I bought mine from near Chaffreys Lock, that must be close to you. It took a couple of hours to rig mine up, but that was the first time I did it. I'm pretty sure you could do it in 45-50 min once you had practiced a few times, & were organized. I only set mine up once a year, & store it on a modified seadoo lift. I have a rock breakwall &my wife doesn't want it on the lawn. I use an old tramp with bungees at the corners as a sunshade. Blocks, lines, & tiller are left on, so I only hoist the rags & go, about 10 minutes.
I only weigh 170, with harness & wet lifejacket, 10 mph will fly a hull trapped out solo, & anything over about 17 mph starts to be a handful. With a crew, 20 mph becomes a really high energy ride. I can right my 5.7 solo in only a few minutes. Toss the righting line over, attach the bag, fill it with water & pull it up with a 3:1 system. Then swim the mast around so the wind is between the mast & bows, leave the jib sheeted, & hike out... the boat comes right up. With 2 people leave the righting bag & just hike out, as long as th emast is sealed, it will float & the boat will come right up.
I don't worry about pointing, I'm not an experienced racer, but they seem to point OK, just get the weight forward & bury the bow, & you are not giving up much. I never worry about pitchpoling, yesterday in 20 mph with 2 on the wire we stuffed it into a wave in a gust & the lee bow went close to a foot underwater, it went under right up til the beam & tramp hit the water. We nearly ground to a halt, the crew moved back, the bow popped up & away we accelerated.
I've heard nothing but good things about the Prindle, I ended up with a Nacra 5.7 because that was the boat that was for sale anywhere near me. Here is a link with some buying info.
http://www.sailingproshop.com/catamaran_guide.aspx
Rigging & lines are fairly cheap, if you need rudders, sails or a mast, you can spend lots in a hurry, so make sure the expensive items are in good shape.
Here is how I keep mine at the cottage.The kids use the little Invitation quite a bit.
edited by: Edchris177, Aug 08, 2010 - 10:15 AM
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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
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