New Com Pac Eclipse... doing the paperwork now

[Houserw]

Hello all - I'm new to sailing and to this forum so I wanted to give a shout-out to all the like minded folks that i look forward to interacting with.

I've had a few powerboats in the past, but feel the need to learn to sail.  I looked at quite a few boats, narrowed the list to the sun can and the eclipse, but at the end of the day the eclipse stole my heart with the bigger cabin area that will be ideal for my wife and son on weekend excursions.

  I've already teased out quite a few nuggets of great information from the forum so I'm very thankful for that.

Any newbie advice in terms of maintenance, rigging, must have accessories etc would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
R-House

[captronr]

Welcome to the group! 

Where do  you live and where will you be sailing?  As you likely know, there is a lot of good info on this site.

Ron, KS

[Houserw]

I live in Kingwood Texas, just outside of Houston.  I'll be sailing in the local lakes, Galveston bay area and lake Charles.

Once I'm comfortable, my wife and I would like to sail around the Florida keys - which is why I went for a trailer sailor:-)

[slode]

Welcome and congratulations on the new boat.  It should be a great boat to learn on, very forgiving and a comfortable sail in all but the most severe conditions.

I you haven't already found it in one of the more recent posts in the Eclipse section I put together a manual on running rigging and mast raising including points not well covered in the factory manual.  It covers some of the things that caused me issue the first season out. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PAK5gunRswBET94mNC5z2O7ZhWRsz3as/view

Being new yours will be all rigged when you pick her up, but this should point out a few good tips.  One that just happened to me last weekend was that she just would not come of the trailer when launching.  I had cleated the center board line, but after going through all the other possibilities I found it had come loose and dropped and was stuck on the trailer.  Make sure that's cleated good and tight before backing in.

[Houserw]

Wow that is a great rigging tutorial, thanks a million for pointing me to it.  Between reading the manual and your rigging guide I feel much better informed.

I took her out twice this weekend, working on raising the mast (quite a chore by myself), perhaps i need the optional mast raising kit - do you have an opinion on if that makes raising the mast easier or more controlled single handing it?  I practiced putting the sails up and down and adjusting to the very light 2kt wind.  I ended up motoring around as well.  I got a 6hp long shaft Tohatsu to hang on the back.

Also, great tip on checking the centerboard being secured before taking it off the trailer... that'll have to go on my checklist.

[slode]

Do you have a boom vang?  That tackle (with 45' of line) along with a gin pole (leverage pole as it's called on the factory parts list) is the complete mast raising kit.   I haven't even tried stepping the mast by myself without it.  But with it's a very simple chore and only takes about 30 seconds to a minute to setup. You could make a gin pole out of a length of pipe with an eye welded to one end.

If you don't have a boom vang I'd recommend it just for improving downwind sail trim.

[Houserw]

My dealer didn't provide the boom vang, is that a standard part of the kit or is it an optional bit?

Sounds like i need to get the gin pole (mast raising kit) to make that task easier, because it was in NO WAY EASY without it... especially by myself.

Do you have a top 3 upgrade recommendation list for the boat?

[slode]

I would assume a kit from Com-Pac would include the complete vang with the extended line and a gin pole.

Ordered off the factory parts list I believe the whole kit would be

MC00R0180 R MAST RAISING/VANG LINE, ECLIPSE (NO BLOCKS) $42.85
RA00M0290 FIDDLE BLK W/CAM & BECKET, SNAP SHACKLE, ECL VANG $130.00
RA00M0295 FIDDLE BLOCK W/SWIVEL SNAP SHACKLE, ECL VANG $80.00
RA00L0210 LEVERAGE POLE ECLIPSE $71.25

I'm sure you could purchase the parts elsewhere and make a pole for less, but it's up to your budget and how much time you want to put into it.

The boom vang will give you much better broad reaching capabilities.  As far as other upgrades none of mine have had to do with performance.  She's a capable, well handling boat for what she is.  If you are going racing or doing a lot of downwind running you may consider a spinnaker.  But I don't think anyone on here has any good experience flying a kite on the Eclipse, and the moderate sized lake sailing I normally do doesn't warrant one.

I have added shore power and a "battery monitor" http://cpyoa.geekworkshosting.com/forum/index.php?topic=11331.0 to make the multiple day trips more feasible.  In August we are planning 8 days in the Apostle Islands with a night stay at Madeline Island marina in the middle to provision and re-charge (ourselves and the battery) while we tour the island.

[Houserw]

That sounds like a great trip you have planned.

I talked to my dealer and he has a complete kit that includes the boom vang bits as you suggested - I'm going that route.

Also, great article on the battery charger and shore power.  I'll be doing similar upgrades in the way of big amp-hour capacity in the future.  Goal zero makes some pretty impressive all in one box kits with plug and play solar that's worth checking out, that's the direction I'm leaning.

I'll report back on ease of mast lifting once I get the "easy up" kit.