I just bought a SolCat 18 (1978) this past week. Price was great, howeveve its been difficult to find other SolCat 18 owners on the internet and when I do, it seems the forums haven't been active in years. Anyway, I am hoping we have some folks here that are still sailing their SolCat's and have sources for parts.
I took mine out yesterday in 15-18kts winds and absolutely had an awesome day sailing her....at the end of the day, I ended up breaking the starboard rudder in half and when I returned to the beach found out that the transom on the starboard hull had separated. Gonna need to find a good fiberglass guy .....
My boys and I had a Solcat 18 for years and sailed it often and hard.
Parts were a bear and virtually impossible to find.
Great boat but it had a particularly wet ride, with its cool looking low slung look.
The hulls finally went soft when the foam core started de-laminating and on one particular sail, one hull broke in half right in front of the forward beam.
Bummer.
I believe we could have saved the boat to sail it longer if we would have installed a spreader tube at the bottom of the bridle, to keep the long forward parts of the hull from pitching inward during heavy sailing in heavy air; if we would have done that before it broke in half.
Tom
Congrats on the Sol Cat purchase. I have an 18' too, it's great to be out on the water on something besides a Slowbie 16.
First, get your rudder release sorted out. You need these:
http://www.murrays.com/27-0257.html
For the transom, you should consider doing the repair yourself. Fiberglass isn't rocket science and a beach cat ain't the space shuttle. The main difference between a novice and expert fiberglass job is that the expert will use less material and add less weight to the boat without sacrificing repair strength.
Fair winds...
Thank you both for your feedback. I am having a fiberglass expert do the repairs to the hull transom and have already purchased new rudders and rudder housings (just in case). The left hull seems to have a huge soft spot on the top so we are going to firm it up with several layers of fiberglass. I have already replaced the shrouds and forestay, and have a replacement mainsail (ebay for $75.). I am constantly looking for other SolCats (any condition) for sale to either add to my spare parts collection or maybe to replace this one. I have found them as low as $200. Hoping she is back on the water this weekend. I will begin posting pictures and videos with my GoPro soon. My competition on the lake are several hobiecats and two Prindles. So, should make for an interesting day of sailing/racing.
Thanks again.