[quote=erice]where are you going to be sailing out of?
the 5.2 is WAY better at weight carrying than a hobie17
BUT, as they were first produced in 1975 some of them are 35 years old now...
the people who seem to be having no problems with older performance cats are often sailing in smooth water solo
the people who have rigs/beams/boards/hulls breaking are often sailing double trapped in waves...
there seems no particular weakness, just that they can't carry the loads now they could when new
(same goes for cars, wood, people and steel;o)
lots of good info/videos/photos on the web about them and even searching this forum for nacra 5.2 will teach you more than any 1 poster here would care to type
post-1985 foam cored hulls should be checked for soft spots
pre-1984 solid glass hulls should have their bulkheads and stringers checked carefully through the ports
as always good condition older boats generally better than poor condition newer boats
but if condition is close the later boats had 10-15 years of minor design and build improvements[/quote]
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