My Prindle 16 is a 1976 model, and doesn't have the same jib hardware on the mast as the current downloads of the users manual shows, no "S" hooks or rings. There is a sheeve built into the pigtail on the mast, and the halyard is wire with a small block on one end. What is that block for? I have only been out with the boat once and was unable to get it to tack, I think because the jib was the old style hoisted free of the fore stay. I have a newer style zippered jib, but from what I gather from other posts, it doesn't seem like this wire halyard is going to work inside the zipper with the fore stay. Also, the fore stay is shackled directly to the bridles-no turnbuckle- and that doesn't allow me to tension the rig. Is that how it was originally, or just a bad replacement job? I looked at Murrays for a new jib halyard and it is all line, no wire. Is that so it can be used inside the zipper next to the fore stay?
I'm sure all this sounds confusing but I'm hoping someone can help sort it out. Not many cat sailors to go to for hands on help here in Baja. Thanks

if you want to do it right and easiest, buy a new rigging kit from salty dog marine(145$) and a new line kit(120$), that will replace all rigging and lines to factory spec. as well as making the old girl safe. i was rigging my jib wrong all last summer leading to de-masting(intense!). i didn't bother with the manual for that and it cost me! looking back, new rigging and lines should have been first priority.

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bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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Your older style Prindle has a jib system just like the Hobie 16 with a wire halyard inside of the jib luff, and you tension it the same way the Hobie does. As stated above I would just get a newer style forestay and jib halyard so you will have a complete newer system. You are presently trying to use 2 different system.

Where in Baja are you located? I spend my winters in La Paz & sail Prindles. Pete

coastrat

if you want to do it right and easiest, buy a new rigging kit from salty dog marine(145$) and a new line kit(120$), that will replace all rigging and lines to factory spec. as well as making the old girl safe. i was rigging my jib wrong all last summer leading to de-masting(intense!). i didn't bother with the manual for that and it cost me! looking back, new rigging and lines should have been first priority.

Thanks. I'll check them out and try to arrange delivery with friends coming to visit. Would you care to tell me what was so dratically wrong with your rig that it caused a dismasting? I did use the zippered jib on my fore stay with the external hoist and it made the boat tack just fine, at least for my skill level.

pbegle

Where in Baja are you located? I spend my winters in La Paz & sail Prindles. Pete

Hi; I'm house sitting for someone near Mulege. Bahia Conception is a great place for small cats, have you been here? When I head home in August(if I can take the heat that long)I probably won't haul the boat back to N Cal. If you know of anyone that might be looking for a nice boat with lots of extras and on a trailer, please let me know.

Yes, I've sailed Bahia Conception--kept a couple of P-16's on Coyote Bay near Outward Bound school. There's a young first year marine biology student in La Paz who bought a beat up H-16 before I could get to him. He'd love a Prindle much better than his H-16. Said he'd look me up this summer when he planned to come to L.A. Now knows how to fix anything on cats. How did you come to end up with a zipper luff jib, but old style jib halyard? Pete

I bought the P-16 from a couple in Loreto, brought it home and tried to make sense out of the downloaded manual and what I actually had in hand. I really wanted to figure out why there was no turnbuckle on the fore stay and started asking around, and in the process found a severely Jimena damaged P-16 on the beach in Playa Naranjos. For a little cash and a couple sweaty afternoons,I got to recycle everything but the hulls. I was amazed to discover that both sails were still good, wrapped in the sail bag, after "flying like a kite" according to a witness who saw the boat go airborn. Only trouble was that the forestay was the only one broken, and the turnbuckle was already pilfered.
Is the student friend coming back down here this summer?

The student friend will probably fly to T.J., then have family member pick him up. But he has car in La Paz (don't remember if has hitch). Assume you have trailer for boat. I sold a P-16 mast to couple (Americans from Orange Cy) from Loreto this past summer. Did they have a black labrador retreiver? Do you still have the short upper forestay with the ring ? And is the zipper still good all the way? What is a Jimena? Pete

Jimena, the hurricane that pounded Mulege last fall...Joe and Julie, the folks i got the boat from did have a black lab...but the mast on this boat didn't have a ring on the forestay. the zipper is still good but the sail should have the corners re sewn. trailer,yes...very good shape...galvanized, spare tire too. I've got the mast, boom ( needs minor repair) and cross members also. Thanks for the reply.

As for tensioning someone might have customed it without a turnbuckle on purpose. I don't really care for the standard Prindle turnbuckle myself either and after browsing the manual a while back It seemed to read to me that you used that to tension the first time mostly then once you have the rake on the mast when you want it you can detension it just by moving one shroud up a couple notches. However you really need extra hands to do this.

They may have just made the forestay the length they wanted it then did it this way. But I agree new rigging can't hurt.

I have a set of P16 standing rigging and traps (except for bridles) that looks to be in pretty good shape that I'd let go cheap but even then I'd probably only keep them as a backup to save a day of sailing if you had a problem with others.

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Dustin Finlinson • Magna, UT
Member: Utah Sailing Association
1982 Prindle 18
1986 Hobie 17
1982 Prindle 16
1980 Prindle 16(mostly)
1976 Prindle 16(mostly)
Check out "Prindle Sailors" on Facebook.
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Don, There is a short upper forestay on later P-16s. It consists of two short wires, one a few inches longer with a ring attached. The lower forestay is attached to the shorter wire. The jib halyard is two pieces of 1/4" line connected with sister clips. One end of the halyard has an S hook with a shackle below to attach to the jib. The jib halyard runs through the shorter of the upper forestay wires. When attached to the jib head the zipper is closed with the halyard INSIDE the closing zipper. Upon raising, the S hook hooks onto the ring of the upper forestay. Now you have 18 or so feet of halyard at your feet. Disconnect the sister clips & stow the halyard half in tramp pocket. A bit complicated, but Surfglas wanted to make the P-16 a smidgen more hi-tech with a straighter forestay (tightened with a turnbuckle) and .001% faster although certainly not user friendly. Pete

Don, The young student from La Paz is about to sell his H-16 and might buy your P-16. His email is: antonio_takahiro@hotmail.com Pete