Hello everyone,
I am new here and just picked up a very good condition Nacra 5.7 a few weeks ago from the classified ads on this site.
Great ride, my family and I are having a lot of fun with it. This is the first beach cat I have personally owned (have been sailing for 40+ years) but I have some experience on others (Hobie 16 and Hobie Wave) and was obsessed by Nacra's and did a lot of dreaming about them when I was teenager (which was a long time ago).
Anyways, this being my first Nacra, I am very happy with how she performs (powerful, fast and stable) but I think we could point substantially higher if we employed Nacra's 4-way jib lead system instead of just using the fore-n-aft jib tracks on the inner hull edges.
Has anyone here used this system on a N5.7 and if so was it worth the hassle? If we try it and like it we will have a small cover sown into the tramp to cover over the clutter and make it more manageable... but for now I would like to know what you all think about investing the time into rerigging it in the first place.
Thanks...
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Mike T
'88 Nacra 5.7
Florida's Big Bend Area
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4-way jib lead system on Nacra 5.7?
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Posted: May 14, 2025 - 11:21 PM
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Posted: May 15, 2025 - 09:09 AM
The jib is so small in relation to the main that fine tuning your sheet leads will make very little performance difference. Moving the jib blocks forward when off the wind helps a little because it eliminates twist.
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Bill Townsend
G-Cat 5.0
Sarasota
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Posted: May 15, 2025 - 04:25 PM
I added a jib system to my N5.5 but not the 4-way system, too complicated and invasive. Te boat didn't come with one but the cleats on the hulls were there, I removed them because they were invaisive too, especially with crew's private parts..
I used on each side old style Laser vang blocks with jammer. Around them a continous loop of line, with little loops on each side to attach the jib blocks. Then I tied auxiliary lines to fix the position on each side. The continuous loop has to be dyneema or it will stretch and separate from the trampoline significantly. That's why the original system has a wire. My system still gets on the way, it's not a problem to me, but one of the nice things of the 5.7 is the open tarampoline, you will sacrifice that. A cover won't do much, there will still be a wire or a tight line under it.
Are the jib blocks too far out on the N5.7 without a 4-way system? Not sure, on the N5.5 definitely, on the N5.0 I think so too, not as much though.
Edited by Andinista on May 15, 2025 - 04:28 PM. -
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Posted: May 15, 2025 - 04:39 PM
I also replaced the eyestraps of the jib traveler cars with the plates to mount the 4-way system, this way the vang blocks stay flat and all the system stands lower.
Edited by Andinista on May 15, 2025 - 04:39 PM. -
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Posted: May 16, 2025 - 01:23 AM
Thanks for the replies, y'all. Bill, you are right... the jib is very small in relation to the main. However it is annoying when the telltales start acting up and I know moving the leads/blocks inboard a little would fix.
It may be an inconsequential gain in actual performance but part of my issue is that I am teaching my 10-year old how to sail and I do not want him to get in the bad habit of ignoring the telltales when trying to stay higher than another boat... which is what I have found myself inevitably doing.
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Mike T
'88 Nacra 5.7
Florida's Big Bend Area
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Posted: May 16, 2025 - 01:41 AM
Andinista, I have never sailed a 5.5 so I do not know how they compare to the 5.7 or 5.0 but the 5.5 does have 6 inches more beam than the other two boats... so yes my jib blocks/track/cars are most likely a little further inboard than on a 5.5 already.
They do definitely interfere with our "sitting down parts". Light wind (anything under 10) is when it is the worst since we are not on the wire AND we are sitting way up forward to try to keep the bow down and biting.
So, retrofitting the flat plates on the traveler cars and moving the blocks inward would certainly be less intrusive and more comfortable than what we have now... so that would be an added bonus besides being able to tighten up the slot and point a little better.
I have also considered having the jib recut and retrofitting a self-tacking system a la the Inter 20 but I do not like the idea of giving up sail area. Even if we could add it back by using a slightly larger mainsail (which I do not presently have) that would be a considerably more involved solution than the system you have on your boat... and I am not sure how much it would tweak the boats helm balance which currently feels pretty good.
Hmmm...
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Mike T
'88 Nacra 5.7
Florida's Big Bend Area
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Posted: May 16, 2025 - 02:21 PM
Hi Mike, moving the jib blocks inward is very easy to test, anyway. You can set a line side to side from the existing eyestraps on the cars, with two or three loops on each side to attach the jib blocks in different positions. If the line stretches it doesn't matter for the test, the angle of the jib sheet doesn't change.
About retrofitting the jib, I think the N570 (or at least the N500) doesn't have a self tacking jib, but have the jib blocks mounted on the front beam. That might be a simpler or cheaper option. I considered it for a while, but then realized it was more an obsessive need to make modifications than a real need to have an open tramp. Also, sail balance is adjusted with mast rake, easy if you have range on the shroud plates and stay. If you don't want to sacrifice performance with a jib retrofit, then I guess you need a square top main.. a bit more pricey of course...
Edited by Andinista on May 16, 2025 - 02:23 PM. -
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Posted: May 16, 2025 - 04:15 PM
I disagree, it would not be cheap and the only thing accomplished would be a little less clutter on the tramp. Short pieces of traveler track would have to be put on the beam so you could move the jib blocks to open and close the slot. Worse yet, the bridle would have to be raised and the jib re-cut at the foot to get the proper sheeting angle. No fore and aft adjustment.
What Andinista suggested about having a line stretched tight across the tramp makes more sense, not only will you get your jib blocks more inboard where they need to be, it will also enable you to go a step further and add a barber-hauler for perfect trim. You want to be able to pull those sheet leads forward and outboard at the same time. I have seen some boats rigged like this. Take a look at my G-Cat, the last one on page three in the boats for sale section. Supersize that one photo and you'll get the idea. One drawback however is when you change the sheeting angle forward with the blocks staying in the same place, conventional jib blocks can be hard to cleat when you're alone. Oxen blocks solve this problem but they are pricey and the only reason I have them is they came with a boat I bought 30 years ago. I have had a love/hate relationship with them ever since.
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Bill Townsend
G-Cat 5.0
Sarasota
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Posted: May 16, 2025 - 11:13 PM
Andinista- I agree with Bill, your idea about rigging a test line with various loops between the jib cars to see how much improvement I can gain is a good one. Inexpensive to boot... That is what I will do next time I take her out.
Bill- The oxen blocks are new to me... I have not seen them before. I have run reversible direction capstans before when navigating locks on commercial vessels but that is a different animal. I looked them up and they are pricey indeed.
The main issue I am trying to address is being able to close up the slot... but having a more comfortable place to sit is important too... which is why I was thinking about the self-tacker, two birds with one stone.
However any way of actually doing that would certainly be a more expensive and complicated mod and could potentially cause more problems so I am going to steer away from that for now.
I also have a lead on a set of the ever elusive Nacra wings, so that might make the deck clutter problem a moot point anyways... and the boat already has the little blocks for the barber-haulers mounted on the fwd face of the fwd cross beam.
Your G-cat looks to be in really nice shape and I envy that double tramp arrangement. I still do not understand why more NA's didn't incorporate a fwd tramp into their designs. Maybe it is just because the beachcat market was always geared more to surfers, racers and younger watersport enthusiasts as opposed to families and camp-cruisers...
Anyways, she is a nice looking boat and it looks like you have done a lot of work to her. Do you sail her near Sarasota?
Edited by waterman1 on May 17, 2025 - 12:14 AM.
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Mike T
'88 Nacra 5.7
Florida's Big Bend Area
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Posted: May 17, 2025 - 01:12 PM
I've often wondered the same thing. The N5.7 for instance has enough volume in the forward hulls to support one and you can always remove it if conditions warrant. I could write a short essay on the pros and cons, but for me, the way I sail, the pros win by a large margin. And yeah, I do sail on Sarasota Bay. I went out three days ago and it was perfect, anchored on a sand bar in two feet of water, (Front tramp makes anchoring way less problematic) relaxed, did some tuning and went off again, and the wind picked up and I was on the wire the rest of my sail. I find that being on the wire is way more comfortable for my back than sitting on the hull.
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Bill Townsend
G-Cat 5.0
Sarasota
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Posted: May 17, 2025 - 10:45 PM
That really does sound like a perfect day sailing, Bill...
I appreciate you and Andinista sharing your thoughts and your experience with me. I will rig up a "test line" with loops across the tramp and see how it goes next time I take the boat out... and I will let you all know how it goes.
However, I am getting ready to head back out of town for business soon so it will most likely be late June before I will have a chance to get the boat back in the water
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Mike T
'88 Nacra 5.7
Florida's Big Bend Area
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