Hi my name is Ben and I'm looking to buy my first cat. From what I've found availible, price, and distance I'm willing to travel it looks like I may end up with a Nacra 5.2. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

ps. I've been reading the forums online and this is a great site. So glad I've found it.

A Nacra 5.2 is a great boat, but it could be a lot to handle for your first cat. Some questions you need to ask yourself before buying like how many people you will be going out with on the boat (you alone, or holding a party of 4), because in many cases with the Nacra you would need a crew, depending on skill level and your weight.
I am 6'5" 260lbs and can solo a H18. Just depends on size and weight.
Also, where are you sailing. The Nacra 5.2 has daggerboards and if you are sailing in shallow water, that could cause some problems.

I am sure others will comment and bring up other variables
My final opinion of the Nacra 5.2= one fuckin awesome boat



edited by: yellowhulls17, Oct 19, 2008 - 05:57 PM

I am about 6'3" 165. I'll probably have a crew with little to no experience most of the time but may venture to take it out myself some days. I'll be sailing on a river that is deep, so I'm not too worried about the dagger boards. From what I've heard the Nacra 5.2 is pretty tough to rig by yourself, and also that this is a pretty fast boat? All thoughts greatly appreciated!

I'm not too familiar with the Nacra 5.2, but in general my advice to a new sailor is get an easy-to-sail boat like a Hobie Wave. I know some people on this forum will disagree with me, but unless you're lucky enough to have a reliable, experienced crew, (and that's VERY rare), then you'll be better off with a boat you can single-hand. And that means getting it in and out of the water, rigging, righting and sailing. So when the wind is right, you can just GO! If you can't sail the boat yourself, then you'll spend too many great sailing days with your toes in the sand working the phone trying to find a crew. On my own beach we have 2 dozen cats buried 6-inches deep in sand because the boat-owners can't find a person to sail with.

Look at the Hobie 16. I just bought one last spring, first time sailing this type of boat. They are a bit of a challenge without any experience but there are so many advantages. I bought mine with trailer pretty much ready to sail for $900 in the Northeast. No daggerboards, I have crewed mine solo a number of times. Usually sail with my girlfriend, whom mainly just tenders jib line. Speedwise not as fast as most other cats, but had it at 16.2 mph on the one run I took a GPS and I am pretty sure a few weeks back we had it a few MPH fast than that (in a storm)on a close reach. Has a 800 lbs capacity, also most widely produced boat in the world over 100,000 made. Tons of spares available as well as options.
We have ours at Trixie's Landing in bayville NJ on a floating dock made for small catamarans, so the boat is rigged all summer. Getting the sails hoisted and everything ready to go I would say takes about 20 minutes (no rush).
Advice:
Any other catamaran sailor has tons of great advice. We were given a tremendous amount of help from a guy that sails a Nacra 5.2. The principles are unviversal for all of the cats.
Must read "Catamaran sailing start to finish" by Phil Berman. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/039331880X
Read it through 2 or 3 times before going out for the first time and again after sailing a bit. An outstanding book for a novice.

I agree that a Hobie 16 is a good base to start at because you can sail on that boat for years to come. Not hard to sail, but a hard boat to sail well. The H16 also has the class, parts, and durability that is perfect for a new cat sailor (or any sailor). However, you will definitely need a crew with you when you sail in anything over 14 mph winds (you'll be overpowered). I might also suggest for your weight a Hobie 14 turbo. They don't handle too much weight well, but if you are going to have another small crew, then I would almost go for that. The Hobie 14T is an absolute blast when its blowing 25+. I think unless you had an experienced heavier crew, that the Nacra 5.2 is too much for a new cat sailor to handle.
It also depends on what price range of a boat you are looking for. (Hobies and older Nacras are cheapest)
I wouldn't suggest a Hobie Wave because you will grow out of it in a year when you want something with more strings and speed

Just my 2 cents

Any other questions, just ask, we've all been through deciding on that first boat

I'll vouch for the H14T being a fun boat to learn on. I own an '82, and though its now my solo boat, it is fun when the winds are howling. Also they are CHEAP. There isnt much of a market for these little boats and the price reflects it. However, you should be able to sell it for what you paid for it if you dont trash it. Also, I can step the mast solo and rig the boat in minutes rather than the hour plus on my big Nacra. At your weight, you wont have much boyancy left for a rider, and this boat is quite tempermental about weight distribution. If you are in the wrong spot, you capsize easily. But its easy to get up and going again solo. The biggest cons to the boat are its boyancy and propensity to pitchpole. IMHO its a great starter boat for solo, but it will lose its appeal after that learning curve is achieved and you want to share with a friend. I love my Nacra. Man I should run for office. I just straddled the fence big time!

As a new sailor I went through this analysis last year. I decided on a Hobie 16 over a Wave, Gateway or anything else. I am glad I did. In fairness one of the reasons I decided on the 16 was because a used 16 fit my budget and it was relatively easy to find a good used one in my area. However as I am learned to sail it I also appreciate the performance potential. There's plenty of upside for me; plenty of things to learn, plenty of thrills to have.

I agree that I would have been bored with a Wave very soon. I don't have any experience with the Nacra so I can't comment on that.

Good luck!

I would definitely go with the Hobie 16 (forgot the 14 likes to pitchpole). Other options I don't think discussed yet is a Prindle 15/16, Solcat, or a G-cat. Problem with these boats is that they are out of production, but at least with the Prindle parts are still widely available.

With the Hobie 16 other than the weight of the crew I don't see why everyone says that this cannot be sailed solo. Again I am pretty new to this with only 1 season under my belt and have a lot to learn. I have sailed this solo a number of times, other times with crew that didn't know what port and starboard meant, so I typically ended up sailing it single handed.
It is also nice to be able to see a beach or area that you want to land on and simply run the boat up onto land.

It can be sailed solo in many conditions, but anything over 14mph with quick's weight and he would run the risk of flipping a lot, and the fact that he would need an aide to help right the boat potentially. The H16 is a great boat to singlehand, but not if you're lightweight and sail in a higher wind venue.

yellowhulls17

It can be sailed solo in many conditions, but anything over 14mph with quick's weight and he would run the risk of flipping a lot, and the fact that he would need an aide to help right the boat potentially. The H16 is a great boat to singlehand, but not if you're lightweight and sail in a higher wind venue.

I absolutly agree. Honestly I have had difficulty righting the boat with me 170 lbs and crew 120-130 lbs.
Also when flying a hull and it is gusty it seems like you have about a tenth of a second to react before going over. Might just be me. Again other than large cruising cats this is the only smaller cat I have sailed so take it with a grain of salt.
For buying a decent boat it took me about 4 months of searching craigslist, ebay, boat yards etc. I finally settled on one from URI's boat donation yard. If you have the winter to look around you will have plenty of opportunities to find the right boat.