I recently got a Venture 15 banana hull cat. It is in OK shape, good enough to sail.
At the moment I just want to know if anyone has experience with raising the mast on one of these. I found a copy of the original owner's manual, but it is rather sparse on details; they pretty much say to lift the mast and put it on. After several sketchy ups and downs I still have not come up with a safe method.
thanks, and I hope to learn more about the cat!
getting going with a MacGregor Venture 15 Cat
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Posted: Aug 09, 2012 - 10:00 PM
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Posted: Aug 10, 2012 - 08:06 AM
I have a Venture 15 also. I have straight hulls though. I just got it sailing this summer. In non sailing terms. Connect the cables on the right and left side of the mast to the two sides of the cat. Put the bolt through the bottom of the mast and the base on the cat. If its on a trailer have someone hold the top of the mast so it does not have all the weight on the back of the cat. Stand on the trampoline , pick up the mast and walk it up in place. Have someone connect the front cable to the cable going between the front of the hulls.
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78 Hobie 14 (buried in the garage)
75 Venture 15 (love it)
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Posted: Aug 10, 2012 - 09:27 AM
thanks
I think my problem is that I was doing this without the tramp in, which put me at a height disadvantage.
Also, the post will not go into the bottom of the mast without it being up at a pretty good angle, so it is a bit of a Catch-22. Do you somehow align the mast and the little post so it goes right in? I kinda need 3 people to rig a 2-person boat...
oh, BTW, in case anyone is interested, here is a site with the copies of the original owners' manuals
http://www.minresco.com/links/v15/images/vc15.htm -
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Posted: Aug 10, 2012 - 10:27 AM
There should be a 3/8 inch by 5 or 6 inch bolt that goes sideways through the mast and the part on the cat. The post should line up automatically when you pivot the mast up on this bolt. You remove the bolt once the cables are all in place so the mast can rotate when sailing.
Edited by goldwingnut on Aug 10, 2012 - 03:24 PM.
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78 Hobie 14 (buried in the garage)
75 Venture 15 (love it)
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Posted: Aug 10, 2012 - 03:37 PM
It appears from the banana hull manual that version does not have the mast base that takes the 3/8 bolt like the straight hull does.
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Pete Knapp
Schodack landing,NY
Goodall Viper,AHPC Viper,Nacra I20
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Posted: Aug 10, 2012 - 03:52 PM
pknapp66 you are absolutely right. I should have looked at the banana manual. I just assumed they were the same.
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78 Hobie 14 (buried in the garage)
75 Venture 15 (love it)
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Posted: Aug 10, 2012 - 04:15 PM
Some old boats the mast were stepped by having the boat on the ground and and all the stays connected but loose. You get the mast vertical in front of the beam then just lift it straight up and onto the post or ball or whatever. Not sure if that what this one was intended to do or not. It does not sound fun to me.
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Dustin Finlinson • Magna, UT
Member: Utah Sailing Association
1982 Prindle 18
1986 Hobie 17
1982 Prindle 16
1980 Prindle 16(mostly)
1976 Prindle 16(mostly)
Check out "Prindle Sailors" on Facebook.
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Posted: Aug 10, 2012 - 09:11 PM
Thanks for all the replies! Now I don't feel so alone :)
I read somewhere (thought it was the manual, but could not find it again) that indeed you are supposed to get it upright then lift onto the post. Yaaaa! The stays are too loose, and it is really hard to handle. Having the tramp in place to get it up almost in place helped a lot, and I felt fairly confident today. Still, we all agreed that some sort of jig to line it up and hinge it into place would be key.
Also, the forward stay becomes useless for lifting at the very beginning and very end of the process (angle of lift -> 0), so you still need a third person to catch the mast to safely get it down. Again, some jig on the trailer to raise the angle of the stay would be dandy.
For what its worth, I did get it out for the first time, and it floats! It sails! It does not tack! Wind was 15+ knots straight onshore, and I had a bugger of a time getting away from shore. Had to push off several times, ran parallel to shore long enough to catch a shift of wind that allowed me to ge some headway offshore. Whew! My first time on a cat on top of it all, finally gave up on tacking and just jibed my way around. Ended up having a good time.
Oh, anyone know where to get aluminum tubing online? Jumped off the back and did the splits (ouch) on the rudder cross-bar, and bent it pretty good. Still works, but gonna get tired of explaining what happened.
Sailed lots of boats, from a 10' sabot in San Diego to 32' (???) in San Francisco, with a Thistle being the main boat. This cat was the most difficult. But exhilirating! -
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Posted: Aug 11, 2012 - 07:35 AM
Aluminum tubing. http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-aluminum-hollow-tubing/=isw1v2 . I would try to bend it back straight first. My furling tube had a 45deg bent in it when I got it. Wedged it between part of the trailer and took out a little at a time. Looks great.
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78 Hobie 14 (buried in the garage)
75 Venture 15 (love it)
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Posted: Aug 11, 2012 - 08:38 AM
ah, good to know! I will give it a try. Often the bend back can break it, which obviously would have been worse, but it depends on the material -
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Posted: Jul 28, 2019 - 11:17 AM
I've got the same banana hull. I bought it in livingston tn. I just put a new tramp and repainted it. Unfortunately every time I step the mast it is a very dangerous ordeal. No pin no mast hinge. I'm just going to lay it on its side and put it on like that. If you came up with a better system let me know.
Edited by knotybynature on Jul 28, 2019 - 11:19 AM. -
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Posted: Jul 30, 2019 - 10:40 AM
I just mentioned this in another post
many people whos original step system has failed for one reason or another) add an eyestrap to each side of the (lower) mast and have an eyestrap or 2 on the beam.
they run a line through all the eyestraps, secure with a simple figure 8 knot (or similar) for stepping and unstepping -
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Posted: Jul 30, 2019 - 11:44 AM
Thanks I'm going to try that. -
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Posted: Jul 30, 2019 - 12:02 PM
Glad to help
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