I can't seem to find a replacement fixed gooseneck for the gcat 5.0. Will a sliding gooseneck work, like from a hobie 16? I know it fits in the track. But the hobie has an attached foot while while the gcat has a loose foot. Not sure how much of a difference that will make on the downhaul/outhaul. Thanks

many g-cats use the hobie extrusion for beam and mast - so hobie parts should work fine

[quote=MN3]many g-cats use the hobie extrusion for beam and mast - so hobie parts should work fine[/quote

I will resist responding with a smarmy comment about what is optimal. The first part of your response is true except you refer to "beam" instead of "boom". The part about it working fine is incomplete in that it is over simplified. There are two different types of G-Cat Sails- one with a grommet above the top batten (older style), one with the grommet below. This may be an issue for the OP since he would have to tie this grommet to the gooseneck (as he said, the sail is loosefoot, unlike Hobie). If he has the older sail, the bottom batten may flop around. Also, G-Cat sails are fairly long leech-wise (longer than Hobie), so you may want to confirm the sliding gooseneck would not be below the downhaul blocks with the sail pulled down. If they are below the downhaul blocks, you will not be able to adjust the downhaul.

The better option would be a prindle gooseneck like the one on the Prindle 16, which should be a comparable replacement to the GCat system. I have a spare prindle yoke for the boom, but not the gooseneck that rivets to the mast. Assuming you need the latter.



Edited by jsb4g on Jul 07, 2017 - 08:39 AM.

woofman

I can't seem to find a replacement fixed gooseneck for the gcat 5.0. Will a sliding gooseneck work, like from a hobie 16? I know it fits in the track. But the hobie has an attached foot while while the gcat has a loose foot. Not sure how much of a difference that will make on the downhaul/outhaul. Thanks

https://www.murrays.com/product/56-7810/

https://www.murrays.com/product/56-7807/

https://www.murrays.com/product/56-7808/

https://www.murrays.com/product/56-f131/

Quote

I will resist responding with a smarmy comment about what is optimal. The first part of your response is true except you refer to "beam" instead of "boom".

I meant beam and mast - not boom
the beams are made out of h16 mast extrusions



Edited by MN3 on Jul 07, 2017 - 08:53 AM.

MN3

Quote

I will resist responding with a smarmy comment about what is optimal. The first part of your response is true except you refer to "beam" instead of "boom".

I meant beam and mast - not boom
the beams are made out of h16 mast extrusionsEdited by MN3 on Jul 07, 2017 - 08:53 AM.

The beam has no relevance to the discussion, which is why I assumed you meant boom. My apologies.

Thanks for the info. My sail has the grommet below the lower batten so I may try the hobie sliding gooseneck as I can get one local, I can probably even borrow one to try. There does seem to be enough room to mount a cheek block for the downhaul but in the end I may just order the prindle setup as it seems to be more flexible and leaves the boom in a fixed position.
My wife actually keeps busting my chops to go boomless. Has anyone done a conversion like that? I have a local sail loft that can modify my sail.
I have nothing now, no gooseneck, no cheek blocks, no yoke pin. Only the jam cleat remains. Was the original pin just inside the boom end cap? Was there any support inside or just a spring? It seems like a lot of stress to be put on just the cap.
The setup that was there was poorly rigged and concerned me so I removed it. Thanks again.

g-cats do very well without a boom
if your not racing, you probably can do without

you will need a good / heavy batten on the bottom pocket, and a multi hole clew plate so you can hang your blocks in different locations - (to take the place of your outhaul)

Here is a picture of Hans G (cat) - himself, i took last month - on his 5.0 sans boom




Edited by MN3 on Jul 07, 2017 - 01:45 PM.

removed - not worth my time



Edited by MN3 on Jul 07, 2017 - 05:40 PM.

woofman

Thanks for the info. My sail has the grommet below the lower batten so I may try the hobie sliding gooseneck as I can get one local, I can probably even borrow one to try. There does seem to be enough room to mount a cheek block for the downhaul but in the end I may just order the prindle setup as it seems to be more flexible and leaves the boom in a fixed position.
My wife actually keeps busting my chops to go boomless. Has anyone done a conversion like that? I have a local sail loft that can modify my sail.
I have nothing now, no gooseneck, no cheek blocks, no yoke pin. Only the jam cleat remains. Was the original pin just inside the boom end cap? Was there any support inside or just a spring? It seems like a lot of stress to be put on just the cap.
The setup that was there was poorly rigged and concerned me so I removed it. Thanks again.

You can definitely go boomless with sail modification (I think the foot would have to be shortened and a clew plate added to fit existing cross beam/traveler location), as you can see with the picture above. You would lose some sail area. If I were you, and given what you have said, I'd go boomless, particularly if the price to modify isn't that high. One of my biggest complaints about the GCat 5 is how low the boom is. It makes coming about and jibing difficult with more than one person on the boat. People are always getting scrapes from the boom, even when going aft during the turn.

I've never taken the boom end cap off to see what is holding the yoke in place. I've never had any problems with it though. Speaking of weak parts, did you get my message about the pool cue clips as a rudder clip replacement? I took measurements and the clips I sent a link from amazon would seem to be the right size. Maybe two per rudder?!?



Edited by jsb4g on Jul 07, 2017 - 06:33 PM.

MN3

g-cats do very well without a boom
if your not racing, you probably can do without

you will need a good / heavy batten on the bottom pocket, and a multi hole clew plate so you can hang your blocks in different locations - (to take the place of your outhaul)

Here is a picture of Hans G (cat) - himself, i took last month - on his 5.0 sans boom
Edited by MN3 on Jul 07, 2017 - 01:45 PM.

Nice pic (and very nice/expensive sail!). I heard from a G-Cat owner in Dunedin that he got badly injured a couple of months back and is now selling the G-Cat in the picture. Is that not true?



Edited by jsb4g on Jul 07, 2017 - 06:31 PM.