seeking detailed maricat diagram

[Krispynewton]

Gday all, 

Newbie here.. 

I bought a unloved old maricat to restore and learn as i go.

I know no one in this hobby, i taught myself the basics of sailing last year in a mirror boat. 

 

I'm attempting to erect the maricat mast but can't work out what i have, what needs replacing and what I'm missing. 

My first problem is that the mast has two plastic-covered wire cables attached and another two in the travel box. 

Of the four, two are long, two are short - which pair of cables attach to the d-shackles on the bows? 

Apologies if this seems an obvious question. 

Also- if anyone ever sails the Tweed River give me a shout.. I live opposite the boat ramp at Chinderah. 

 

[knobblyoldjimbo]

The long ones go on the bow, the short ones on the side.

The large D shackle on the mast should have the long forestays in the middle then the shrouds on the outside.

Rig the mast shackle then put the forestays on.

Lift the mast so it's standing upright on the ground just in front of the mast step on the front beam.

Once you have it steady lift and slot the base into the mast step.  You should be able to do this in one smooth motion and just let the mast fall back with the forestays stopping it falling on the ground.

Once it's like this you should be able to then attach the shrouds.  What I've done in the past (and still do when it's windy) is to attach a rope (eg the mainsheet) to the halyard and then pull it on so that it is tight.  The triangulation of the forestays and the haylard will make it safe long enough to attach the shrouds.

In the racing world we use forestays at 5.5m and shrouds at 5m.  This gives a good mast rake but if you've got an old sail the boom may be too low.  When you start sailing and keep nose diving (going down the mine!) then you should consider this extra rake and get a sailmaker to put a D ring on the back of the sail about 150mm up from the old one.

Would help you a lot if you could find a local club that has maricats.

Good luck.

[darcy1945]

Measure the longest stays (Forestays), if they are less than 5.5m, you will have to have the bow of the boat uphill for the mast to lean far enough to stay up whilst you attach the side stays. 

[Krispynewton]

Woo hoo!! 

Sail goes up.. Sail goes down. 

Many thanks. ?

This morning i only have a few hours before work so I'm going to tackle the rudder gear. 

The ropes have rotted and I've got a broken black-elbow thinga-majig on the steering.

  i spotted a page thread here on how to repair them cheaply. 

 

 

[knobblyoldjimbo]

Comments

1. Toss the vang, the only thing it does is prevent you righting after a capsize.

2. The tack of the sail (bottom) shackles onto the boom. The downhaul then attached to the boom. You therefore pull the boom down to tension the luff of the sail.

3. The clew shackles to the slider on the boom.

[knobblyoldjimbo]

There are a lot of wrinkles in the luff so I'd pull the mainsheet in hard then pull the downhaul hard too. The main isn't right up to the top which either means it's shrunk or that someone has cut it down.

[knobblyoldjimbo]

[knobblyoldjimbo]

Here's an example, or three!

[Krispynewton]

cheers for the help, 

Mixed results to report; 

I fixed a tiller joint, (it ain't pretty but i hope to soon be going fast enough that no one will notice)

I attempted to go for a sail on the Tweed river last Sunday but i didn't even raise the mast. 

She slipped off the trailer fine and she sure did look pretty by the waters edge at the boat ramp.. That's where things went south. 

An hour in, i realised that because i wasn't on level ground i was fighting a losing battle getting the mast up.

I came close but when i had almost upright i dropped a D-shackle pin in the mud and lost it.

Not only that but in the past hour the tide had receeded by 5 feet and left me on the mud flat. 

Mission aborted. 

This arvo the weather isn't cooperating so I'm checking ropes and bits. 

Again, thank you for your help and inspiring/educational photos. 

K.