MacandRita Posted January 16, 2016 Report Share Posted January 16, 2016 Hi everyone, i go by the handle of MacandRita because that is who we are. I read in a forum somewhere of several cat sailors who own another bigger vessel namely large trailer sailor. We were in the same boat until recently when we owned 2 multihulls. A Cobra racing cat and a Farrier 720 trimaran. I took the Tri to the Tinaroo May Day regatta once where it was rechristened from Moonshadow to Wind shadow. Nothing got past us on the leeside when we had the assemtrical spinnaker up. We also did 3 weeks in the Whitsundays. Sadly I have spent the last 2 weeks pulling the rotten remains of the tri apart to take to the dump. I did retrieve all the stainless fittings, chain plates, folding arms and full mast, sails and rigging. Work load and hot moist conditions took their toll on the timber in the tri and most fittings were able to be pulled from the deck. The glass and epoxy layer was in good nick. Currently between jobs and enjoying the equivalent of long service leave, I have pulled the Cobra out from under years of dust and intending to get it back on the water. I read with great interest all 26 pages of Priate's post on rebuilding his mosquito and got some ideas to tackle a few of the issues that have cropped up. I may have to redeck to sort out some cracks that have appeared in the side walls just below the internal stringer. The centreboards are timber but for some reason the rear edges are solid epoxy which is cracking off. It has been a while since we last raced the Cobra and we now have a combined crew weight of 150kgs even though I have lost 13kgs in the last 2 years. This is a little heavy for the cat but at least it will have us back on the water and we can decide what to move to. At 61 it won't be anything 2 strenuous. Taipans 4.9 has always apealed but interested in trying out the Weta tri. Woods design folding tri's which I could build have also taken my interest at the moment. I did buy some Bote Cote the other day and I have plenty of sawdust from another project I completed just before Christmas to keep 2 small grandchildren contained inside the house. The cat trailer has a storage cover that doubles as a punt. It was an exercise in strip planking and epoxy gluing and worked out really well. The bottom is smooth curves forming a monohull cataraman shape with flat ply ends angled for and aft. I also installed buoyancy tanks on each end and at 103kg standing on the very ends still had heaps of free board. Anyway that's probably too long for a first post so I'll pop off and get cracking on these repairs. macandrita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darcy1945 Posted January 16, 2016 Report Share Posted January 16, 2016 You can buy a second hand f/glass 14/16 cat starting from $600. Your Cobra repair could eventually add up to that, and you still have an old, heavy, ply boat with little resale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirate Posted January 16, 2016 Report Share Posted January 16, 2016 Your right Darcy, I'd love to have received a wage for my rebuild of "TwiceShy", but instead I've received many hours of fun and pleasure from what was essentially a throw away boat... and thats priceless !!! At the moment I'm restoring an impara cadet that was built in 1960 & hopefully it will be back sailing around mid febuary...... theres very few of these left and the process so far has been very rewarding, the knowlege I've gained from these old girls is invaluable. Like all my stuff be it cars to boats, their built not bought..... what price does one put on the intimate knowlege one has of their vehicle ??? Welcome to the forum mac&rita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacandRita Posted January 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Hi guys, Thank you for your response. I appreciate both your points of view. The cobra I have is close to minimum racing weight of 77kg so I can actually pick it up by the dolphin striker with the crew holding on to a rear toe strap to balance. I am confident working with wood so happy doing the repairs. The last wooden cobra I had broke in half on the port hull just ahead of the main beam. I repaired it and had it back on the water in a fortnight. The boats I am currently starting to research are in the 4 figure bracket so a few hundred getting a couple more years out of the current boat I am happy with. I tend to be more like pirate in that I enjoy the journey as well as the end product and also a firm believer that you are never too old to learn new things. Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arjay Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Mac, Good to hear that you are getting a Beattie boat back on the water. Most of Daryl's boats that are still sailing are very competitive. I have sailed with my son at 160 + kgs and been competitive at this weight - just got fuller sails. Let me know if you need any bits - may be able to help. regards, Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacandRita Posted January 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2016 Thanks arjay, I have all the pieces. I see the association has introduced square topped mains. What next? Spinnaker? Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arjay Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 Funny you should say that - we have dabbled with spinnakers - big learning curve. Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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