solcat 18 traps

HEY, IS THERE ANYONE IN ARIZONA WITH A CAT THAT I CAN RUN WITH? Im in Glendale.

1)The wheels that the bungees run over that flip up the rudders are shot and I need to remove the pin that holds them in to replace them. How do I remove the pin?

Not sure... are the ENDS of the sheave pins visible/accessible? If like the Prindle, you may have to remove the sub-assembly from the rudder castings in order to access/change the sheaves (roller wheels). Probably there is no drilling or torching involved, maybe just a centerpunch and small hammer.

2)I have ordered a new tramp from saltydog and would like to know how traps should be set up. Does the tramp need anything special installed at the factory?

Out near the side edges of the tramp, up near the shrouds (side stays), Prindles have grommeted holes for the trapeze shock cords to ride through. One pair of holes (for the skipper) is approx. 6-8 inches behind the shrouds, the other pair (for the crew) is about 6-8 inches in front of shrouds. Do you see something like this on your OLD tramp? If saltydog knows the SolCat, they probably know to do this... but hey, why not call and MAKE SURE!?!? ;')

On the Prindle, just outboard of these grommets, you tie on a small "block" (pulley) for the shock cords to ride through. (Go to www.performancecat.com and download the Prindle 15/16/18 Owner's manual for pics.)

3) Do I need to pull the end caps from the frame to install the new tramp? I cant get whats left of the old tramp out of the track without pulling the caps it seems. If so, do I need to drill out the rivets in the crossbeam and/or pull the mounting bolt?

As stated by the previous poster, I'd be VERY surprised if such major surgery was required to swap out the tramp. As he said, if one end is blocked, check the other end. If BOTH ends appear blocked, then perhaps there's a "feed slot" towards one end or the other, i.e. a short stretch where the curf (groove) gets wider, as on the mast where you feed in the luff of the mainsail...? Also look UNDERNEATH for some feature of the crossbars that leads to tramp removal... removable plate?... can't believe there'd be riveting involved.


4)I will be using a righting bag but have never used one before. Where is the best place to attach it, what size line,blocks,lengths, other particulars.

On Prindles, there's a grommet dead center on the tramp, just aft of the mast. They say to drop the righting line through there, and just tie a figure-8, and let it pull on the tramp. I've never liked putting that much stress on the tramp, so after passing it thru that grommet, I tied it off to the center post of the dolphin striker, which is a strong structural member.

As for line, a length of beefy old mainsheet that's too fuzzy to run through the blocks works great. I wouldn't go smaller than 3/8". That cheap poly ski rope that comes with the Murray's basic bucket ain't worth shyt! It will decay in no time. Length will have to be at least 13-15' to go up, over, and reach the water. In time you will find the magic spot to tie a loop for your hand-hold, and maybe another loop for your trap harness hook.

You take up the slack by hoisting the bag over your shoulder, and running the slack under your harness hook... then just lean back as when trapezing... if bows are into wind, wind will get under sail, and boat will roll back up... slowly at first, until sail clears water, then SCHWING!

Hopefully SaltyDog included a big pocket on the tramp to stash your righting line + rolled bucket... if not, just wrap the whole mess around one of the side V-bars of the dolphin striker, in a way that's secure, but quick to deploy, e.g. half-hitches, bungees, etc.

5)I have set my trailer with a winch set high on the mast dolly. when singlehandedly stepping the mast the side stays are slack so the mast can swing to the side. I experimented a little and ended up using the jib sheet attached to the sidestays to pull them tight and thus keep the mast centered. Is thisn right or is nthere a better way?

Sounds good. Jib sheets and blocks are strong enough to do the job.

6) Foot straps. It seems like a great idea, but I dont want to get them in the wrong positions...

On lakes I've never needed foot straps... ocean, 'nother story... you need to sail the beast a few times before you decide on foot straps... non-skid material from stern to front crossbar is probably more useful. Also, footstraps (boardsailing type) can be DANGEROUS, e.g. if you do a wicked PITCHPOLE, it's better to take a wild ride 'round the forestay and go "SPLASH", than to have your leg ripped off at the knee, eh? You need something like snow-ski bindings, that release before your bones snap.

If you wear some kind of booties/aqua-socks with good traction soles (and you should), then you will probably only need--at most--1 foot strap on each side, and that's way in the back/stern, behind the rear crossbar... and you may want it mounted at a 45-degree angle. That's because that's where you'll be trapezing when you're far off the wind (broad-reaching), and the force-vector of the sail is well forward, and trying to push your bow(s) under. Your bows plowing under is really the only "braking" action that's going to produce negative (forward) G-forces that would pull you off your feet.

When sailing close to the wind, you'll be trapezing up near the front crossbar, trying to hold the bows down, keeping too much wind from getting under the tramp. You'll be even with where the trap wire is strung, no footstraps needed.


7) The daggerboards seem like they will push right through the hulls. Just push them down flush and forget?

NO WAY! If they're down flush, how will you PULL THEM UP? They should at least have holes near the top for thick rope handles, and maybe another hole for rubber stoppers...? Thick rope will prevent over-insertion. There may also be a gasket down in the board slot to keep water from spraying up through gaps...?

8) I liked the rudder/tiller setup on the Hobie 16. Will this, or a similar setup bolt up to my solcat?

Doubt it. At minimum you'd probably have to drill new holes to replace one or both gudgeons on each side. OTOH, there's lots of busted-up Hobies out there, whose owners are parting them out. You're not far from So-Cal, and the ocean breaks up a lot of Hobie hulls... watch the web.

DOGBONES: You need 4 total, 2 on each side. Never used the cable kind; seems like they might be a bit springy/stretchy

What do you mean by "cable-type"? Are you talking about the plastic-coated, round ring with the little bar across the middle? If so, they are safer if you get hit in the face, but they can also break. They distort and get pulled out of shape, and because of this bending or "crimping" action, the cable can eventually break at the point where the hook attaches to the bottom of the ring. So if you use them a lot, they should be replaced occasionally when they develop that elongated, distorted shape.

Rick made an unexpected departure from our boat at least once, maybe twice, because of the ring breaking. We switched to stainless steel.

wonder what his usage/storage/crew weight numbers are?

Well, I have talked to Rick (a rare occasion ), and he has revived my memory, since I haven't crewed with him for at least 13 years. I am half wrong. He says he has continued to prefer the circular cable trapeze rings to this day. Even after one broke on him, he continued to use them but replaced them every two years or when they got too deformed (bent out of shape), whichever comes first.

I make a mistake of turning my body a little bit the wrong way, and the trapeze ring slips off my hook and, "BOIING," it flies back and hits my skipper in the face. Not good for crew-skipper relationships.

Any indication why it failed? Bad swage, corrosion?

But, then, I don't trust any of the many components of a trapeze system between the mast and me.

In reply to Reefed One about the pole in the middle, there is a support beam running fore and aft in the middle of the boat. I don't know if it was to try to stabilize the frame or hold the tramp up.

In the Nacra 18 Square I had in the 80's, these fore and aft tubes were used to prevent rotation of the front and ream beams. Later, Nacra was able to eliminate the tubes (on the N5.2) by putting fittings inside the end of the beams that screwed into the hull and prevented rotation of the beam. I don't know about the Sol Cat, but this might have been the reason for the fore and aft tube, just like it was on early Nacras.

I just noticed in Dean's second post about the diamond wires just holding the mast up. Could you be referring to the shrouds? Diamond wires are to keep the mast from going too far out of column.
John Courter

do you remember who made the Solcats, and where?

Also, where do the shockcords for the traps run? Fore and aft under the outer deck lip? Or underneath the tramp and out through special tubes through the hull? It's not apparent to me from limited pics available. I may have sent azcat looking for grommets in his new tramp which just aren't there... my bad.

PS: In your previous post, did you mean that Sol 18 can/does use NACRA 5.2 daggerboards??

GREAT idea with the expanding foam in the mast... why have I never heard of it before? Think about it: doesn't add any buoyancy, but does the job of keeping water out of mast, without the added wind drag of a float-bob.

The foam is heavier than air, so you might want to check by how much... ;')

Anyway, I don't think that foam (e.g. 'Great Stuff') is corrosive, as it's used in contact with all kinds of metals, incl. aluminum.

Don't know what to tell you about the bolt-rope tracks, but you seem to be very crafty at keeping the old gal lakeworthy!

The pole down the middle of the tramp does seem like an ancle and knee buster. Im thinking of padding that with some foam or something if possible.