I am new to this forum and apologize in advance if my inquiries have already been covered in the past (in my defense I did search the forum before hand )
I am buying a 1995 Nacra 450, I am new to Catamaran sailing and would like to make some improvements and upgrades during this winter for solo sailing
What would be the best upgrades on the cheap to implement ? I am thinking :
- furling Jib (https://www.ronstan.com/m…/product.asp?ProdNo=RF76)
- DIY Spipole and additional furling sail (should I go with a spi / Code zero / reecher ?)
- DIY Wings
What do you guys think ? Do you think there are other upgrades that makes more sense ? Are these three worth it ? Thanks in advance for your comments
For this size of boat it doesn’t seem that you should need wings or furling jib to sail it solo. Do you have beach wheels? That’s more on the basics side.
Thanks for the feedback, the furling jib is for pure lazyness, It will stay furled so that I can be faster on the water.
There is a boat launching ramp so that I can use a standard trolley, I won't need beach wheels
Make sure to re-evaluate at some point about the wheels. If you will be sailing multiple days it’s much simpler than the trailer, you can do all yourself without having to get the car and drive it all wet. I personally prefer to take the boat from the trailer into the beach wheels and from there to the water. I can do all that alone, with a heavier boat (N5.5)
If you have to make all those adustments/upgrades, maybe it is not the right boat. I am a proponent of a value buy rather than a price buy. Also, the less you have to do, the sooner you can go sailing.
a 450 isn't a very big boat and most of those changes are a bit of a waste of time. I would only look at roller furling, just so when you solo you have 1 less thing to worry about and to keep it just in case you screw up a tack and need it to back wind and get yourself out of irons. Its also relatively inexpensive to do now. However if you are a really small sailor and know how to sail solo with a spin, you could consider one down the line. But I would suspect you would want a slightly larger boat for that/
I understand your point, but I enjoy DIY projects so investing time in building upgrades is not that bad
Okay, furling Jib first it is !
When I took a look at the boat with the Jib Hoisted the Halyard was secured on the mast, for a furling Jib setup It will need to come down inside the Jib zipper with the forestay right ? How do we tension it ? What's the easiest setup ? Lot's of information here but I am not sure what would be the best option for my setup : https://www.thebeachcats.…pictures?g2_itemId=88268
I 100% agree with others - you need to sail and learn the limitations of the platform before you start to change it
there are always lots of ways to skin the cat..
what i do and many others is:
the jib halyard is connected with 2 sister clips. this allows you to remove most of the slack when the sail is hoisted.
after removing the tail, i secure the now shortened halyard via a line tied on my furling ring. this is now used to tighten and secure the halyard. this is set for the entire day at this tension unless it gets slack or i notice it is over tight and will stop and adjust on the lee of an island or beach
I suffer from that too, it's not necessarily a good thing for your boat. Do you have a decent cover? That won't do any harm and may keep you busy... Explore replacing some split ring attachments by fast shackles or soft shacles, that may save rigging time. There were a couple threads about that not long ago. Not sure if the N450 can be considerably simplified though, it's already very simple to rig (I know the N500, I guess it's about the same)
here's mine, very simple, no furling jib, When on the beach I roll up the jib (there are no battens in it) by hand to the stay and put plastic ends bunji around it.
heres a pic sailing solo
That Ronstan drum will work, don't forget you also need a swivel at top, I have one if you need one PM me.
Remember about shortening the forestay too.
I'm lazy. In my furling album, there should be a photo using a small clam cleat to hold jib tension.
In your case, you're going to leave the jib up all season. So use sister clips,(to get rid of all the extra line once the jib is up. Once you raise the jib, feed the tail of the halyard through the clam cleat, & tie a stopper knot so it can't get out.
Now, when you sail, unfurl the jib,(it's hard to tension properly when furled), pull the line to desired tension, & lock in with the clam cleat. Re-furl jib.
At the end of the day, (if you've furled to come into shore), unfurl jib, release a bit of line in the clam cleat to relieve tension, & refurl.
Total time, a few seconds, & no knots to deal with.
-- 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 --
There is no cover with the boat, I will custom fit a regular cover with eyelets/grommets and bungee cord, that should do the job
I think I got a rough idea of what you two are explaining, a couple of sister clip to hoist the jib with the halyard tail, run a second line from the furler eye to the sister clip and back into a clamcleat or a knot to the furler eye, disconnect the tail sister clip and we are good for the season. thanks
One thing I found very troublesome about my N500 was the jib. I used to do it the factory way, running the halyard down through the zippered luff, cleating it to the shroud adjuster at the apex of the bridle and then stowing the bulk of the halyard. Hard to do by yourself if you want to keep the jib off the ground. Such a pain that I was inclined to leave the jib up sometimes when I shouldn't have, flogging on the beach. I checked out furling, it was expensive and a sailmaker would have to change the battens. Now you purists out there are going to disagree with this but since I don't race, I changed the jib to hanked on. Easy up easy down. Ran the halyard down the mast with a 2 - 1 purchase. Got rid of that adjuster at the bridle and looped 3/16ths line between the bridle and the headstay. Easy to get rig tension and I used the tailing end of that line to attach the tack of the jib. That gives you some height adjustment for the jib which can use to change your sheeting angle if your jib blocks cannot be moved fore and aft.
If you tie a lanyard to the zipper car and attach the lanyard to the stat adjuster, you can make better use of your hands. I just hook the lanyard somewhere, don’t even tie a knot
This, in my view, is the simplest, & most effective line routing.
This is why you use sister clips, adjust your line so once the jib is up, the sister clips have exited the bottom of the zipper, with maybe a foot extra for tensioning the jib.
If you leave the jib up, you can store the halyard anywhere. I always removed the sister clip half from the line that stayed tensioned the jib & placed it with the unused half.
Even on the 5.7 I used thin Spyder line, it made going up, then down the zippered luff easy.
-- 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 --
Changing the battens orientation is easy and cheap at any sail repair service. And you don't notice any difference, at least on my N5.5. I did it without adding a furling system, just to be able to roll the jib manually around the forestay, everytime i leave the cat on the beach for short term or occasionally overnight. Hoisting a sock to protect the jib, if you love it enough, is slightly easier than taking it off every time.
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