Guest sailmate Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Hello Shipmates Just purchased a second hand maricat 4.3m. Would anyone have a picture/s of what a maricat looks like rigged and possibly some close ups so I am sure I have rigged it right. I've purchased this for my young son and have absolutely no idea of what to do with this little beauty. Cheers. Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmessee Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 This is from the Maricat Website by Don Grant from Canberra. Top bloke. http://users.bigpond.net.au/graham_heap/index_maricat.html Rigging a 14ft Catamaran with jib 1. Leave the boat flat on both hulls facing into wind. 2. Loosen the jib ropes and lay the pulleys and shackle (which connect to the jib clew) on the ground in front of the forward beam. When you step the mast the jib ropes will then be forward of the mast and ready to connect to the jib while the bit you pull to adjust the jib will remain on the trampoline behind the mast. 3. Lay the mast between the hulls (and on top of the jib ropes) so that about 2 or 3 ft of the mast (at the step end) is beneath the trampoline. This enables the stays to reach the chain plates while the mast is on the ground. 4. Attach the stays (and jib strop) to the mast hound and lay the stays out toward the chainplates. 5. Attach the jib to both the strop and the bridle. This forms the forestay. 6. Attach one of the side stays. It the ground slopes, suggest you attach the uphill stay. Once vertical, the mast will tend to support itself on that and the forestay making your job a little easier- but don't rely on it being stable or secure - you have to hold on! At this stage, you are ready to lift the mast and step it. But before you do, have a good look at the apparent mess you have before you. The mast, jib and stays are all connected but laying on the ground they can seem pretty messy. Visualise what it will look like in the vertical. Make sure that the strop and stays are not twisted or caught anywhere etc. You really want to avoid anything that forces you to lay the mast down again, or worse, lose control of it. OK, now that everything looks as though it will be in the right place, you are ready to proceed. It is best to have two people in the process. Firstly, you lift the mast to the vertical on the ground, then you lift it from the ground onto the mast step. Here is how you do it. 7. Lift the mast from a point just below the hound. Check again that everything is rigged in the right sense. You lift the mast to the vertical by 'walking' your way down the mast and at the same time bringing the base out from under the trampoline so that once vertical the mast will be resting on the ground in the centre of the boat and abutting the mast step. Wedging the mast against the dolphin striker provides added leverage that assists the lift. Note that you will initially feel a little crowded - the jib will seem to be in your way and depending on wind, the jib could be flapping around a fair bit so be careful. 8. Keeping hold of the mast, stand on the trampoline (beware wet feet or slippery footwear etc) and once again make sure that everything is rigged in the right sense. Hold the mast about 3 - 5 ft from the base and lift it into the mast step. This operation is manageable by one person but until you get some practice, definitely have the second person stand in front of the mast step and assist with the lift. Once the mast is in place the second person attaches the other side stay to the chainplate, taking in some of the slack. You are now ready to attach the jib sheets, furl the jib (if you have a furler), hoist the mainsail, attach the boom and mainsheet blocks and tension the rig. De-rigging is the reverse. De-tension the rig, remove the mainsheet blocks, boom and mainsail. Unfurl the jib and disconnect the jib sheets from the jib. Stand on the trampoline and steady the mast while the other person releases one of the side stays (the downhill stay on sloping ground). Lift the mast from the step and place the base on the ground in front of the front beam. Keeping hold of the mast, get down off the boat and move to the front of the mast. Then lower the mast by 'walking ' out toward the hound, again using the dolphin striker to help control the ase of the mast. As you lower the mast to the horizontal slide it part way under the trampoline to slacken the other sidestay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantom Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Hi Mate, I can understand what you are going through .. I had a hobie 14 for 12 months before I could connect the jib.. best advice I can give is to join a club .. you will learn more there in a couple of days than you will learn on your own in 12 months... happy sailing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shy thunder Posted December 6, 2004 Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 hi frank, where are you located, if in Sydney come on out to Kurnell Cat Club Sunday 12/12/04 about 10:30 am and we can show you our racing Maricats. Also on the maricat forum here there is some guidance for stay lengths etc with adjustable chainplates to help you start to understand how ? I am in the process of getting some photos together so we can all share some rigging ideas... cheers d Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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