Last spring I had to remove the existing mainsheet traveler as we painted the deck. It worked, but the bearings had frozen in the car, and it was very difficult to move to do its job helping to shape the mainsail. We decided to replace it, so I started seaching online and was really impressed by the Harken site.

So I checked out Harken's website and used their cool online tools to find the parts I would need to replace the traveler. In their online store I selected the Compu-Spec link . Using this tool, I was walked through a questionaire that took into account my boat and the way I sailed it. When finished it gave me a detailed list of parts, which I was able to buy online.

I choose the 3:1 windward sheeting for a cruising boat. Actually, I tried it a few ways, and the results were very similar.

When the parts arrived I had to mark and drill into the track to secure the traveler controls, but that was easily done.

The only challenge came the day I tried to install it. THe original traveler sat in a molded recess, but the car stood high enough to clear the seat hatches on either side of the companionway. The new track and car had a much lower profile, so the car could not travel further than the width of the footwell. An easy enough problem to solve however. I simply got a 1" teak board and ripped it to the size of the molded recess. With the new Harken track mounted on the teak board, it had the full width of the cockpit to travel.

Now adjusting the mainsheet is a 2 finger job, even under load. I think the teak board has a nice look too! My only issue is that the windward sheeting car bounces quite a bit when there is no load on it, like when motoring with the sails down. Also if the boom does not come over smartly during a tack, the car sometimes slides to the far end of the track before catching.

All in all, it was an easy project that has improved not only the performance of the boat, but ease of handling as well.