How is it that everyone talks about early boats having bendy masts and some later ones having stiffer ones, (the 80-90s boats) but when I email NACRA they say they only ever had 1 extrusion for all the boats of that era and that the new extrusion is only new because they lost the tooling for the old one and that the new extrusion is made to be as similar to the old one as they could..
According to them all the masts made for the 5.2, 5.5, 5.8 etc were all the same.
I don't exactly have a fleet of different NACRAs to go shake the masts on. Anyone have some real world experience on this other than the internet rumor mill?
Edited by tamumpower1 on May 15, 2017 - 04:49 PM.
What's the deal with old NACRA masts
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 12:56 AM
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 01:09 AM
Hi Matt,
It is common knowledge in sailing that everything is stiffer and stronger when it is newer. But, it often generates a ton of discussion whenever there is any sort of change by the manufacturer.
One person may have a lightly used older version of whatever and achieve as good or even better performance in the short term against whatever the new thing is. But sometimes manufacturers "upgrades" are for better longevity at a minor expense of performance.
There are few cases where older is better in sailing and none I can think of over a significant amount of time.
Do you know of any?
Brad in Jax
Edited by bradinjax on May 15, 2017 - 02:00 AM. -
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 07:51 AM
New masts, specially the wing masts can be pretty bendy and "soft". I have never heard of an older Nacra mast considered stiffer or softer.
Whats at play here is probably just someones seat of the pants observations taken as fact and it continues online.
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 08:42 AM
No direct experience with Nacra masts on this topic, but have experienced a difference with other masts of similar age to each other and built "identically".
Had two h16s of same age (1 year apart) and each had distinctly different bend characteristics.
I chocked it up to differences in the manufacturing process while extruded. Speed of extrusion, and possible differences in aluminum material content.
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 09:11 AM
i don't know about different nacra masts, but i certainly know there are large differences of rigidity between brands - i.e. hobie vs mystere -
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 09:37 AM
Yea my H18 masts are like viagra ragers compared to the 90 year old limp noodle that is my nacra mast. -
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 10:15 AM
how long have you had the 18square?
ever use it? -
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 10:43 AM
2 weeks. Now that the mug race is over I'm in the middle of a full strip/repaint/rebuild of the whole thing. It didn't need it at all, boat is dang near 95%, but I have to be able to trust every bolt and rivet in the thing so the only way to do that is to rebuild it myself. That way if I have to throw it into mug race conditions I know it wont fall apart on me. -
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 11:35 AM
cool
buy it locally?
paint? not gelcoat?
what type? -
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 12:03 PM
Nah I had it delivered from Houston. The previous owner was a big racer so had stripped the gelcoat and done a coat of imron on it to save 10-15lbs. But that was a long time ago and the bottom could use some paint so I'm just gonna sand it down a reasonable amount and spray a coat or 2 of enamel. I have a hvlp setup so can get a pretty even coat. I've got a lime green color I mixed in the garage last night that's looking pretty fun. I think I'll go with that.
No point in going with awlcraft or anything like that around here. I'd have that sanded off in one season lol. To do gelcoat on an entire hull would be difficult to avoid sagging and since it already doesn't have any anyway I don't see the point. I can spray touch up at will anyway. Might even do a thin layer of resin just on the bottom for sand resistance. That being said the boat is pretty dang fragile. 375lbs all up. I might pull it up on an island a little but I can't abuse it like the H18.
I just want some photos of me trapped out flying a hull 11 feet in the air, then I can retire it... -
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 12:11 PM
why do you say that? the Awlgrip on my 6.0 is still perfect (sans the areas where i have scrapped it off with poor handling / rubbing / demasting
The one thing i do not like about my painted cat is: it acts like an etch-a-sketch and every scratch is white, on a grey boat... sticks out a lot (tons to me).
PS i hope you have the correct gear for sanding imron - pretty nasty stuff -
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 12:33 PM
I'm right with you. It wouldn't be horrible, I just feel better beach sanding off a 40 buck paint job the first season than stepping up to the expensive stuff right out the gate. Pretty much my whole life is fixing/rebuilding stuff so it won't break my heart if I have to sand it off and use something higher quality next year.
Yea I don't plan to sand it too much really. I do have some breathing gear. I'm going to sorta treat it like my primer to help level the hulls. I just feel bad not taking a little off in the hopes of saving a few pounds on my race boat lol. -
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 01:25 PM
Why are you beach launching and landing your 18 square? Its not a hobie cat, the fiberglass on the bottom is quite thin and you'll wear through this in no time. Use a quality paint and beach wheels. -
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 01:45 PM
I have beach wheels for it. The dude made them out of ATV wheels. They are the most beast beach wheels you've ever seen lol. But we stop on islands around here. Just lifting and setting the bows on the edge of the sand. It will be fine for that. That's why I'm gonna put a little extra paint, maybe some resin protection down there. I didn't mean I'm gonna come full speed kamikazi at the beach.
I know some people that have had the enamel paints last quite awhile on fiberglass boats. It's not talked about on the internet as much because most people don't do paint themselves but it's more common than people think. It's what I use on my rudders and it took 2 seasons of shallows to take it off so should be no worries. -
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 02:48 PM
Our beach wheels are also atv rim/tires (but i get the feeling yours are a little more monsta atv)
Ron had CF on his hull "floors" didn't last too long
i suggested he get some kevlar down there, put a strip or 2 under the gelcoat - he didn't want to work with kevlar (too hard to cut) lol -
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 03:23 PM
I gotta glass up some cradles for them. I got another set with the boat that isn't connected by a bar. It's like an individual pair of wheels for each hull. More useful for setting the boat up I'd figure but still kinda cool. Once I sail it a few times I'll get to work welding up a tilt trailer for around town.
Edited by tamumpower1 on May 15, 2017 - 04:44 PM. -
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 03:27 PM
11' beams?
Please call me when your going to the beach so i can be no where's near you on that bridge with 11' wide boat going over that crest
I drove a 10' one on a flat trailer once ... will never again -
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 03:42 PM
ha no right now it doesn't trailer flat. Its a take down setup only. That's why I want a tilt trailer for going around town. Should be able to rig one up for like 200 bucks of steel on top of the existing trailer frame.
Once setup it's a thing of beauty though...
Edited by tamumpower1 on May 15, 2017 - 04:58 PM. -
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 03:58 PM
Tis a beast!
funny - a boat built for a single sailor but can fit 18
love the traveler track!
Mike Krantz has a killer tilt trailer with gas struts that can be lifted/lowered with one hand... (for his carbon20)
there is a thead somewhere (edit - found it)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PsAZADGRm0
https://www.catsailor.com…trailer-plans#Post278298
Edited by MN3 on May 15, 2017 - 04:06 PM. -
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Posted: May 15, 2017 - 04:08 PM
Dang thats pretty sweet. Not sure where to get struts that long. Might be something I mess with for fun.
and yea the previous owner(owned it since 84) is a machinist and actually made the whole setup. The traveler is machined out of a solid piece of aluminum and has little replaceable ball bearings on it. Pretty slick actually. Then he took the old harken car and cut a piece of the old traveler off and used it for the outhaul. It's the most high load outhaul car you've ever seen!
