Supercat 20 with Hooter!!

[DanBerger]

Just found this old picture.

...and, yes, the pole snapped as soon as the wind picked up.

[DanBerger]

...and one more.

[Kevin Keller]

Looks like the Chesapeake.

I notice you have solid beams. Can you take a picture of how your trampoline attaches to the beams? Looks like you have a self-tacking jib too. How did you rig your jib sheet?

I am converting mine over.

Kevin

[DanBerger]

Kevin,

I don't own the boat anymore, I sold it about 2 years ago. It was Bill Robert's boat, so you may be able to find more pics from him or the new owner.

The rear beam had buttons along the back and the rear of the tramp had a pole running parallel to the beam. You ran a line from the pole to the button and back to the pole and so on down the line. You could tighten the tramp in a few minutes and it was very easy.

The self tacking jib was the same set-up as the ARC17

Dan

[Kevin Keller]

Thanks. I like the button idea. Any idea where to purchase them?

[DanBerger]

No idea where to get them, but I would start with Aquarius.

I have seen a similar button set-up on F18s and A-cats. If Tom can't help you, try Performance.

[efinley]

How do you like having fixed beams? Do you trailer often? I have the telescoping version and even after working on it for many hours I'm still having troubles getting it to slide smoothly so I'm thinking of going this route. Bolting the beams on seems like it should be a quick procedure.

Also having the buttons on the beam for the tramp might be quicker than going around the beams and lacing it up. And then I would expect this would stiffen the boat up a little.

My tramp is getting tired so I'll need a new one anyways, so this seems like a tempting change. What do you guys think? Is this a worthwhile upgrade? I trailer sail my boat so I'm constantly assembling and disassembling my boat, if this would make the process faster that would be really nice.

-Eric

[DanBerger]

I sold the boat a few years ago, so I haven't had recent experience with it and I have zero experience with telescoping beams.

However, I got it because I wanted the solid beams. I didn't have an expanding trailer, so I had to disassemble it every time I trailered it. It would have been nice to have the expanding trailer with cradles because it would have held the hulls firmly while assembling, but I had to take the hulls off the trailer, set them up in about the correct position, then attach the beams to one, then the other. It took a lot of room and was difficult for one person to handle.

I had a Ryobi 18v battery opperated impact wrench, so the bolts went on and off pretty quickly. We were like NASBOAT.

Bill had rigged a gin pole that attached to the mast and was supported by the beach wheels under the bow tangs. The blocks were something crazy like 12:1, so I could raise the mast by myself.

The trampoline slid in a track on the front beam, then through tracks on the hulls and laced with the buttons along the rear beam. There was also a lacing strip along one side that tightened it up as well. Really, I could instll the tramp and tighten it in under 10 minutes by myself.

Aquarius should have similar tramps?

[Kevin Keller]

Eric,

I am converting mine to solid beams and will eventually post pics of the process. I see you're in CA. I bought 4"x 1/8"x 12' aluminum beams in LA at Industrial Metal Supply for $73/ piece. I then had them anodized at:

Sta-Brite Anodizing
1237 E Florence Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90001
(323) 581-1432

For $150. Real nice guys. I talked to Bob, he used to do anodizing for Hobie and sailed cats too. I doubt you will be able to beat that price, very few companies can do 12' pieces. They were by far the cheapest with other quotes up to $1000.

I am converting it to a boom-less rig with a self-tacking jib. I like the button idea. I bought some ss hooks from Tom for attaching the tramp. I am just wondering if the hooks will catch on anything. I don't think the button idea will stiffen up your boat anymore than it is.

Dan,

You said that the tramp slid into a track on the front beam. Was the track extruded in the beam or was it a separate piece attached to the forward beam?

Aquarius does have similar tramps and they are very nice. I recommend them as an upgrade, at least from looking at them up close. I might get one in the future but my friends made a nice tramp for me with beer holders and I kind of hate to lose the beer holder feature.

[jjd78]

Since i was the guy who usually helped put Dan's old SC20 together i can tell you that both the front beam and rear beam used the buttons... the front beam had the buttons under the self tacking jib track.... the line in the front was not adjustable... you just hooked the line up there first then hooked the rears on and tightened the rear line.... then tighted the side laces to tighten up the tramp sideways

[DanBerger]

Yeah, Jason was a trooper with that boat. I guess I forgot about the forward buttons. I remember it having a track, but it has been a while.

I ordered a track from Aquarius for my 15 and ordered a custom trampoline from SloSails. Kind of a weird name for a sailmaker, but the tramp is prety nice--and inexpensive.

Attached is a pic of the 15--Jason has rigged this trampoline too...