I've just purchased adjustable Genoa tracks from garhauer for my E35mk11-1970. These tracks are intended to be installed inside the lifelines alond the base of the cabln. The question I need to answer is where these tacks should go and how long should they be? Do I need to do anything to the deck to reinforce these new tracks beyond backer plates below deck? As always, your advice would be greatly appreciated.
Adjustable genoa tracks
- Thread starter msc1212
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- adjustable genoa tracks
Track location
Directly under where your old tracks are(were) the non skid is smooth-there is a smooth line that runs alongside the cabin top on a gentle curve, and ideally, you want to put the new track directly where the old one went. The only thing to be careful of is that since the new cars are wider than the old cars, you should check and make sure the cars can slide unimpeded without bumping into the cabin top sides-if they do, move the track JUST far enough outboard so the cars can slide freely. No more than this, as the farther outboard you go, the wider the sheeting agnle becomes and pointing will begin to suffer
Now, you will improve things slightly if you can have a slightly longer track at both ends-pushing the forward end another inch or 2 will make a true #3 genoa sheet and fit the rig better, and going an another inch or 3 aft will allow more adjustment in the upper ranges of the large genoa. If you do not have anything bigger than a 150, or smaller than a 110, and do not plan to, then none of this (longer length) will really have any impact. The standard track is about right for a 152-153. A low cut 155 will barely fit, but you have little to no adjutmsnrt available to drop the car aft as the breeze builds, so to have a bit more track aft will give you more trim range. If you have to make a choice between farther aft or forward, go aft. The length and location of the std track is plenty for 150, and as I said marginal for a 152-153, and having a bit more aft track lets you flatten the big genny a bit more. Sorry to repeat.
One other thing: If you cannot get the track bent along the curve and must lay it straight, keep it as close to the cabin as you can (while allowing room for the cars to slide). Of course, cosmetically you will have to deal with the smooth part of the deck where the old track was, but this can be dealt with.
BTW-it is snowing in Tucson (or it was last night when I got here for a trade show!).
Same backing hardware should be OK.
Now, wait to hear from some of the guys who have done the Garhauer swap and see what they say-especially about the backing hardware.
This is a great thing to do-because even if your biggest and smallest sails are not at the "limits" in size (for the std. track length), the ability to really set the leads correctly for any size genoa in between (your 110-135% genoas for example) will make a HUGE performance improvement....
Sailing along with your 130-135 upwind, and starting to get overpowered, drop the car back 6-8 inches and watch the boat "get happy".. Or beam reaching, and seeing the top half of the genny luffing with the car in the normal upwind spot (and thus not having the top of the sail working for you), you can pull the car forward until the top half stops luffing (and the top and bottom telltales now break at the same time)...
Enjoy!
S
Directly under where your old tracks are(were) the non skid is smooth-there is a smooth line that runs alongside the cabin top on a gentle curve, and ideally, you want to put the new track directly where the old one went. The only thing to be careful of is that since the new cars are wider than the old cars, you should check and make sure the cars can slide unimpeded without bumping into the cabin top sides-if they do, move the track JUST far enough outboard so the cars can slide freely. No more than this, as the farther outboard you go, the wider the sheeting agnle becomes and pointing will begin to suffer
Now, you will improve things slightly if you can have a slightly longer track at both ends-pushing the forward end another inch or 2 will make a true #3 genoa sheet and fit the rig better, and going an another inch or 3 aft will allow more adjustment in the upper ranges of the large genoa. If you do not have anything bigger than a 150, or smaller than a 110, and do not plan to, then none of this (longer length) will really have any impact. The standard track is about right for a 152-153. A low cut 155 will barely fit, but you have little to no adjutmsnrt available to drop the car aft as the breeze builds, so to have a bit more track aft will give you more trim range. If you have to make a choice between farther aft or forward, go aft. The length and location of the std track is plenty for 150, and as I said marginal for a 152-153, and having a bit more aft track lets you flatten the big genny a bit more. Sorry to repeat.
One other thing: If you cannot get the track bent along the curve and must lay it straight, keep it as close to the cabin as you can (while allowing room for the cars to slide). Of course, cosmetically you will have to deal with the smooth part of the deck where the old track was, but this can be dealt with.
BTW-it is snowing in Tucson (or it was last night when I got here for a trade show!).
Same backing hardware should be OK.
Now, wait to hear from some of the guys who have done the Garhauer swap and see what they say-especially about the backing hardware.
This is a great thing to do-because even if your biggest and smallest sails are not at the "limits" in size (for the std. track length), the ability to really set the leads correctly for any size genoa in between (your 110-135% genoas for example) will make a HUGE performance improvement....
Sailing along with your 130-135 upwind, and starting to get overpowered, drop the car back 6-8 inches and watch the boat "get happy".. Or beam reaching, and seeing the top half of the genny luffing with the car in the normal upwind spot (and thus not having the top of the sail working for you), you can pull the car forward until the top half stops luffing (and the top and bottom telltales now break at the same time)...
Enjoy!
S
Nice boat!
Tracks look totally standard-with the fwd end of the inboard track just aft of chainplates for the uppers/intermediate shrouds.
It seems as though the track actually passes inside of and past the aft lowers..Sorry-no such thing as stern shrouds-Most E-boats are set up with fwd lowers,aft lowers, and uppers/intermediates (these last 2 share a chainplate on the E-boats of this vintage). Sorry to be a :nerd:
My recollection on the older 38's was that the inboard track did not go quite that far fwd-it ended just aft of the aft lowers (or stern shrouds
).If this is an engineering change, it is a good one, and negates any comment I made about trying to get a bit more track at the front end.
Take note of the deck right under the track-the non-skid is smoothed out (never applied actually) to give a better surface to bolt the track down-this is what I was talking about in the last post.
Pull the old track, lay the new one, and just double check the new car will slide without hitting the cabin top sides. If it does, just move the track outboard until it is clear. This may not even be an issue-just something to make sure of before you rebolt.
I would still go for as much additional track as you can get at the back end (if you are running or plan to run full sized genoas-bigger than 150%. The stock track is fine for a lowish clewed 150-152-153, but a high clewed 150 could potentially "'run out" of aft adjustment with the standard track-this totally depends on how high the sailmaker made your clew. For sure anything bigger than 153%-even with a decksweeper type clew height, will not have enough track to drop the car far enough back in the upper ranges of this sail, so any extra track you can fit will be a gainer for you-again-this is no issue if you have no plans to run anything bigger than a 150..
Hope this makes sense and is of some help....
Best,
Tracks look totally standard-with the fwd end of the inboard track just aft of chainplates for the uppers/intermediate shrouds.
It seems as though the track actually passes inside of and past the aft lowers..Sorry-no such thing as stern shrouds-Most E-boats are set up with fwd lowers,aft lowers, and uppers/intermediates (these last 2 share a chainplate on the E-boats of this vintage). Sorry to be a :nerd:
My recollection on the older 38's was that the inboard track did not go quite that far fwd-it ended just aft of the aft lowers (or stern shrouds
).If this is an engineering change, it is a good one, and negates any comment I made about trying to get a bit more track at the front end.Take note of the deck right under the track-the non-skid is smoothed out (never applied actually) to give a better surface to bolt the track down-this is what I was talking about in the last post.
Pull the old track, lay the new one, and just double check the new car will slide without hitting the cabin top sides. If it does, just move the track outboard until it is clear. This may not even be an issue-just something to make sure of before you rebolt.
I would still go for as much additional track as you can get at the back end (if you are running or plan to run full sized genoas-bigger than 150%. The stock track is fine for a lowish clewed 150-152-153, but a high clewed 150 could potentially "'run out" of aft adjustment with the standard track-this totally depends on how high the sailmaker made your clew. For sure anything bigger than 153%-even with a decksweeper type clew height, will not have enough track to drop the car far enough back in the upper ranges of this sail, so any extra track you can fit will be a gainer for you-again-this is no issue if you have no plans to run anything bigger than a 150..
Hope this makes sense and is of some help....
Best,
No offense taken at the stern shroud_aft lowers thing. How else am I supposed to learn if I can't ask a question to an expert like you? My E35 hails back to 1970 and was rigged only with a track on the toe rail. There is a non-skid deck where the inner track would go. Should I grind this down underneath where I will install the new track?
NateHanson
Sustaining Member
Nope. Just use bedding compound and put the track right on the nonskid. It won't matter a bit.
Since you're putting the tracks on a new piece of deck, make sure you seal the core with epoxy where you drill your holes through. Best would be to scrape out some core from each hole, and fill it with epoxy. Thus isolating the core from any water intrusion, and also providing support for the bolts, so that they can't compress the core.
Since you're putting the tracks on a new piece of deck, make sure you seal the core with epoxy where you drill your holes through. Best would be to scrape out some core from each hole, and fill it with epoxy. Thus isolating the core from any water intrusion, and also providing support for the bolts, so that they can't compress the core.
ted_reshetiloff
Contributing Partner
Before moving your tracks inboard on a boat that does not already have them there you may want to talk to a sailmaker. I'm not too savvy on the E-35 but there was a discussion here a while back on this subject and the consensus from the experts I thought was that on some older hull forms it was better to leave the track outboard. Hopefully Seth will weigh in on this. Is the 1970 E-35 the same hull and keel as the later versions? If so then you can probably disregard my comments. If not you would be wise to cosult a sailmaker and/or a yacht designer to help you define the best sheeting angle for your boat. I suspect you will find that you want to move those suckers as far inboard as you can without binding on the cabin trunk but it would not hurt to ask the question.
Good catch, Ted
I was looking at that photo of the MK3 thinking it was the boat in question-just upgrading from standard to adjustable inboard tracks. Now I see we were talking about a 35-2 all along-I am so sorry about that folks.
The 35-2 can benefit from adjustable tracks as much as any boat, but I might want to replace the existing outboard tracks rather than go inboard on this particular boat. Some 35-2's do have inboard tracks, but given the beam and overall layout, the pointing improvment will not be as great as it might be on other designs. Certainly no need to go as far inboard as you can on this boat-maybe halfway between the cabin top and rail, or again-just replace the old track with the garhauer...
I will have more to say when I have some time, but again-I am so sorry for the confusion thinking we were talking about a MK 3 all this time...
:redface:
S
I was looking at that photo of the MK3 thinking it was the boat in question-just upgrading from standard to adjustable inboard tracks. Now I see we were talking about a 35-2 all along-I am so sorry about that folks.
The 35-2 can benefit from adjustable tracks as much as any boat, but I might want to replace the existing outboard tracks rather than go inboard on this particular boat. Some 35-2's do have inboard tracks, but given the beam and overall layout, the pointing improvment will not be as great as it might be on other designs. Certainly no need to go as far inboard as you can on this boat-maybe halfway between the cabin top and rail, or again-just replace the old track with the garhauer...
I will have more to say when I have some time, but again-I am so sorry for the confusion thinking we were talking about a MK 3 all this time...
:redface:
S