Hobie 18 mast and sails onto a g cat 5.7
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- Rank: Lubber
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Posted: Aug 29, 2020 - 02:26 AM
Recently purchased an older g cat 5.7 with the rental mast and sail configuration. Love it for adventure sailing and taking non sailing friends out on the water. Started looking into new sails since it seems to have the originals still on it. By the time i have them made and shipped here to Canada I'm looking at least $1500. I can purchase older hobie 18's complete boats w trailer for that price here. My question is could I purchase an older hobie w good sails and move the entire mast boom and sails onto the g cat. Of course there would be some retrofitting. But is the hassle worth the effort. -
- Rank: Mate
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Posted: Aug 29, 2020 - 08:02 AM
It won't be worth the effort if you swap out the mast. The mast step arrangement is entirely different. The 5.7 is boomless. The foot length is critical. Compare the luff length and the foot length of the two sails and talk to your sailmaker. G-cat has an owners association on Facebook which might help.
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Bill Townsend
G-Cat 5.0
Sarasota
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Posted: Aug 29, 2020 - 09:12 AM
I think you are much better off purchasing new sails that changing your sail plan with a new mast
that being said the 5.7 can be sailed with or without a boom
i sail with a guy who had a 5.0 gcat turbo (one of the last ones built to f16 standards for the f16 worlds a few years ago) that was hit by lightning and destroyed. he purchased a supercat16 that came with a hobie18 mast.
he replaced the mast with his gcat wing mast, and had 1' welded to the bottom to make it the correct height and had the correct mast base welded onto the mast - point is, anything is possible -
PS he is an engineer and did lots of calculations prior.
i still think you could - but why? get sails made for your boat - it will probably have better results in the end -
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Posted: Aug 29, 2020 - 10:51 AM
Supersailmakers out of S. Fla. were the original makers of G-cat sails and still make them. A main for the 5.7 is 1049 including battens. You can't beat that.
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Bill Townsend
G-Cat 5.0
Sarasota
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Posted: Aug 30, 2020 - 01:13 AM
The other part of the equation is that the rental sail plan is quite a bit less sq ft than the standard configuration. Hence wanting the larger mast and sails. -
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Posted: Aug 30, 2020 - 07:21 AM
Sorry, I missed that part. I have seen a mast extended by using a sleeve that fit tightly inside the mast with a matching piece of extrusion and a lot of rivets. Also, if you can find an identical mast extrusion from another boat you can take the mast step piece out of your old rental mast.
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Bill Townsend
G-Cat 5.0
Sarasota
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Posted: Sep 06, 2020 - 10:34 PM
This has come up before and I remember hearing the Prindle 18 mast extrusion was similar and could accept the Gcat mast base to be riveted to it. Also P18 sails are a good match for the Gcat but reinforce the clew and add a multi hole plate if you plan on going boomless. Gcat 5.7 owner here, love her but feel your pain in finding parts and sails. I got a lightly used set off this site made by Super Sails and it was money well spent
Edited by jalex on Sep 06, 2020 - 11:35 PM. -
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Posted: Sep 07, 2020 - 01:14 PM
I had a fathead main off a Prindle 18-2 so I had my favorite sailmaker "The Irish Sail Lady" in St Augustine, FL take the top panel off and redo the 45 degree batten. Ended up with a great squaretop main for my G-Cat 5.7.
Best sail I ever tried on that boat. It was a Hobie 18 killer.
Brad in JAX
Stiletto 27 (x2) -
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Posted: Sep 10, 2020 - 12:21 PM
i believe it
those boats had similar sail shape - similar to Olympic tornado style i think
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Posted: Oct 07, 2020 - 03:16 AM
Thank you for all the advice. May have had a realization over the weekend. Went on a solo sail/camping trip on a mountain lake here in BC. Ran into some really erratic gusty winds. Was grateful i had the smaller rental rig setup while sailing solo. Maybe having the smaller rig is not the worst thing since i am trying to ease my wife into sailing. And capsizing by myself with camping gear could be a nautical disaster... -
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Posted: Oct 07, 2020 - 04:50 PM
Not a bad idea. One thing about that front tramp on the 5.7 is it can get you in trouble when you're single handing. Most of the time it's a great asset but if you're one of these guys that likes to maximum fly a hull a puff can get under the boat and that extra windage can cause you to loose control. Two people, not a problem. Another thing is that pesky teflon pivot chip you have to insert every time you step the mast. If it's not done just right it always works it's way out while you're sailing. Hans Geissler the designer of the boat showed me the cure. Simply rivet it in with an aluminum pop rivet. Drill a small hole in the pivot chip and the socket in the mast base and get it in there tight. The rotating will wear the head of the rivet down in a few months and you'll have to do it again but soon a small depression will be forming on the top of the ball and after that it will last a long time.
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Bill Townsend
G-Cat 5.0
Sarasota
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