Has anybody put a self tacking jib on a non-board cat?

I'm thinking about converting my G-Cat 5.7 to self tacking. I'm wondering about the performance on a non board boat. Your thoughts / experience?

I've got one on my Supercat 17. I got most everything from Aquarius, just like their system on the ARC 17 (modern SC17). I like it, works great. It's the straight track, not the curved like you see on most self tacking set ups.

my pal put one on his mystere 5.5 (i know, it's a board boat)

he paid the price up and down wind (less power) and stopped using it

it still needs to be sheeted each tack, so there was no saving in work....

I wont the carbon fiber track. send me a PM if you want to purchase it (cheap)

Hey Mike,

How goes the big boat project?

Mn3 I think I sent you a reply if it went.

Jay the TMS-20 is on hold for now time and money thing. Decided to get the G-Cat back in the water for fun and another smaller side project that I hope makes some money.

I have first hand knowledge of the self tacking system Bill Roberts designed for the SuperCat boats and have sailed on a 20 with it. I'm wondering if will work as well on a non board boat that doesn't have a pivot point of a board.maybe I'll be the test case?

The boat in the above picture is boardless, Aquarius has been doing it for a good while. It tacks fine, just have to get the hang of it. I think it points very well, some say better with the self tacker. Downwind you lose some sail area. Here's what'll be a boring video of the boat with the self tacking set up. I filmed a bunch of tacks, some are pretty ugly. http://youtu.be/HqzMWr2wN30

Have you calculated how much sail area you will lose by going the thinner jib that may give you an indication on performance loss. On the Taipan 5.7's they compensated a bit on the kite boats by having a strut from the bottom of the bridle to the spin pole so the jib could start much lower that added area but still didn't compensate fully. I have a PDF for the Taipans I'll try to upload
sorry can't upload a pdf

Hey thanks Jeff and Mac just what I was looking for. I added a spinnaker to the G-Cat so down wind I can pop the shoot and I set it all up to single handle with a self tacking jib my goal down wind is to fly all 3. On the G-Cat there is a front beam so I can actually bring the jib all the way down to the front beam as in the original design. Currently I have a Jib that is on the bridal stay that is on a roller furler so I will actually gained a little bit of jib by switching to a self tacker. Adding a few degrees up wind will help a lot when I try to sail from our usual beach spot back to and through the Palm Beach inlet. Plus I like the idea of cleaning up the tramp by getting rid of the cross wire, blocks and sheeting lines of the jib. Worth a shoot I think as most of my sailing is beach cruising.

Jeff you can email me at email.mikeshappell@gmail.com

Are you keeping the furler? I sure liked mine when I had one.

Mac Bill Roberts is friend of mine I've know him since the early 80's. I actually saw them make the molds to the super cat 20 and do the first layups back when he lived in West Palm Beach on a lake. We use to sail and race on the lake all the time and his shop was next to friend of mine that had an automotive shop. I don't see him much these days but we use to razz each other because I sailed for G-Cat.We both work at Pratt and Whitney for awhile during my time there as a contractor.

Thinking about going w/out furler and getting a Jib with battens...down the road a month time for thought, input, and sail maker input.

Rain cloud passed time to grind patches

I just acquired a SC15, no boards and a self tacker although I have not sailed her yet..... Can't wait...

Congratulations on the new boat, let us know when you've sailed it and how you go. Have sent the pdf Mike, few problems god only knows how many copies you will get heheheh

Mike, is there enough space between the jib luff and spin luff to carry all three sails without having to point insanely high and/or blanketing any of the sails?

What was the final cost of making that conversion to a self-tracking jib?

I've got a SC 17 and I'm thinking the conversion would be sweet.

Thanks.

Kinda expensive because I went through Aquarius for most everything except the sail. I think the kit was $1700, included the jib track, car, compression pole, pelican striker, blocks, line, strut wires, 4:1 jib downhaul, etc. I went through them because they make really nice stuff, have it figured out, and I didn't want to have to try and figure everything out myself. Pretty much a plug and play deal, did it over a weekend.

The other thing you could do is put a hobie 16 style set up on. A small track on both sides of the mast. You can still adjust the slot from the high side. You still have to tack the jib but cleans the tramp and allows easy jib furling. I think the jib would be slighty larger than one with a curved track and you might be able to trim your current sail to fit.

Jay,
We have a self tacking battened jib on a straight track on our ARC22, so the jib is always up when the spin is out. When sailing recreationally we just release the jib sheet, and it floats in the slot quite docilely. If we're looking for max power, we can apply a small amount of sheet to get the jib telltales flowing appropriately. Doesn't seem to force us particularly high, although the chute is quite flat and doesn't run real deep.

Dave

Jay,
We have a self tacking battened jib on a straight track on our ARC22, so the jib is always up when the spin is out. When sailing recreationally we just release the jib sheet, and it floats in the slot quite docilely. If we're looking for max power, we can apply a small amount of sheet to get the jib telltales flowing appropriately. Doesn't seem to force us particularly high, although the chute is quite flat and doesn't run real deep.

Dave

Thanks Dave,

How far is the jib luff from the spin luff?

Mine is only about 4 feet between them...

Yeah, I've got a 15' pole, so probably 7' between pole tip and forestay. Having the jib up actually eases the spin fwd of the forestay, it'll slide off the jib if plastere on to it. It would be more likely to hang up on a bare forestay. If we're paying attention thru the jibe, it's pretty easy to float the clew fwd of the forestay, and pull it thru at the appropriate time.

Yeah, I've got a 15' pole, so probably 7' between pole tip and forestay. Having the jib up actually eases the spin fwd of the forestay, it'll slide off the jib if plastered on to it. It would be more likely to hang up on a bare forestay. If we're paying attention thru the jibe, it's pretty easy to float the clew fwd of the forestay, and pull it thru at the appropriate time. Overall, we don't have any trouble jibing the spin, and we see more signs of wear from snuffing than jibing it from side to side.

Mike, my friend Kirt Metts has a roller furler jib on his 5.7, not a self-tacker, but he made a smaller(lowered) bridle that allowed him to pin his jib within 2 inches of the front beam. This worked so well I did the same on my 5.0 but I always wanted to go self-tacker. I felt the jib was a little oversized for the 5.0 and way oversized for the 6.0, not sure about the 5.7, never owned one.
So you could probably lose a little and still be quite powered up, and with a spin or a reacher it wouldn't matter anyway.
keep the pics coming!