Let me know if this is already covered in another thread, but I'm a new Cat sailor who recently inherited a 1974 SOL CAT 18 from my in-laws. I've sailed mono hull with my dad since I was a kid so I'm fairly experienced in the basics of sailing. I've sailed my new cat only once with my In-laws several years ago, so I vaguely remember how to rig it but I'm curious what everyone would recommend I should do first to get it ready for the upcoming season ?

Structurally it's in decent shape and I've already ordered a new tramp, and replaced the running rigging. The standing rigging looks to be in pretty good shape and the hardware seems serviceable. The hulls are surprisingly sound (it's been buried in the shadow of Mount Hood for two decades so not much U.V. damage or delamination.) The sails are a little blown out but still seem to be holding together. I've got plans to disassemble the boat and repaint the hulls later this month. I'm pretty tight on funds so I need to prioritize my repairs and upgrades and looking for some insight on whats most important.

Thanks for your help,

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Jeremy Hales
1974 SOLCAT 18
Salem, OR
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One of the first things that I would do is change every piece of standing rigging, especially since it has been sitting for 2 decades. The rigging may look okay but after that length of time there is NO WAY I would trust it.

I would hold off on the paint, that's purely cosmetic. You can restore the hulls by buffing the gelcoat, I don't know why the first thing people want to do is paint over gelcoat.
Invest in a tiller extension, good PFD (the kayak ones work well with a harness) & comfortable harness, if you don't have one. Bungee cords for trap lines are probably shot, along with the short lines for trap adjustment.

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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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I agree with Hullflyer, the first thing you should buy is new standing rigging. Everything may look fine, but knowing they are in good shape is worth the price. Has the boat ever been in salt water? After the standing rigging then you need a good PFD, one that is comfortable so you will wear it. I also like the kayak style, but they are more expensive if you are on a small budget.

After that it kind of depends on the condition of the boat and where you are sailing. A VHF radio is a good idea for large bodies of water. Make sure you have a righting system and practice using it. A good polish on the gelcoat will do wonders for how the boat looks.

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Scott,
‘92 H18 w/SX wings
‘95 Hobie Funseeker 12 (Holder 12)
‘96/‘01/‘14 Hobie Waves
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Thanks for the feedback so far! I'm definately going to take a second look at the standing rigging. Any ideas about a good resource for SOL CAT rigging as I'm assuming that it's not a commonly stocked item for most marine retailers? I've got a PFD that I used for Jet Ski trips last summer but I'm going to take your advice and keep an eye out for a good Kayak style PFD on sale or clearance. I forgot about the harness... I'll have see if i can ebay or craigslist one. The bungee and small rgging line has been purchased and just needs to be installed. The boat came with tiller extension that extends smoothly and locks up pretty tight. As for the paint job. It's not a pretty color to begin with (split pea green) and I want to change the color over to an orange. The cost on this is almost nil as my father does custom restoration work on cars during his time off and manages an automotive paint supply store. He has a spray booth and everything i need to do the job except 1.5 QTS of paint. Besides it will give me somthing to do until the weather improves. To answer your question Scott, to my knowledge the boat has never been in salt water. It came from Montana to Oregon some time in the early 80's and resided on Blue lake and Timothy lake near Sandy Oregon until i took ownership. Thanks again for your feedback, I really appreciate it.

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Jeremy Hales
1974 SOLCAT 18
Salem, OR
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http://www.thebeachcats.c…opic/topic/12247/start/0

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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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Definitely hold off on the paint, if the cat is in as good shape as you say, other than maybe the colour, you can refurbish the hulls using an orbital sander and 800 - 1000 grit waterpaper to remove any mold, mildew or oxidization. Once the hulls are clean, clearcoat them using Poliglow http://www.poliglow-int.com/. If funds are tight hold off on replacing the standing rigging for right now but it would be a priority, especially if the cat has been in salt water, just eyeball the shrouds and make sure all ends are rust-free.

Familiarize yourself with the rudders, get them dialled to the point you are comfortable with how they operate, you can only tune your rudders with sail time. Also get familiar with rigging the cat, if you are going to trailer it to water, you want to rig in as short a time as possible. Then when it comes time to go sailing just remember to sail within your limits, that means sailing with safety in mind, as mentioned above, good PFD(s), good righting technique, etc. Also keep in mind that the safety factor increases exponentially when it comes to sailing large bodies of water such as the ocean.

I bought an '83 Prindle 18, that had not seen water for over 10 years, cleaned it up, rigged it a few times in my yard, dialled in the rudders, and went sailing, have been out in winds up to 20 MPH and have had no issues with the standing rigging, cleaned up all the running rigging by immersion in 20% bleach water, the cat cleaned up really good, have been meaning to add new pics to my album, http://www.thebeachcats.c…d0bec0d73d3e72cb9f84dbd3, but have just been too busy sailing the heck out of it. Will try post pics of how good she cleaned up this coming season.

Did I ever mention how much I hate winter?

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TurboHobo
H14T
H16
P18
G-Cat 5.0
P16
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As much as you want to paint over those hulls to make them look new, from previous experience I would try to restore the gelcoat instead. I had a professional prep and spray my boat from an orange gelcoat to a white. At first i was amazed with the boat but as a beginner you will realize having a cat that has been painted over can be more work. A chip of paint will be a pain. Also with paint dragging the boat on the beach, or extended periods of in the water will ruin the paint.

As for rigging, I always go with saltydog marine. I checked and a solcat rigging set i only $98, which is very affordable in comparison.

Hope this helped

I'm gonna differ with everyone in regards paint. I've got two boats, both of which are paint over gelcoat. That's a total of five hulls

It's ALL about prep, and being related to a paint guy you should know that. Do make sure your surface is super fair and wipe down with acetone to remove any traces of anything possibly oily, like handprints, especially with the two-part Awlgrip type paints, very finicky about surface prep.

It's secondly about painting with good paint. Both of my boats are painted with two-part urethanes. See pics in the album here
http://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures/?g2_itemId=77130

The yelo boat is a two-part industrial polyurethane similar to AwlGrip (it's buoy paint actually, guy who painted it works in the shipyards). The white trimaran IS Awlgrip. Yelo boat was done at least 10 yr ago, and trimaran's paint is about the same age. Good prep, good paint, careful application, paint can be very durable.

BTW Sand off as much gelcoat as you can, saves weight. Gelcoat is heavy. I did the work on the yelo boat myself, and i was surprised at just how much gelcoat they slather on...

Quarath, thanks for the link! That's great info on the rigging that would have been a major pain to deal had I not known. As to the question about the nessesity of painting the hulls, I'm in agreement with tami that if you do it right a painted hull over gelcoat can look great and last a long time. Most of the lakes in my area are mountian lakes with boat ramps and rocky shores. So beaching my Cat really isn't an option and I'm not as concerned about the effects of an abrasive surface on the the hulls constantly. I've helped my dad paint several boats over the years and we've had great results with longevity, even while long term mooring them over several years.

I'll have to read up on the different finishes suggested as most of my experiance is with automotive polyester, urethane, and epoxy finishes.

Want to say thank you to everyone who's commented so far. I've never belonged to such a friendly and helpful forum before. It's kinda refreshing to read a thread without things getting to intense.

Just to tack on, I'm probably not going to be sailing by myself to often so...
1: do I really need a righting bag if I'm 6'-4" 210lbs and sailing with another adult? Or would our combined weight manage it? And...
2: Would a spinaker be too much for this old boat or me to handle, and how would I go about rigging for that setup?

Thanks,

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Jeremy Hales
1974 SOLCAT 18
Salem, OR
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Righting is more about technique than weight per se. I've watched a 120-lb girl right a Hobie 16 by herself. Certainly the weight you're carrying will manage fine, and actually as heavy as you'd be, it'll be a miracle if the boat flips. You will prolly pitchpole before going over abeam.

I don't think the chute would be too much, but at this point, it's more worth your time to learn to sail the boat as is than to introduce more complications. Sailing is sailing, yes. But multihull sailing is apparent wind sailing, so it is not exactly the same as monohull sailing. Weight, and placement of same, is far more critical, and sail trim will be very different (you'll trim far flatter, you'll sail on the main rather than the jib, and you'll steer rather than trim).

If you are sailing on mountain lakes, how's the water temp? You might want to invest in a couple of those 3/4 wetsuits, available for around $30 at Wally World.
They can makes things way more comfortable, & extend your season at both ends.
I am sure that two of you can right an 18' boat with just the line. Toss it over the hull & hike out horizontal, just off the water. As the boat comes up, move inside, so the hull doesn't come down on top of you.
Hang onto the boat, they can drift pretty quick once on their feet again.

--
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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...oh, and be sure to UNCLEAT your sails before trying to right the boat

...don't ask me how i know....

Lol! Ok, sounds like good advice. The lake I sail on most isn't a mountain lake as I first stated, it's actually a reservoir called Fern Ridge in Eugene, OR. It's pretty shallow (about 30' at it's deepest point and thus it warms up fairly quickly, if and when the sun decides to show up. I've already got a full length wet suit that I've used for jet skiing last summer so I should be able to get an early start this year. One thing I'm a little concerned about is the depth of the lake being a problem if I were to turtle the boat for some reason. How do you deal with that situation (your mast stuck in the mud,) without having another boat pull you over. Hopefully it won't be an issue but I'm not sure how well the mast will float and for how long if I manage to dump the boat.

Got the boat pulled up to the shop today and stripped it down. I'm thinking that despite my earlier enthusiasm for painting the hulls I may have to hold off this year and just cut and buff them. Their are several deep scratches and a few half assed ding and chip repairs to be fixed again, so I've still got plenty of work to do. Too many other projects of my dads taking precedence for shop time. :) It's all right though plenty of time to paint them next year. See pic's of the project here: http://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures/?g2_itemId=79131&g2_GALLERYSID=e40518981af924226d8a4fd0100f7dc7

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Jeremy Hales
1974 SOLCAT 18
Salem, OR
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Seal the mast. That should be a priority. If your mast takes on water, you've got however much water at 8lb/gal at the end of a rather long lever. You ain't gonna be getting that back up, even if it's not "mudhen'ned."

And the only solutions I've seen for a real bad mudhenning is a. powerboat pull out, which if not done right is expensive (broken sail, mast, battens) or b. sheeting in the main underwater and hoping a wave fills the sail, which is expensive 'cause it'll at least take out battens and maybe the sail too. Sheeit, your lake is deep - the Mississippi Sound averages 15ft.

Y'know... come to think, a search of not only thebeachcats, but other small-multihull fora (catsailor.com) will have all the questions you've asked so far already answered.



Edited by tami on Jan 23, 2011 - 08:05 AM.

Jeremy, you would be amazed at what wet sanding, good buff job and a quality rubbing compound would do for your boat.Buy a set of snazzy decals from the local print shop and wallah! I was going to paint my 30 year old boat but got talked out of it by a old car restorer. Glad I did.

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Nacra 5.2
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