The main sail on my G-Cat 5.0 uses a boom. The sail is in poor shape. I've seen boomless sails for the 5.0, but I don't know if they would work on my 5.0. Can anyone clarify if the 1983 5.0 could accommodate the boomless sail?
Thanks,
Dan

probably not, it all depends on where the mainsheet blocks are

when you have a boom it doesn't really matter where boat end of the blocks are as the boom handles the load down to the mast, look at some pics and you'll see most boomed boats have back slanting sheet runs to get as much sail down low as possible

but when there is no boom, the boat end of the blocks has to be in exactly the right place and the sheet run is sloping forward to pull the foot of the sail AWAY from the mast

you may be able to adapt it but it's not as simple as you'd think

ie your traveller track is likely to be positioned to work for a back slanting sheet run, if you simply swing the blocks forward the loading on the track will be all wrong...



Edited by erice on Jul 24, 2011 - 05:01 AM.

I don't see why it wouldn't work if the sail maker has done his job. I had a friend that had a boomless main made for a Prindle 16 and it worked great.

--
Ron
Nacra F18
Reservoir Sailing Assn.
Brandon, Mississippi
--

I have a boomless mainsail, a nacra 6.0 and it has a 2 1/2 - 3 foot traveler on the mainsail to allow me to move the position of the upper mainsheet blocks. My older nacra 5.8 has a 5 hole clew plate on the mainsail, also for moving the upper mainsheet blocks. Much more adjustments, with a boomless mainsail. When you have a boom the blocks are in a fixed position, and it does matter where the blocks are attached. Try putting the blocks at the extreme end of a H-16 boom and then try and tack the boat, you will need some pretty
long arms to get the tiller around to the other side.

erice

probably not, it all depends on where the mainsheet blocks are

when you have a boom it doesn't really matter where boat end of the blocks are as the boom handles the load down to the mast, look at some pics and you'll see most boomed boats have back slanting sheet runs to get as much sail down low as possible

but when there is no boom, the boat end of the blocks has to be in exactly the right place and the sheet run is sloping forward to pull the foot of the sail AWAY from the mast

you may be able to adapt it but it's not as simple as you'd think

ie your traveller track is likely to be positioned to work for a back slanting sheet run, if you simply swing the blocks forward the loading on the track will be all wrong...Edited by erice on Jul 24, 2011 - 05:01 AM.

I think a boomless mainsail will work just fine on a Gcat 5.0

Thanks for your replies.

I was wondering if anyone had put a boomless sail on a Nacra 5.2? would it require modifications?

Thanks

i think the traveller track would need to be moved forward somehow

which would mean drilling and moving a few items

and that you would end up with a smaller, less controllable sail

so it would be more trouble than it's worth

but i do seem in the minority....

give it a go and tell us how it works



Edited by erice on Jul 29, 2011 - 05:32 AM.