Anybody know when Nacra started putting rakeable spreaders on the 5.7? Looking into an '84 boat.



Anybody know if you can retrofit them? Is the mast different? Where to buy, how much to pay?



Thanks,



Ed Norris

I'm pretty sure NACRA started this around 1984...my 82 5.2 does not have raked spreaders, nor does a friend's old 83. Michael C. (perhaps he can comment) bought a used boat that had raked spreaders and I seem to remember that it was an 84 or 85. Upgrading them is possible but you are still left with a rather large hole in the mast where the old spreader went through. I've been reassured this won't hurt anything but I figure I'll wait until I have no other recourse to make the boat faster before I upgrade mine.

thanks, Jake!

Ed-

Not real sure about the 5.7 but my '84 5.0 had the straight through- I believe they switched shortly thereafter-

I upgraded mine at the time with a "kit" through Nacra & Murray's- It does leave a big hole but I cut my original "straight-through spreader" off and used under the new SS mast fitting for the raked spreaders (completely covers the holes anyway) as a sort of "compression tube" just to be sure and "gooped" the dickens out of it! Worked well for ~16 years until I traded it! IMO it made a difference upwind and was well worth it-



Kirt

Kirt,



Did you replace your diamond wires and hardware or leave the connection points as they were?

Thanks, Kirt.

Do you recall within a $100 how much the kit cost?



Ed

Ed,



The spreaders from a Hobie 18 will also make a direct fit - the designs are similar. I believe you can purchase the spreader parts from Performance for under $230...I priced them earlier this year. You can download their parts catalogs and pricing catalogs from their website http://www.performancecat.com

Jake-

I know I didn't change the lower connection points (were Sta-Master turnbuckles from Nacra) or get new diamond wires, I don't THINK I changed the top ones either- left them on the side of the mast (as they were stock when I bought boat new)-



Kirt

Hi Jake,

It never occured to me to consider changing them. I excuse this on the grounds I've never owned an old-style mast.



Ed