I have recently bought a Nacra 5.7. I noticed the straps on my crossbars seem to be put together incorrectly. There are little spacer blocks, one on each bolt/8 bolts per bar.
My question is do those spacer blocks go between the hull and the strap o do they go above the strap under the mounting bolt heads?

Thanks for any help!

The small rubber chips go against the hull. Then the strap,THEN THE ALUMINUM CHIP, a washer, the bolt.Note- the aluminum chips are supposed to be orientated a certain way. See Page 6, Figure 8 in the manual linked below. If you do not have the small rubber chips, just cut a small square from an inner tube.
Note- the strap may not come down against the hull, don’t try to crank them til they do, a gap is perfectly OK.
Don’t crank those bolts down, they only spec 18ft lbs.
Makes sure the tramp & end caps are installed when you do up the bolts. Otherwise you risk collapsing the tramp channel. GREASE those bolts! Especially if you’re a saltwater sailor.
Do you have the two assembly manuals? Page 7, under PHOTO ALBUMS-Technical, or here. There are two manuals, if you select the PDF version, then DOWNLOAD, it works better. The others are single scans of each page. If you can’t make it work, let me know, I can email you the PDF files.
https://www.thebeachcats.…f691c1ede3dd2e2d89c33153

Here is the other other one,
https://www.nacrasailing.…tage-assembly-manual.pdf

I have a 5.7 album here. Have a look at the photos of rigging your rudders.
https://www.thebeachcats.…pictures?g2_itemId=71715

Pay very close attention to rotating the mast when lowering or raising it...if you don’t, you WILL bend the dolphin striker. There is a phot in that album that shows you why rotating is critical.
Congratulations...the N5,7 is the best dammed simple sailing cat you can buy. No boom, no boards, no hassle. Put roller furling on your jib, the drive the hell out of it.



Edited by Edchris177 on Jun 25, 2021 - 05:25 PM.

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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
--

Thanks for you reply. My boat does not have the encaps on the crossbars. you can email me at capdabney@bellsouth.net

Thanks again for your help!

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Congratulations...the N5,7 is the best dammed simple sailing cat you can buy. No boom, no boards, no hassle. Put roller furling on your jib, the drive the hell out of it.

What about the 570?

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Bill Townsend
G-Cat 5.0
Sarasota
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shortyfox

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Congratulations...the N5,7 is the best dammed simple sailing cat you can buy. No boom, no boards, no hassle. Put roller furling on your jib, the drive the hell out of it.

What about the 570?

Essentially the same boat. The earlier 5.7’s were solid fibreglass, they tend to oil can a bit when you stand on the hull after a capsize, however, they are very easy to fix.
The later model, ( after they movedthefactory), were foam cored, more skill required to fix holes in the hulks.

--
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
--

Quote

Essentially the same boat.

I disagree. The 5.0 and the 570 and the 5.0 and 500 are alike in the hull shape but that's about it. Different sail plan, (square top on the 570 and 500 and different jib) and the 570 and 500 have their jib blocks mounted on the main beam. The rudder systems are totally different. Perhaps the most noticeable difference is the way the two boats are put together. With the 570 and 500 they went to rectangular cross beams with beefy back up bars that encircle the inside perimeter of the cross beam. I'm not trying to say which is better, I'm just trying to promote some discussion.

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Bill Townsend
G-Cat 5.0
Sarasota
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You are right about the differences stated.
What I meant is the newer changes have not done much in terms of how the boat sails, or it’s speed, or the fun factor of the basic design. If you are a recreational sailor, who just wants to blast around the bay, the major difference is price, the newer models, in equivalent condition, cost more.
There are slight differences in sail area, (School, Fun, Sport models), a few lbs weight difference, but if you’ve sailed a 5.0 or 5.7, you are not going to experience a “different boat” if jumping onto the newer iterations.
The biggest factor will still be, how good is the person pulling the strings, & how new is the sail.
A new square top on a 570 should outperform a nearly 40 year old pin top, (my 5.7 is an ‘84, the 5.0 is an ‘88)
They are almost the same in SCHRS ratings.

--
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
--

capdabney

Thanks for you reply. My boat does not have the encaps on the crossbars. you can email me at capdabney@bellsouth.net

Thanks again for your help!

Lots of people sail with no end caps, but those exposed edges are hell on skin when you stuff it & get thrown forward.
Do a search here, (or scroll through the technical albums), a few folks have done a pretty good job of inexpensively making them, (factory ones were $, are now non existent, I think I have the last few).
With the advent of 3D printing, a couple of people have made some pretty good facsimiles, & I believe they were open to printing extras for reasonable cost.

--
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
--