First up, I'd like to thank the people who gave me advise. I went to look at the boat on Sat, & their version of "pristine" is not quite the same as mine. The older gent who owns it is in very poor health, lives 1000 miles away, & had asked a friend who lives close to the boat to sell it. The friend means well, seems like an honest hard working guy, & readily admits he knows nothing about boats.
So when I got to the actual location I couldn't see the sails or any of the gear that gets taken off for winter storage, as they were locked up in the cottage. Bummer. What I could see seems OK, a few gelcoat cracks, but no soft spots in the hulls. There were some gelcoat cracks around the bottom outside of the port gudgeon. I think it is gelcoat only, as I cannot flex the fibrglass at all in this area.
The tramp is hanging loose, I don't know if they slacked it off for winter, or it is shot
I couldn't find/feel any broken strands in any of the cables, but I could only inspect closely the bottom 7 feet or so. I think some of it must have been replaced, as the shrouds look like they are new, & covered with some sort of black vinyl material.
There are no patches on the hulls, & does not appear to be any grind marks on the skeg portion.
It does have the captive mast system, but does not have the Privmatic rudder kick ups, though I see a set of those is only $80 from Murrays.
The trailer is a piece of crap, I honestly don't see how you could ever move the boat more than from the water to the lawn with that trailer.
The frustrating part is the owner has had several strokes & the poor guy is not really lucid, the son-in-law is dealing long distance & doesn't know much, & the friend caught in the middle trying to sell it is not a boater, and can't provide much in the of answers. OF course I will have to look at the sail before I make a final decision.
You were all correct in that it is a bloody big boat, with a bloody tall mast! I have since come across two 5.2
one a 1982, the other a 1983. They are very reasonably priced, though I'm sure you pretty much get what you pay for. It is an easy job to fly to the States to inspect them, & they are close enough that I could go pick them up.
What do you guys think, would I be better off with the smaller 5.2? I know it has the boom, they both have the bar across the middle of the tramp, & daggerboards. I have dealt with the daggerboard on my invitation, no big deal. If single handing,is it possible when coming onto shore to pull one board up, then sail the last hundred yards or so with only one board, in order to cut down the chaos factor for a new cat sailor? Or will it just pivot around the remaining board?
I guess what I'm really asking is would I be better off with a 5.2 vs the 5.7? Realistically I will probably singlehand the boat 40% of the time.
I'm off to Beijing this afternoon, have to work to buy these toys, so I'll read all replies on Tue night.
Thanks, I ve already learned lots about these boats...I really want a NACRA!
P.S. to the chap who sailed on Simcoe, I also fly for Air Canada.

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Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
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No way to know which you'd be happier with, but coming in to shore the 5.2 has no trouble sailing with the daggers up. Most times I raise the windward rudder and daggers, then sit on the lee side and sail the last little bit with only the lee rudder in the water. The daggers don't provide so much drag that you'll have to worry about having them up or not when coming to shore...you can also always adjust them to any height you'd like.

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Rob
OKC
Pile of Nacra parts..
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E.C.,

I owned a Catalina 25 for years, sailed it on many trips. I've sailed other mono's larger and smaller and owned a Hobie 16 for one season trying to learn cats before I bought my 5.2. I'm also a big guy, over 200 lbs.

My point with all this is that even though I could take my 25 over to Catalina (Channel Islands) by myself no problem the 5.2 is still plenty of boat for me to singlehand.

The reason, as I see it, is that with cats the real fun is to push the boat, and as a result - your skills. These boats are light and fast, so when there's good wind (usually starting at something over 10kts) there's a lot for me to do to manage the sails, their shape, the lifting hull, the daggerboards, the tiller, and my soda - all while learning to be out on the wire.

That doesn't mean I wouldn't have had fun with something bigger, but with more length and more sail area comes a steeper learning curve for newbies, possibly leading to more frustration, leading to more admiring the boat in the driveway than sailing it.

There's guys for whom all this is second nature, and they probably wouldn't think twice before buying a cat 19 or even 20 feet long and sailing it solo. But they've likely got many years of practice in smaller Hobies or others.

Don't want to discourage you from the 5.7. Just want you to have different points of view to consider.

Nacra 5.2 another excellent boat! Way ahead of its time. This would also be a good fit for your needs.I know a lot of people sail these solo. I never got why people whine about the hassle of daggers just spray the trunks with some mcclube and its easy as pie with a lot more performance. As long as youre not sailing in shallow water its no problem. If you are soloing 40% what about the other 60%? Main difference between the two boats is that with the 5.2 max capacity will be two adults while I'm guessing with the 5.7 it can handle 3, maybe 4 people. Many more 5.2s were made so replacement parts and older cheaper sails will be easier to find.
Boats in this price range are going to be aged so finding one thats in good shape with nice sails and a highway ready trailer is a rare find. The purchase price is really just a downpayment, you are always going to need to spend a little something. Example, when you get a 20 year old boat, you will probably want to get all new shrouds.Its not a lot of money but it will provide peace of mind.
I still think the 5.7 may still be a good deal but if you are expanding your search then another good design for you may be the prindle 18-2 it has kick up daggers. Good luck!

I would say the 5.2 would still meet your needs and you will love it. I know I LOVE mine, but I was looking for a 5.0 or 5.7 at the time and there simply aren't any that I could find within reasonable distance. You can remove the center bar on the 5.2 with a couple of simple modifications, if you find its a pain.

The 5.2 really isn't much smaller than the 5.7 though. I still think for the price the 5.7 is a good deal and has some real advantages over the 5.2, you may be able to talk them down somewhat if you have to bring a new trailer. The lack of daggers when coming into shore would be nice, but the real advantage is that I am constantly worrying about hitting a shallow with them. They don't kick up and can cause a HUGE amount of damage to the hulls if you hit something. The lack of a boom would also be nice on gybes, if you don't do them right the boom will come accross REAL fast.

Anyway you slice it, unless you are really lucky any 1980s vintage boat will require some extra work. Usually at least some of the rigging will need to be replaced as well as most of the line and probably one or two patches in the sails. All are no big deal, the trampoline is a bit of a higher ticket item. Stock ones can run about $600, there are a few places that sell aftermarket ones as cheap as $400 though. If it isn't frayed you can likely have the tramp patched by a sailmaker also.

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Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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in a lake the better pointing ability of a 5.2 with daggers is considerable

if 1 of the usa 5.2's has a good trailer go for that

more 5.2's were made so parts would be easier to find

everyone else has seen this before but here's a short on board video of a 1982 5.2 being soloed in a lake with only the mainsail

http://www.vimeo.com/5075989