Garhauer adjustable car questions

Wayne · May 05, 2008, 06:14:16 PM

Hello.

I ordered a set of adjustable cars from Garhauer at Strictly Sail Oakland. They arrived today, and I have a couple of questions.

I'm assuming that the short section of track (with a label saying that the track is to keep bearings in place) is meant to be thrown away after sliding the movable/adjustable car onto my track. Am I right?

I have a 110% jib, which for a fully closed leech means I have my car all the way forward on my track. When I do furl my jib a bit I wish I had a longer track, as I can't move my lead forward (but hey if I'm rolling up any of my genoa it means there is really LOTS of wind anyway). It looks to me like between mounting the forward blocks onto my track and the longer car I'm going to be losing a foot or so of usable track. Does it make sense to mount the extra foot of track Garhauer provided? Basically butt joint in front of my factory track?

Has anybody 'added on' to lengthen their track? Does it work smoothly, or does the car sometimes catch at the joint?

Thanks in advance for responses!

Wayne

Ron Hill · May 05, 2008, 06:55:56 PM

Wayne : This is the third time that I've tryed to answer you - sometimes this message board EATs message replies!!
You are correct in that the track is a shipping track. Align it with the boat track and slide on the new car so you won't loose the Ball Bearings.
I'd use the system as is and not add track forward until you deem it necessary. The shipping track may NOT be anodized to stand up to the WX. Best check on that.

Jon Schneider · May 05, 2008, 07:50:04 PM

I wonder if you really need to extend your track. As you furl, I find the likelihood of upper leech twist is greatly reduced. I also think that the seam in butting the two tracks together will cause the action to snag. If you want to move the lead forward, perhaps an alternate way would be to install pad eyes and clasping snatch blocks to act as temporary forward lead blocks when you're furled?

Stu Jackson · May 05, 2008, 08:09:16 PM

If you only run a 110 or smaller sail there's almost no reason to buy that great feature because your clew is so far forward already.

Once you install the EZ Glide system, you will have just moved the foremost lead further back, which isn't gonna help with sail trim, where you need the fairlead as far forward as you can possible get it to go.

When you get a bigger sail, it'll come in handy.

You could also get another 110 with a different cut with either a lower or higher clew, but if you do the geometry it won't make much difference. That's why I'm almost the only guy on SF Bay without one of these nifty Garhauer thingies.

And given our sailing venue, I can't, for the life of me, understand why you'd want to reef your 110 here. Why mess up a good sail? Just reef the main. Your 110 is NOT a genoa. Don't mess with more track forward, deal with sail design issues first. BTW, your 110 is probably, and arguably, the best sail you can have here in SF. Those with 130 racing jibs may disagree, but for cruising, it can't be beat - except for an 85 or 90 for summer high wind sailing.

Roc · May 06, 2008, 05:00:06 AM

Wayne,
Don't throw away the small tracks that the cars were shipped on. You never know, if you ever need to take the cars off for some reason, you'll have the small tracks to use.

Wayne · May 06, 2008, 07:17:42 AM

Stu, I have only furled down my 110 a couple of times when the wind was really crazy. Like you say, keeping that sail shaped up and powered up is a good thing . . .
I went for the adjustable cars so that I could more easily flatten my jib and let a little air out of the leech to reduce heel. When I have non sailing friends aboard, or my wife, they get nervous too quickly. In lots of wind, even with the main reefed way down a full 110 can be a little too much.
Thanks everyone for the thoughts. I guess step #1 should be to put the cars on and go sailing to see if I really need to change anything.

Stu Jackson · May 06, 2008, 07:30:06 AM

Good idea Wayne, although if we were doing the "guest" thingy, we'd just unfurl only one sail or head downwind or do the Bay "counterclockwise tour." I remember from our C22 days here on the Bay that that was a good way to spill some air, but have learned since that there are many other ways to deal with the issue, especially on a boat as forgiving as our C34s. Good luck with the cars, they both work and look great.

Ted Pounds · May 06, 2008, 10:23:48 AM

Actually, to flatten your jib you want to move the cars back a little. That pulls aft on the foot which will flatten the base of the sail. It will also allow the upper part to twist and spill a little air which further reduces heel. I agree w/ Stu, the first reef should go into the main. And with a 110 the second reef should go into the main too. And if you still need to reef it's time to go home.

dave davis · May 06, 2008, 05:43:15 PM

To answer your original question, yes, I mounted a small track butt joint to the main track. It holds the forward blocks stationary to the thru bolted track. There is no way the sliding blocks can get close to interfering with the fix blocks. I bought new blocks and did not use the CY shipping blocks.
With this configuration it gives me more options when I am raising.
Good Luck, Dave

Ron Hill · May 06, 2008, 06:54:29 PM

Dave : Is that "raising" as in Easter ........ or Racing?

Wayne · May 12, 2008, 06:21:23 PM

Follow up report after installing my adjustable leads this past weekend--

Well, I got my new Garhauer adjustable jib leads installed Friday, and test sailed on Saturday. I think Stu is pretty much right on with his comments. If I keep them I will need to add track so that I can move my car forward 'back to where it used to be'. We were out in lots of wind, and when I pulled by car back, well lets just say that all the flapping on the leech was driving me CRAZY!!! Conditions were really too rough to give it an honest test sail to appraise the setup, but lets just say that my initial sense is that if somebody on the list is interested in a shinny new set at a great discount they might want to let me know . . . They sure do slide and adjust nicely, but I suspect that with a 110 I'm not gaining anything worth the trouble . . .

Thanks everyone for your responses!

tonywright · May 12, 2008, 06:37:43 PM

I already have the system, but have not yet installed. How much line, and what dimension do you recommend for the install?

Thanks

Tony

Wayne · May 12, 2008, 06:46:07 PM

Tony the folks at Garhauer suggested 5/16 line. I bought some 5/16 stayset, and it worked really well. I purchased 60 feet to be sure that I had plenty to lead to winches, etc. I would rather throw away than come up short. But you know the drill. Measure, measure . . .

tonywright · May 12, 2008, 07:20:48 PM

Ah yes, but I like to check my measuring aginst other recommendations. Somehow, when I measure twice, I make the same mistake twice!

Thanks Wayne

Tony

Wayne · May 12, 2008, 08:45:12 PM

Tony, since I have a 110 I don't need to pull my car all the way back (couldn't even if I wanted to), so my 'tail' goes from perhaps mid track back to a winch. If you have, say, a 150, you would need more line because of all the back and forth through the blocks. And I measured twice or three times and came up wrong often enough that now I make sure I add lots for insurance.
Good luck!