Nacra 5.7 Spreaders Questions

I'm pretty sure NACRA started this around 1984...my 82 5.2 does not have raked spreaders, nor does a friend's old 83. Michael C. (perhaps he can comment) bought a used boat that had raked spreaders and I seem to remember that it was an 84 or 85. Upgrading them is possible but you are still left with a rather large hole in the mast where the old spreader went through. I've been reassured this won't hurt anything but I figure I'll wait until I have no other recourse to make the boat faster before I upgrade mine.

thanks, Jake!

Ed-

Not real sure about the 5.7 but my '84 5.0 had the straight through- I believe they switched shortly thereafter-

I upgraded mine at the time with a "kit" through Nacra & Murray's- It does leave a big hole but I cut my original "straight-through spreader" off and used under the new SS mast fitting for the raked spreaders (completely covers the holes anyway) as a sort of "compression tube" just to be sure and "gooped" the dickens out of it! Worked well for ~16 years until I traded it! IMO it made a difference upwind and was well worth it-

Kirt

Kirt,

Did you replace your diamond wires and hardware or leave the connection points as they were?

Thanks, Kirt.

Do you recall within a $100 how much the kit cost?

Ed

Ed,

The spreaders from a Hobie 18 will also make a direct fit - the designs are similar. I believe you can purchase the spreader parts from Performance for under $230...I priced them earlier this year. You can download their parts catalogs and pricing catalogs from their website http://www.performancecat.com

Jake-

I know I didn't change the lower connection points (were Sta-Master turnbuckles from Nacra) or get new diamond wires, I don't THINK I changed the top ones either- left them on the side of the mast (as they were stock when I bought boat new)-

Kirt

Hi Jake,

It never occured to me to consider changing them. I excuse this on the grounds I've never owned an old-style mast.

Ed