Garhauer E Z Glide Genoa Car System

[John Langford]

I just installed my new Garhauer adjustable genoa car system. It looks good overall although I haven't taken it sailing yet. However, I just wanted to mention that despite the fact that I specified that the system was for a Catalina 34 MK II, the cam cleat fitting at the aft end of the system was not welded to its track fitting. As a result the cam cleat fitting hits the gelcoat on the coaming when you pull on the line.

So be forewarned that Guido and company will not immobilize the cam cleat fitting without much more specific instructions than I provided. An earlier post on this board suggested that they were aware of this problem and would weld the two pieces together if you specified it was for a Catalina 34.

[Clay Greene]

The person I would speak with is Mark Felgenhauer - he'll be glad to weld them together (most likely at no charge) upon your request.  Agreed that they won't do it just because you say it is for a Catalina 34. 

[John Langford]

Since I won't be sending the fittings back for welding from British Columbia I wonder if anyone has come up with a clever idea for creating  a "bumper" either on the coaming or on the cam cleat fitting itself?

[Roc]

Hello John,
I have the same system for at least 10 years.  I originally got the cam cleat welded.  the drawback is that it is now locked in one position (mine was welded in line to the track).  So pulling the line on an angle didn't work too well.  I then changed it to the normal swiveling cam cleat and although it does hit the coaming, I think it works better.  In all the years I've had this, the most that ever happens to the coaming is a little grey dot where the cam cleat hits.  I don't think this swiveling cam cleat is a problem.  I also mounted the cam cleat backwards so it takes up less space on the track.  I don't use a bungee cord to pull the car back.  What I did is took the bitter end of the line and ran it through a block on the stern rail and back to the movable car.  Pull one line to move the car forward, pull the other to move it back.  

[Solstice]

Since I won't be sending the fittings back for welding from British Columbia I wonder if anyone has come up with a clever idea for creating  a "bumper" either on the coaming or on the cam cleat fitting itself?

John,
I had the same issue on my C320 and I used these http://www.nowearguard.com/ They are Marine Grade Stainless strips and they work well as long as you remove every trace of wax where you apply them so the adhesive sticks. I also would put a couple of wraps of the control line around the cam when storing.
Although this isn't a problem on my 355, I have used the wear guards for the area of my coaming where the jib sheet comes to the winch.
Hope this helps...

[George Bean]

All I did was file down the stainless steel backing plate enough so that the plastic cam cleat over lapped it on the coaming side.  I found that the plastic was soft enough to not mar the gelcote.  But I do tend to pull straight back on the control line instead of towards the coaming.  There isn't a whole lot of tension on the control line even in our San Francisco breezes.

[KWKloeber]

Since I won't be sending the fittings back for welding from British Columbia I wonder if anyone has come up with a clever idea for creating  a "bumper" either on the coaming or on the cam cleat fitting itself?

John,

I talked to GhM today about another order for a customer, and mentioned that issue on the 34 MK-II cars -- apparently (and I can't picture this since I neither neither a C34 nor the GhM system) -- but there is a different Delrin part that they put on those to restrain how far each flips to one side (does that make any sense in what you see there???)   

So GhM has a side specific (port/starboard) car for each side.   I asked if it's something that they can send the right part and retrofit with the correct-shaped Delrin -- and the answer was basically yes, you need to drill out the old and insert the new.

So, if you call and explain what happened and whine sufficiently -- I am sure GhM will mail you the correct Delrin part and you can make the switch in-situ.

All this said -- I really am not sure about what part they are referring to on the C-34 car, but if this makes any sense go for it. 
If it doesn't -- well --  forget this post.   LOL!


Cheers,
Ken K

[John Langford]

Thanks all for the suggestions and followup efforts.

Ken, I will look more closely today to see if I can identify the Delrin part the folks at GM were referring to. But I wonder if they were focusing on the genoa block car itself rather than the cam cleat fitting at the aft end of the track.The new E-Z Glide cars themselves work just fine and don't hit the cabin side - unlike the 1999 vintage blocks that came with the boat which do bang on the cabin sides and needed a small bumper on the car to avoid gelcoat chipping.

Roc, I have followed the exact course you followed. In my case the SS base of the cam cleat fitting is proud of the cam cleat itself and is quite sharp which is what concerns me in terms of chipping of the gelcoat. Filing the SS base of the fitting as George suggests would also work as I am sure the cam cleat material itself would leave no more than a grey mark.

I also like the Solstice solution and was thinking that something smaller like a 1" diameter white plastic disc glued to the coaming might be enough.

I will let it ride for the moment until I am sure there is a problem and that I am happy with the positioning of the cam cleat fitting at the very end of the track.

BTW, I found that 33' of 5/16 line with one eye splice seems just right for the control line for a 130-140% genoa.

[KWKloeber]

Thanks all for the suggestions and followup efforts.

Ken, I will look more closely today to see if I can identify the Delrin part the folks at GM were referring to. But I wonder if they were focusing on the genoa block car itself rather than the cam cleat fitting at the aft end of the track.The new E-Z Glide cars themselves work just fine and don't hit the cabin side - unlike the 1999 vintage blocks that came with the boat which do bang on the cabin sides and needed a small bumper on the car to avoid gelcoat chipping.

Roc, I have followed the exact course you followed. In my case the SS base of the cam cleat fitting is proud of the cam cleat itself and is quite sharp which is what concerns me in terms of chipping of the gelcoat. Filing the SS base of the fitting as George suggests would also work as I am sure the cam cleat material itself would leave no more than a grey mark.

I also like the Solstice solution and was thinking that something smaller like a 1" diameter white plastic disc glued to the coaming might be enough.

I will let it ride for the moment until I am sure there is a problem and that I am happy with the positioning of the cam cleat fitting at the very end of the track.

BTW, I found that 33' of 5/16 line with one eye splice seems just right for the control line for a 130-140% genoa.

John, I understand what you mean -- any possibly so because Dave does the travelers, but was (somewhat) familiar with an issie on the MK-II. 

Why not simply call Guido or Mark and discuss -- I'm sure two heads together will make sense of it all.

Ken

[Roc]

Hi John,
Maybe the car on the ones you got are slightly wider and extend past the cam cleat, and are sharper.  So just filing it down might be the trick for you.  Like I said, on mine there is just a grey dot from the metal hitting the coaming.  I guess if I rubbed it hard enough it would come off the gelcoat.  They don't really move that much from side to side, since there is a line running through them.  Without the line might give you the impression that they flop around quite extensively, but they really don't.   I feel the gelcoat should be able to withstand the slight tapping.

[Clay Greene]

Our swiveling cam cleat had a rounded stainless steel edge that definitely was sharp enough to bite into the gel coat and wore it down to the black substrate.  Not all at once, of course, but over time.