The Leader and the Followers

Technical discussion of ARC products
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Bill Roberts
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Joined: November 17th, 2003, 9:13 pm
Location: Stuart, Florida

The Leader and the Followers

Post by Bill Roberts »

WHAT IS THE ONE PART ON A SC OR ARC CATAMARAN THAT THE OTHER BEACH CAT MANUFACTURERS HAVE NOT COPIED?

SC and ARC were first on the market with these advanced state of the art improvements to the beach cat catamaran sailboats. Other manufacturers have copied these parts, systems, designs.

1. Streamlined and reduced pitchpole tendency foredeck hull shape designs.
2.Higher than 6 to 1 mechanical advantage mainsail sheeting systems*.
3. Spnnakers and spinnaker launcher system.
4. Prebent mast.
5. Self tacking jib sheeting system.
6. Square top mainsail.
* Most of you don't know this, but it was Tom Haberman who stayed after Harken
and pushed and pushed them to make higher mechanical advantage mainsheet systems
above 6 to 1. Today Harken makes 8 to 1 systems and 10 to 1 systems and 12 to 1 systems and 16 to 1 systems
and they are a big money marker for Harken.

OK, back to the question: What unique part do all SCs and ARCs have that the other beach cat manufacturers
have not copied in simplistic detail and simplier is better?
T Peterson
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Joined: October 14th, 2010, 4:00 am
Boat Make/Model: Supercat 17
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Re: The Leader and the Followers

Post by T Peterson »

High volume mast to limit turtling?

Larger rudders to, uhh, be better?
Bill Roberts
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Joined: November 17th, 2003, 9:13 pm
Location: Stuart, Florida

Re: The Leader and the Followers

Post by Bill Roberts »

You are right Peterson, I forgot about the mast volume. That is a safety item and very important.
The oversize rudders point is very true and really makes the SC17 and SC15 the best sailing beach cats out there.

Just a point: The P19, the scaled down Tornado, has more sail area than a Tornado. If you want to soup up a P19, put larger boards and rudders on it in proportion to the larger sail area.

Here's a hint to the answer to my question. The answer to my question is above the deck.
T Peterson
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Boat Make/Model: Supercat 17
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Re: The Leader and the Followers

Post by T Peterson »

Screws instead of pop rivets

And, I'm not sure about all the models, but my 17 has a boomless rig that I just love.
Mac M
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Joined: June 13th, 2012, 5:05 am
Boat Make/Model: SC17
Location: Lugoff, SC

Re: The Leader and the Followers

Post by Mac M »

Shroud extenders?


On the boom less main.... I used the max bottom batten that Tom supplies. It's an aluminum tube that fits inside the bottom batten pocket on the foot of the sail. I think boomless is a bit of a misnomer for that thing.
Bill Roberts
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Joined: November 17th, 2003, 9:13 pm
Location: Stuart, Florida

Re: The Leader and the Followers

Post by Bill Roberts »

You are right Mac, the shroud levers are part of an important safety system and I overlooked it in my list.
You gave the right answer with the boom in the sail. It raises the boom so it is not a likely to bump you on the head.
It also eliminates the cost of special Aluminum extruision with special end cap castings and an expensive gooseneck and the labor to put it all together. The cost of a typical boom system is easily $300.00 +.
Another benefit of the boom in the sail is that it goes up and down as the sail is downhauled. A fixed boom/gooseneck
can't do this. Frequently the gooseneck gets in the way of max downhaul position.
Thanks for your interest.
Bill
Bill Roberts
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Joined: November 17th, 2003, 9:13 pm
Location: Stuart, Florida

Re: The Leader and the Followers

Post by Bill Roberts »

Hi Mac,
Here's another one.
"The Pelican Srtiker". Remember back in the old days, the spinaker poles were often fiberglass windsurfer masts or part thereof. They started at the center of the main beam and then went up to the apex of the forestay bridle and then out to the end of the spin pole. This resulted in a short spin luff. As a result they put a strut and cable along the bottom of the highly arched spin pole. The strut under the pole was attached to the under side of the pole at the pole to forestay bridle intersection point and the pole was bent downward a few ft at the pole tip.
About this same time I was playing with spins on the RC27. This was mid 1980s. I did not have the pole support problem the beach cats had because I had a front beam to tie the pole to at mid point. A strut and cable below the beam on the 27 were required to stabilize the outer end of the pole in the vertical direction. Then a few years of spin development passed and several thousand dollars were spent as sailmakers learned how to make a fast spin for a catamaran. At first the spins were big deep spins with big shoulders. Put them up and nothing happened. The spin would fill, wind from behind, the main went limp and no boat speed change. Try to run the wind across the spin at even a small angle and the spin, leading edge, would collapse. The self tacking jib, straight track, was developed as part of the early spin development work on the RC27.

Then I got my first 22. Right away I put a pole on it that in side view that looked much like the pole on the 30, long and low and straight. The thing that let this happen was a "Pelican Striker Tube" about 2 ft long from the apex of the forestay bridle to the topside of the mid spin pole position down about deck level at the bows. This also opened up a new jib tack point at the intersection of the top of the spin pole and aft edge of the Pelican Striker Tube. Now we have a new jib sail plan with a longer luff and shorter foot, just like the process the RC27 went through. Then a few self tacking jib track shapes were tried and experimented with and Tom picked the one now in production on the 22. It works well with and without spinnaker.
So, now you see that little stainless tube about 2 ft long, "The Pelican Striker," made a major difference in the spin pole shape and location, made a major shape change in the shape of the jib and spin. It also raised the aspect ratio of both sails which improves sail performance and boat speed. Hot Dog for the Pelican Striker Tube!
Kevin Keller
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Joined: September 24th, 2006, 2:56 am
Boat Make/Model: SC-20, ARC22
Location: Honolulu

Re: The Leader and the Followers

Post by Kevin Keller »

Huge hull volume.

Self rotating mast.

Under tramp sheets etc.
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