The "smokies" FINS(Fire Island National Seashore Rangers) took issue with my sailing partners & I when we removed the masts from our cats( great idea all the boats survived) and left them over a dune in the swale while our boats road out Jose"s fury( the wind blew 40ks plus for 4 days and literally the seas in the bay were ocean size all that period of time, so much so that bay beach disappeared -over 80 feet by an1/8 of a mile and the dune eroded! no way to bring cats to nonexistent beach to raise our masts when the storm abated. By the time we returned the next weekend the rangers had removed our masts ,with all the hardware and stays carefully taped to them, and cut them up!! And recycled them! Now we are in search of replacements for Nacra 570, Nacra 5.7 & Dart 18 masts hardware and stays. Issue is are there masts from other cats we can use? I have a Nacra 5.2 and hobie 16 & prindle 16 masts but none will fill the bill. any ideas? does a hobie 18 mast work with a 570? we could modify-we have the time our sailing season is effectively over but for a rigged hobie 16.

wow that is harsh~!

Have 3 H-18 masts. Masts are $250 each & shipping for 2 or 3 is $300. See ad in Classifieds. Same thing happened here a few years ago on Malibu Beach. I got a Prindle 19 for $100 Pete

That's gotta be incredibly frustrating. I can't imagine...

Talk to Pete out in Big Bear... yeah, I know that's quite a road trip, but multiple masts for you and your friends might make it worth it. He's currently selling a carbon N20 stick for absurdly cheap. drop him a line and see what else he can lay his hands on.

I come from the 4x4 world where swaps aren't unusual, and you can make many things work well in configurations never considered by the designers, it just takes ingenuity, persistence, some fabricating skill, and/or some dollars. I look at masts and see similar sections and lengths -- it is all the stuff that attaches to them that complicates things, and making THAT work well seems a tougher nut to crack.

Swapping a whole 18 rig and sails onto a 570 would get you on the water with modified standing rigging and a little creativity at the base of the mats. Google says that the H18 was designed in 1976 and produced until 2004, and that the Nacra 570 was first produced in 1998. These two boats spec out pretty similarly in terms of sail area and mast length, but there's 20+ years of development between the two... I imagine you'll lose something in translation, but it would be a fun Franken-cat and would have people scratching their heads on the beach for sure!

Randii

i would think a f18 mast would be a closer fit than a h18 - but i am not 100% on that

i know my 5.5 (mystere) is basically an f18
my 6.0 (mystere) is the same extrusion, just 1' taller

If you could contact the owner of the 570 in the video, possibly they have the answer, if it's a Hobie 18 rig.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lja1z8mZJ6E

That is a Hobie Tiger rig+sails in the video.

I know the Nacra 580 is a stretched Nacra F18 mast, possibly with some additional reinforcements. I suspect the Nacra 570 is also a derivative of the same tube. This is actually the easiest tube to replace, as the boat is still in production etc. Call Rick @ New England catamarans and send the park rangers the bill, as that is total and absolute B.S. They could have called you before chopping up perfectly good masts!!!

An alternative would be a Cirrus/Falcon F18 rig. Matt McDonald has blank tubes available in Florida for a great price, they are a bit over F18 length so can be cut to the correct size and would work well for all the boats in question.

I have 2 tubes worth of extra fittings I can supply, drop me a PM.

I do suggest putting a wanted ad out and trying to find the correct parts as your sails are cut to match. And I re-iterate, send the park rangers the bill, they can ignore it all they want, but at least they'll realize they just cut up about $10,000 in tubes.

What was the ranges explanation for chopping up your hardware?

--
Prindle 18 w/ wings, Prindle 16, Prindle 15, current
Hobie 16 in rebuild
2 Hobie 18 past
NACRA 5.2 past

Saint Cloud, Florida
member Lake Eustis Sail Club
http://www.lakeeustissailingclub.org
--

we moor our cats offshore on mushrooms.( Dart on 75 lb, Nacras 100lb mushroom) prior posts on beachcats obtained suggestions on mooring strategy(eg 15 foot of chain for the lode) imposed when they kicked us off the beach we utilized on great south bay for over 30 years. i will try to post photos of 5.7(i had posted photos of repairs i had just done on my personal album after off islanders ran into moored cat) smokies cut up after n'or easter left her beached and i couldnt lift her port hull full of water, it was 2yrs ago i was 72 at the time with 5 rt rotator cuff surgeries, 3 rt knee operations and 3 hernia operations and a stendt-but im still sailing balls to the wall ,just couldnt lift cat full of water by myself after the storm ,no time to fetch a hack saw pump her and seak opening);i did save my Dart 18 because that cat did not take on water. we r not allowed to keep cats on empty beach, it was donated to Fire Island National seashore,as we did before. To avoid disaster we took down masts before jose and cats rode out the storm. we left masts over a dune but when storm ended no beach left to bring cats to shore to raise masts, so we waited till next weekend, Smokies have it in for us even thou we clean beach and DONT drink there. Murrays made up oversized heavy duty stays for our cats after we experienced downed masts after other storms. so real bummer to lose masts hardware and stays. Smokies pack 357 magnums, very intimidating! earlier this summer they chained Dart 18 to a dozen cinder blocks because i left cat on beach overnite after fiber glass repair when outboard ran into moored cat, It was so easy when we use to sail off the beach in the atlantic, but pulling cat up and down to ocean too much for me now

yea that royally sucks!

i am sorry to hear all of that

My 2 cents: sell what you have left for parts etc., or the complete boats if you can find a replacement rig for cheap, take the money and find a nice used A-Cat. I picked mine up for $4k with trailer in mostly ready to sail condition, others are around for similar money. These are tough all carbon boats and they weigh 165lbs so easy to get up and down the beach/ramp etc. Find a place to sail where you don't have legal beach access issues and men with guns and an ego problem to contend with.

I too scored a $4K A cat this year, and I'm in love! Quick to rig, easy to manhandle on shore, and silky thru the water.

I also have an H18 mast for the same money as Pete, but have never figured out his shipping deal. I'm in WA.