On the 235, the jib sheet car controls are a pin stop solution. For some, that is fine but, I wanted things to be fully controllable. I looked in to replacing the cars but, new ones are pricey. I looked at Harken becasue well, all my stuff is Harken. Each car is $383.00, track ends are $230.00 for a set of 2 (at least ya get 2), and of course the new cars do not fit the existing track so that is another $91.00..... each. So the grand total plus fasteners would have been, $1178.00.... plus shipping too. So yeah, that was definitely cost prohibitive, I began thinking of another solution.
What I came up with was this, I would mount a cheek block at the track forward end. I would also mount a PXR at the other end of the track. I then needed to keep the pin up on the car so I got about 2 feet of 3/4" diameter Delrin rod to fabricate stops for the pins. Reusing everything and adding a few new parts to the boat. I bought 2 pieces of 1/4" x 15' Cajun Rope XLE for the line.
Materials List:
- (2) 29mm Harken cheek blocks $27.02 for the set.
- (2) Spinlock PXR cam cleats - $70.80 for the set.
- 30' of XLE - $13.10.
- (4) M5 x 70mm bolts. Can't recall the cost but not much.
- (4) M5 Nylock nuts. Can't recall the cost but not much.
- (4) M5 washers. Can't recall the cost but not much.
- 3/4" x 2' Delrin rod. Can't find the cost but around $3.00.
- About 3" or 4" of existing Butyl Tape.
So somewhere in the neighborhood of $130.00 all in. That is a lot better that nearing $1200.00.
So you cut the rod to an 8mm thickness, drill a 3/16" hole, and then cut a slot so you can snap it on the pin.
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| Cutting the rod. |
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| Drilling the hole. |
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| Cheek block mount. |
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| Stop with slop cut. |
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| PXR mounted. |
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| Finished |
I cut some scrap pressure treated wood to mount the cheek blocks to so that the line wouldn't chafe on the track end.It also helps with the angle to the pin. I slipped the stop on and things slid well. I wrapped it in some white e-tape and then tied a Halyard Hitch to secure the line to the pin and stop. Ran the line through the cheek block back through the PXR and we are in business. A fairlead could be added, I thought about it, but, it isn't really necessary. I am considering adding another line and a fairlead to attach to the car so we can pull it back if it doesn't do that well on it's own from sheet tension.
So there ya have it. We get to use the new setup Thursday night in racing conditions.
