SC 20 questions

[Mac M]

I'm looking going to look at a SC 20 soon hopefully. I'm wanting a big cat to cruise the lake on, this boats seems to fit that bill. I don't know much about the I one I'm trying to look at except that it has a spin, self tacking jib, and newer rigging. I have been told also that one of the bow tangs are loose and will need to be repaired. Ive done some minor fiberglass work in the past on other cats I've owned, not sure what this repair will involve. I seem to have read somewhere that this is a common problem with some of these boats? Can't find where I read that though...

So, my question is what should I be looking for with these boats. Im familiar with cats, and have bought and sold several, so I think I have a decent eye for potential problems. I've never had any dealings with supercats before...


Oh and I'm in South Carolina,

Thanks,

Mac

[Matt Haberman]

Hi Mac,

The SC20 is a great boat and I am sure you would really enjoy it.

Regarding your question about the bow tang. The bow tang on the SC20 is attached to a bulkhead with through bolts. The bulkhead & tang on the SC20 was actually installed after the hull was closed via a access port in the deck. It is quite likely that you can see the outline of this access port on the deck of the boat.

Repairing this will require removal of the deck plate, bow tang and most likely the bulkhead too. The bulkhead on the earlier boats was marine plywood and later on we used a composite panel. If yours has the plywood I am certain it is probably rotted away by now and will need to be replaced, if you have the composite bulkhead it is quite possible you might be able to reuse it. You would have to confirm this with Tom @ 651-462-SAIL, but I believe he can still supply you with the bow tang, composite bulkhead & deck plate if you need to replace them.

Check out the photos in this this link, especially the ones towards the end. Kevin took on a major restoration project of an old SC20 and photographed his progress. There are some photos towards the end showing the bow tang bulkhead inside the hull. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=328&p=1543&hilit=bow+tang#p1543

If the bow tang is loose it really needs to be addressed because if it fails the damage will be significant and require a significant amount of work to repair compared to repairing the loose tang. If you buy the boat and take on the project I am sure you will enjoy the boat when your finished!

[Mac M]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to look at the boat Sunday, and most likely will buy it unless I find something bad wrong with it. I'm assuming this access port will be near the bow tangs?

[Matt Haberman]

Mac,

Maybe access port is not the right term to use, maybe deck cover would be a better term. This is not a round screw type port that you typically see on boats. Just above the bow tang you should see an oval line of gelcoat, this is the edge of the cover. It is possible that someone blended the gelcoat in so you cannot see the edge so don't be concerned if you cannot see it. When you cut the cover open make sure that you cut to the inside of that seam so you have room to reattach a new cover.

[Mac M]

Well the boat turned out to be much more of a project than I was lead to believe. A tree limb had fallen on one stern crunching some glass, the decks around the daggerboard trunk were separating, in addition to the bridle tangs. I guess I'll keep looking.....