I've got an 83 Supercat 19 with no boom and saw a pretty nice used Mainsail for sail- but it is from a Prindle 19 which appeared to be loose footed. Is there much difference- I'm not going to be racing since I never saw a Supercat before this one- it also has 2 reef points which would be nice if the wind is up. Any advice for beach sailing?
i can tell you reefing a sail on a boat with a halyard lock opens a real can of worms.
you will need to lay the sails on top of each other to evaluate the usability of the prindelsail on your boat. modifications may need to be made...or not. the prindle has a boom, but for recreation on your boat, if the foot lengths of the 2 sails are similar, boomless may work with the prindle sail.
I tried the same thing on a different boat... the foot length is criticle on a boomless and I had the sail recut. It was expensive by the time I figured the sail work, cost of the sail, battens, ect. and it just did not work that great, Reffing with the hook style halyard did not work that well either.
In the end, I would have been much better off looking for a used correct main or contacting someone like Super Sail Makers and starting new.
If you are going to keep the boat for a while, new would be the best value IMO.
I realized the clew has a block with multiple attach points for the sheet blocks to allow for changes to fullness of the sail-related to windspeed. What is the big deal about the halyard lock- how does it help keep the boat- or sail or mast together?
The clew attaching point on a prindle sail will be a single grommet. Also, a prindle sail attachmet is out past the rear beam. On a boomless rig, it needs to be a little forward of the rear beam or the sheet will be pulling the sail towards the mast as it is sheeted in instead of away from the mast as needed. Also the prindle is loose footed and has no bolt rope in the foot for some type of boomlet.
The problem I have found with reefing the ring and hook halyard is if it is reefed, you can't hook it and have to cleat the halyard to tension the sail. The halyard streaches bad. I tried a cable about 3' or so to make up the distance between the headplate and the hook, but it was impssible to engage the hook without laying the boat over and doing it by hand. I tried it for two seasons and finally realized a sail made for the specific boat was way worth it. You may be able to find a used sail for the Supercat 19 here or on other cat sailing sites or try SPS. I have mixed and matched a few boat parts before, but is it always a royal PITA to get right.
just my $0.02
Go to http://www.aquarius-sail.com/
work your way to the owners forum and ask your question over there.It is the dedicated Supercat/ARC catamaran Forum and the builder and designer are very active, they can advise you where to get a proper sail for your boat. You may flush out another Supercat owner that might have a used one for sale as well.
Regards,
Bob