Hello Everyone,
My name is Marc and I live in San Diego, CA. I used to own a Nacra 5.2 that was set up for solo sailing. I am looking at getting another cat someday soon.
My general question is regarding the trailers that are set up to carry A Class catamarans. They don't seem to have cradles for the hulls but have bars that run parallel to the hulls and the cross beams rest on them. Was/is there a reason for this type of design? I imagine that it is a bit harder to load your boat and that is the reason why not all trailers are set up that way. If it is better then why aren't all trailers set up like that.
Regards,
Marc
Marc,
Modern a-class boats do not have dolphin strikers. This makes that style of trailer easy to use and cost effective when considering cradles that are $100 each. The trailers are easy to load when properly designed, remember an A-cat is more like picking up a feather compared to any other beach cat.
Thanks...that makes total sense.
Supporting the boat by the crossbars also means there's no risk of damaging the hulls either by scratching them as they drag across cradles or by overloading them from the tie-down strap tension and crushing the hulls. Remember, these hulls are basically egg shells.
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But you have the whole weight of the hulls hanging out of 8 bolts .
This opposite pressure was not built into their design.
newer A's have bonded beams so no bolts, solid platform.