Just Bought a Nacra 5.8. Need a hand please.
hello all, thanks for reading. I am now the very happy owner of a Nacra 5.8. Its a nice boat (ill post pictures later) with very minimal hull deterioration, only one soft spot on the top deck of the left floater near the back. I do have to fix stress marks that are happening on the top deck on the back where the tube that holds the tramp up. The sails were left out in the sun/grass so they did suffer a bit but they can be saved!
Now, on to why I am writing here: I am not familiar with Nacras in general, and what I know I know thanks to you all that are nice enough to answer my questions and everyone else's on these forums. From what I have read, the 5.8 never had a spinnaker, and yet this one does, is this just a custom kit that the previous owner installed or was there an OEM version of this? Im excited about this dont get me wrong but I dont want to rip the mast in half by using something that wasn't made for it. The spinnaker itself has a couple of rips near the tack point, and i was also wondering if i could simply use sail patching material to repair it since it is close enough to the attachment point to not affect the shape of the sail too much. I am basing these thoughts simply on the fact that I've been sailing for 12 years(teaching for 5) and have been on a variety of Cat's, but I would rather be told I'm wrong and get your input on this so that I can truly enjoy this boat.
Also, Anyone have an assembly manual or pictures of rudder configurations, dagger board setups, suggestions for raising the mast, etc.... anything at all for me to see and understand the intricacies of this boat.
Thanks for your Help!
The 5.8 never had a factory kite, at least in the US. Lots of people added one, though.
You can find the Nacra assembly manual at
Where are you located?
On that note, anyone in Florida that knows/loves Nacras??
Does a fat baby fart!?
On that note, anyone in Florida that knows/loves Nacras??
Does a fat baby fart!?
Does Raggity Anne have cotton... errr... yeah 😛
try the CABB forum on the main forum index for the Biscayne Bay catsailors!

you are the winner of the worst saying on this post, officially.
Thanks guys, Undecided, im going to check them out right now!
Funny note: im in Coral Gables (i.e. fancy shmancy neighborhood right next to UM) and they dont allow boats in the visible yard, i found this out 3 hours after parking it there this morning....so now its in the back yard and the guy is trying to jump my fence as im writing this to try and stick me with another type of fine...ah the joy of watching him fall and be chased around by my dog XD
its ok, he failed (yay!) he cant get me for anything anymore haha. He did,however, find himself with a big pile of my dog's .... when he made his way into my back yard, i dont think he's gonna be trying that again. awesome idea though i like it!
now back to the actual topic: thanks again for the CABB reference i got in touch with John McKnight and he was extremely helpful 🙂 so i think everything will work itself out in time.
I would just like to point out there IS a difference between a hull and a floater.
Nacra AUS made a factory spin kit for the 5.8. they still race them at some regatta's. most 5.8's have returned to non spin sailing.
G'day Mangeri, do you have a bowfoil on your cat? Do you have slides for your jib leads or fixed position? To save the confusion I went through make sure whatever you read for setting up your boat is for the rig you have. Dazz and others spent a bit of effort on helping me set mine up.
Your gonna love that cat.
regards
Your gonna love that cat.
regards
I have a track for the jib leads, and i dont know what you are referring to by a bowfoil :-(. If you could describe it to me i could most definetly tell you

Bowfoil: Un tube en alu a l'avant, entre les deux brides de l'étai, qui sert a reduire l'effort de pincement entre les deux coques.
Regarde sur cette photo.
G'day again here's a shortcut that was given to me when I asked about tuning the 5.8 in a thread on this forum called
sail tuning on 5.8
This is for your cat
http:/
This is for Goose's tuning guide also really well explained but I don't know what bits are wrong for your cat
http://goosemarine.com.au/Articles%20|%20Photos
There is an expanded version of this guide with photo's on
catsailor.net
in the Nacra users forum called Nacra 5.8 Tuning Guide
http:/
Do you have an outhaul on your main sail or holes?
Take heaps of photo's and give us a look. I've posted a video of me sailing and photo's for comment and got great advice on boat setup and sailing technique
regards
thanks for the sites JeffS! im looking through them right now and i swear i learn something new every time i look through these things.
As for the pictures, im clearing up the lines tomorrow on the mast and wont be able to raise it until i get the new mast step system, but i will definitely post pictures of everything VERY soon, i.e. tomorrow night.
Thanks to all

Be aware that it took a month for Nacra UK to get me a new complete mast pin for my 5.2. Be prepared for some wait: it got shipped from the US to Netherlands, from there to the UK, and from there to me! You may be better off ordering directly from the US via this site or via murrays for example...
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