaul that reversed the direction. If the fork is still up at the top-front of the mast, just make sure the little BB thing is still on the main halyard about a foot from the shackle that hooks to the head of the mainsail.

-Rob V.
Nacra 5.2
Panama City

OK wait...now I'm confused. The halyard should be a cable halyard that has a small "BB" (who said that? - good description) pressed on it about 12 to 18" from the shackle that connects to the head of the main sail. As you hoist the sail, this BB goes through the two sheaves at the top of the mast until it (and the rest of the halyard) is on the front of the mast and the sail fully hoisted. There is a fork at the top of the mast that you manuever the halyard into, and the BB under. Then you ease off the halyard and/or pull down slightly on the mainsail and the BB engages the fork way up the mast. It can be a little difficult to see. After that, you just tidy up your halyard and pack it away - no adjusting from there. You should have some sort of downhaul that attaches to the clew (bottom leading edge) of the mainsail that will involve pulleys and a bit of purchase.

Note: The BB exerts a pretty tight bend in the cable everytime it goes over the sheaves. The cable halyard will eventually break right at the BB...it would be worthwhile to have a spare halyard or some sort of backup plan.

The "BB" and the "Fork" are in their correct positions on the mast, and seem to be in good shape. If I'm understanding correctly, the BB is the main support for holding the mainsail up. That seems like an awful lot of stress on that BB. The halyard must also be connected at the base of the mast via the cheek block and cleat.

What abou the jibsail? On my mast there is also a cheek block and cleat for the jib halyard. The cleat also appears to be mounted upside down.

It's a 3:1 jib halyard tensioning system. The "line" portion of the jib halyard is led down, thru/around the cheek block, thru a small block (mine had a becket) at the end of the wire portion of the jib halyard, and back down to the cleat. See if there's a "mystery" block in the jib halyard that ends up a couple feet or so from the mast base when the jib is up.

I had an eyestrap on the front of my mast to secure the loose portion of the main halyard.

It's been a while since I had my 5.2 but I'm fairly certain that the BB on the halyard does hold all the mainsail loading.

Jake,
You are correct. The BB on the halyard holds the mainsail halyard loads while the sail is up, It is sort of a Set it and forget it thing when you sail. Then you take off the downhaul so you can re pull the halyard down from the front of the mast to unhook the BB from the Fork. Very low tech, but it worked great until the hook became popular.