I picked up a Playcat yesterday for my kiddos. It is the white version with spade rudders. I plan to add a main halyard hook to stiffen up the mast. I also despise the rudders. The prevent the boat from draining. One cannot tip it enough to get a hull dry. Not to mention the drain plugs are 2" above the bottom of the hull. Long term I plan to find a set of Hobie rudders and add ports for installing them off the stern. There is enough room under the current drain plugs to install a whole other drain plug. Being a plastic boat, is it a bad idea to cut more holes in it?
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FYC, Nacra 5.2 "Chris's Flyer" & Nacra Playcat
Previously owned: Trac 14, H14, H16, H18, N5.0, G-cat 5.0
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Nacra Playcat
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Posted: Mar 11, 2024 - 10:47 AM
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Posted: Mar 11, 2024 - 02:04 PM
Looks like a nice cat - fits the name! – except for those rudders.
Less risky to cut a hole at the top for a hatch, which you'll to do install the rudders, and drain with a hose/sponge combo. -
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Posted: Mar 14, 2024 - 10:06 AM
I agree, I hate to cut a hole in it until I have rudders ready as the rudder tube depends on the strength of the surrounding plastic. Once I have a hole cut I should be able to patch the original holes with some plastic melting sorcery. I reached out to Nacra Canada about spares and haven't heard back.
Secondly, what is going on with this website these days? Can we not turn off the ability to comment except for registered users?
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FYC, Nacra 5.2 "Chris's Flyer" & Nacra Playcat
Previously owned: Trac 14, H14, H16, H18, N5.0, G-cat 5.0
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Posted: Mar 19, 2024 - 11:59 AM
Also.... G/Flex epoxy is - afaik – the only thing that works on rotomolded hulls. For best results, you have to burn the surface first. There's videos online that show the technique. -
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Posted: Mar 20, 2024 - 12:35 PM
Welding the hulls depends entirely upon the type of plastic used in the roto-molding process. Martin is correct, at least for Hobie's plastic concoction; don't know about anyone else. There's a whole science to that business and the stuff that is thermoplastic/weldable isn't near as stiff as the stuff Hobie and others use - so they don't use it as much.
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Chuck C.
H21SE 408
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