A recent thread on the Garhauer EZ-Glide adjustable genoa track system left me puzzled. The thread was off to the archives before I could post this question. Don had mentioned that the desired setting is usually slightly aft of the neutral point where the car tends to find itself after a tack. The single control line system described (Moody's photo seems to have disappeared, but it's essentially the same as the photo off the Garhauer link below) had the cam cleat positioned to prevent the sheet from pulling the car further aft. What prevents the car from drifting back forward to the neutral point? Harken for example has hardware for a traveller style setup with a cleat on each control line. Surfing the web a bit I've seen some fairly complicated racing setups with continuous adjustment in two dimensions and loads of shock cord to fix the position of the block. Has anyone used Garhauer's EZ-Glide on a Catalina 27?
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Jib Sheet Car
With tension on the jib sheet, the car will naturally want to move aft. Harken cars (not familiar with garhauer) have a shock cord to pull the car aft if/when the jib sheet is slack and tackle to pull the car forward against the tendency for the jib sheet to move the car aft.
With tension on the jib sheet, the car will naturally want to move aft. Harken cars (not familiar with garhauer) have a shock cord to pull the car aft if/when the jib sheet is slack and tackle to pull the car forward against the tendency for the jib sheet to move the car aft.
I have the system on my Cat 27....
.... set up on the existing 1 inch genoa track. I run the sheet to the jib car, then back through a turning block before leading to the winch. This give me a consistant fair lead to the winch, but more importantly, it allows me to move the car backwards under load. The C27's wiches are mounted on the coaming quite a bit higher than the genoa track so there is a substantial angle on the sheet as it leaves the car. Under a load it is impossible to move the car backwards because of the upward angle of the sheet. The turning block or foot block solution relieves that pressure. I also attached a short length of cord to the car to give me a handle to pull it back by hand when the bungy is stubborn. I simply used my old jib leads for the turning block, but I intend to install a stronger, permanent foot block in the near future. I really like the system, I use it all the time. I remove the control line and elastic when I leave the boat to lessen sun damage and keep 'em clean. I have numbers along my genoa track so I can relate settings to visiting crew, but I find that it's more fun to toy with it. We often sail in light air or choppy conditions and it helps to be able to tweak the headsail shape.
.... set up on the existing 1 inch genoa track. I run the sheet to the jib car, then back through a turning block before leading to the winch. This give me a consistant fair lead to the winch, but more importantly, it allows me to move the car backwards under load. The C27's wiches are mounted on the coaming quite a bit higher than the genoa track so there is a substantial angle on the sheet as it leaves the car. Under a load it is impossible to move the car backwards because of the upward angle of the sheet. The turning block or foot block solution relieves that pressure. I also attached a short length of cord to the car to give me a handle to pull it back by hand when the bungy is stubborn. I simply used my old jib leads for the turning block, but I intend to install a stronger, permanent foot block in the near future. I really like the system, I use it all the time. I remove the control line and elastic when I leave the boat to lessen sun damage and keep 'em clean. I have numbers along my genoa track so I can relate settings to visiting crew, but I find that it's more fun to toy with it. We often sail in light air or choppy conditions and it helps to be able to tweak the headsail shape.
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