The importance of genoa sheet cars.

[Alan]

In many of the posts I have read, the boat owner is debating the need for upgrades on his boat. Adjustable genoa sheet cars are one of the options under discussion. Some skippers think that because they only own one head sail, there is no need for adjustment. Also pin locked cars are such an inconvenience to use that many skippers refuse to make any changes(and I don't blame them). AGSC's are a necessity if you expect to get your sail trim right. Various points of sail require different sheet lead angles. Likewise, varying wind strengths require different lead angles.Line control sheet cars make adjustments very easy and allow the skipper to get the sail trim correct. In heavy air, moving the cars back depowers the top of the sail decreasing heeling moment and making the helm easier. When reaching or running wing on wing, the cars get moved forward to allow maximum leech opening, which allows the sail to 'breathe' for best performance.Many manufacturers do not install adjustable genoa cars because it adds initial cost to the boat. This is actually false savings because adding the tracks afterward costs more than doing it at production. Never the less, it should be the very first upgrade that any skipper puts on his boat. Your boat will thank for it by sailing better!

 

[h2opuppy]

You are right!

We recently added Garhauer line control genoa cars on our C-310. This is a very nice upgrade! The last time out, we had variable wind conditons so this new equipment made sailing much more enjoyable.

 

[Don Guillette]

Adjustable Fairlead

Alan: Thank you for bringing this subject up.I don't know how easy other adjustable systems are to install but I do know how simple it is to install the Garhauer system. All you do is remove the rear track stopper, place the shipping track against the track and slide the cars on the track. That is it. Well, you also have to rig the line. One very important tip is not to remove the cars from the shipping track unless you want to have ball bearings all over the place. Every once in a while I'd get a call from a sailor I sold the Garhauer adjustable system to and he'd tell me the ball bearings JUST fell out of the car. My response was you didn't read the label telling you not to take the car off the track didn't you. Most would say, no, no they just fell out!! I've been on so many race and cruise boats where I see the jib trimmer struggling to trim the jib. After watching the trimmer for a few minutes I either ask the skipper or trimmer if they know what the problem is. Most of the time they don't have an answer. Here is what I tell them: there are two parts to jib trim and one is the sheet and the other is the fairlead. You have to use BOTH or you'll never get a decent sail set. A lot of sailors don't understand how the cars work in conjunction with the sail but once they understand how simple it is (you could learn in under 2 minutes - Alan explined most of it in a couple of sentences) they realize their importance.The pin type guys tell me it is a problem to deal with them under load and they are right. The solution is to adjust them before they become loaded and the adjustment can be made before the boat completes the tack. The loaded trimmere can call the position by watching the jib just before it comes head to wind. He tells the other trimmer which direction the car should be moved. The sailor with an adjustable system has the advantage of "tweeking" the sail on the fly. Any sailors that converts to the adjustable system will wonder why he waited so long.

 

[David]

A good trick

If you want to move a pinned car under load, here is a trick the good guys at J World Sailing School taught me. Take a line about the same diameter as the jib sheet and tie it (rolling hitch works well) to the the sheet about a foot above the car. Lead it back to a deck winch and take the strain off the car. You can then move the car easily, back the line off the winch, and off you go. Probably your deck winch is smaller than your jib winch; this takes a little muscle on a windy day.

 

[Alan]

A good trick

I suppose there are all kinds of little tricks that you can use to make the adjustments. The problem is that it is such a hassle to go forward, have someone take the load, unpin and move the car and release the load back to the car. By the time you are finished there could have been two more adjustments.Line control cars allow constant adjustment in very small increments without anybody having to leave the cockpit. Small adjustments make very large changes in sail shape.

 

[Bob]

More on this line

I don't have line control cars yet, but hope to when rich aunt dies. (Problem is, I don't have any rich aunts) My question concerns the frequency of adjustment. Alan implies that car changes are necessary every few seconds. I sail and race on a lake that often has fluky winds, and we trim sails pretty often, but generally don't feel the need to adjust car positon once we have settled into a given point of sail (usually close-hauled or ddw when racing). When rounding a headland or something similar and changing to a reach, for example, yes, but most of the time only the sheet is trimmed/eased. Should we be doing more car adjusting?

 

[Moody Buccaneer]

About as often ...

as the traveller. When conditions change enough to require a change in the traveller setting, the Genoa leads probably need tweaking too.I ordered my Garhauer stuff toady.

 

[Don Guillette]

$$$$$$

Bob: You might be surprised at the cost of some of these sail trim control devises. I'm not familiar with the costs of all manufactures but I am familiar with Garhauer.I do not work for Garhauer (wish I did) but I have sold and installed their products. They are a good value for the money. Additionally, they helped me a great deal when I was getting started in the sail trim business - the folks that really, really helped me were Bly and Phil here at sailboatowners.com - but putting that aside a sailor could almost completely outfit his boat with Garhauer product for around $1000. Go to their web site www.garhauermarine.com and check them out.

 

[Al - s/v Persephone]

Harken T-Track conversion?

My '05 Hunter 36 has custom Doyle sails, including a 490sq-ft, large-roach, full-batten main.Consequently, except when triple-reefed, I need a lot of power from my 112% jib to balance it, and most often keep my (stock) Harken pin-track cars full-forward.However, I would like the option of more fine-tuning from the cockpit (where I already have over a dozen control lines led to accommodate my single-handing), especially when triple-reefed in higher winds.Harken's catalog photos look like their T-track adjustable cars would fit on the same track as their pin-cars; i.e. the pin-car track looks like the no-pin-hole track with holes drilled in it.Has anyone here tried to use an already installed T-Track with pin holes to host the adjustable T-Track cars?Thanks.

 

[Don Guillette]

Harken T- track

Al(Newburyport, MA) I'm sure it would fit. What does Harken charge for that setup?As an aside, I'm not knocking Harken no more than I would knock Snap-On Tools but a mate does pay for the name and the sheets /lines or nuts and bolts have no idea who's product is moving them. In other words, S&K, Proto, Cornwell and Sears work equally as well and at a lesser cost as does Garhauer, Schaefer etc on the marine end. That's just the opinion of a common seaman who does not have a lot of disposable income. On that subject, I'm sure a lot of guys are like me. Every time my wife would ask me how much I paid for boat items I would give her a figure of HALF of what I paid for it. She never said anything but I know she knew I was full of crap. Works the other way too - I knew what she was paying for the clothes she bought but never said a word about it. It is all about what makes a couple happy.Al, also, have you considered a larger jib than a 112?

 

[Al - s/v Persephone]

Harken T-track

Hi, Don.I have your book and sail-trim cards, and am a fan.I've just started considering this "just-one-more" mod for my H36, which I have set-up very well for my tastes and usage (coastal passaging and day-sails in the Gulf of Maine).I don't go out looking for gale force winds, or seas over 6 ft. However, I've had Persephone out in 25kts gusting to 35, in 6-8ft close-spaced coastal seas. (I specified 8.8oz type 52 dacron for both sails, so I could handle being caught in moderately heavy weather.)The 112% jib is as big as I'd like to deal with in balancing against a triple-reefed main, which is what I go to in those conditions. (The H36's wide stern generates some pretty tiring weather helm when she's heeled too far. Sail her fairly flat and she balances very well, indeed, with this suit of sails.) I've sailed in those conditions with mainsail-only, but like the added power of an at least partially unfurled jib in close reaching against such seas. Those are the times, however, when I least like going forward to move jib-cars; jacklines-and-tether notwithstanding.Since I have the Harken tracks already installed, I'd prefer to use them, with whatever cars will give me a good system. Since Harken makes both, my starting point was to note the apparent similarity of the T-tracks they show with both types of cars.Saving a few bucks on component costs at the expense of ripping out and replacing the Harken T-tracks is not a good trade-off for me. If, however, such track's dimensions have become so standardized that I could use someone else's cars, I'm not wedded to Harken.Before talking to someone from Harken about what s/he could sell me, I thought I'd ask here first to see if anyone other than a salesman had actually done what I want to do.

 

[Moody Buccaneer]

Harken Track

Check the size of your Harken Track. Harken T-Track is 26mm, 32mm, or 40mm.I know for a fact that 32mm and 1 1/4" cars are interchangeable. If you have 32mm track, the Garhauer 1 1/4" cars should work just fine.I don't know that 26mm and 1" cars will work.Most manufacturers sell 25mm/1" track, only Harken lists track as 26mm. Might work, might not.

 

[Al - s/v Persephone]

Thanks, Moody Buccaneer.

That direct experience is what I was looking for.I'll definitely take a closer look at the Garhauer option.I could probably get away with the adjust-only-on-tacking (or -feathering) mode with the cheaper Harken conversion. I'm not a racer and just don't want to have to go forward in rough conditions.However, the ability to tweak the lead angle while sail trimming for best speed does have its appeal for me.Thanks again.