New-to-me 2014 Suncat

[MarshHen]

I am the new owner of a 2014 Suncat.  I purchased her from a very nice owner that has had her sitting in his yard for more than a year.  Three years before that, he removed all the rigging, stays, spars, etc. and just "motored around the lake"

She is in good shape with the exception of some bent hardware.  Now the challenge is to get her back together and properly rigged.  This is my first catboat so wish me luck.

Michael

[bruce]

If by bent hardware you mean the throat gooseneck, it's a known problem caused by lowering the mast before the spars are stowed below the hinge on the mast stub. Easily preventable.

Assuming you have some sailing experience, Bill Welch's book, "The Competitive Cat..." is good for sloop sailors transitioning to a catboat.

[MarshHen]

Thanks Bruce.  You called the throat gooseneck right.  There is that along with several bent chainplates.  Nothing so far that can't be fixed or replaced.

I do have sailing experience and I do have Bill Welch's book.  It has already been a big help.

[MarshHen]

Hutchins fixed me right up.  Bent stuff has been straightened, sail and rigging is installed, and she is ready to go.

This SC has four additional chainplates for lifting the boat with a davit.  Once I realized what the extra chainplates were for, the rest was pretty straight forward.

[bruce]

Great! Com-Pac modifies the throat gooseneck slide, sourced from Dwyer Mast, and welds a ring on a 3-4" mast to the top of the slide. That's to give more clearance for the throat halyard shackle, but the gaff is peaked pretty high and the extended ring can be pinched. It can be bent to the side, causing the slide to bind when raising the sail. Look for scarring on top of the gaff near the gooseneck. There is a fix if necessary.

[MarshHen]

I have the longer gooseneck slide and it was indeed bent to one side just as you describe.  I was able to straightened it back up without snapping it off.

 I figured it was due to lowering the mast with it in the way.   But  it sounds like it gets in the way while sailing.  What's the fix?

[bruce]

The short answer is to replace or modify the existing slide so the throat halyard is attached at the bottom and interference at the top is minimized.

I mentioned earlier that Com-Pac sources the catboat spars and hardware from Dwyer Mast. They provided these shop drawings of the SC gear.
https://cpyoa.com/forum/index.php?topic=11288.msg85117#msg85117

You can see the full gaff gooseneck assembly is part #D 353-1L, for $172.64. It comes with a ring welded directly to the slide, just what you want. It used to be that you could order the individual parts directly, and the slide was less that $20, but their current website doesn't offer that option. Might be worth a call.
https://dwyermast.com/sliding-gooseneck-dh353-1l/

At $172.64, I'd modify the existing slide, either form a ring using the stalk tighter to the slide or shorten and thread the stalk for an eye nut. Either way, install the slide so the halyard attaches at the bottom, at the top it will likely bind.

To attach the halyard, I use a 3/16" soft shackle with a length of chafe tubing to gather the loop at the top. Any similar lashing would work. I, and many others, have increased the purchase on the throat halyard to 2:1, so I have a block at the throat, and the halyard is fixed back up the mast. Either works of course.

[MarshHen]

That is a huge help Bruce.  I have this modification on my list.  Many thanks!

[MarshHen]

I finally put her in the water yesterday.   Man, what a sweet boat!