Hobie 18 traveler

I am sick of the crappy Hobie traveler on my old Hobie 18 so I am thinking about modding the boat. I don't race so class legality has no relevance.

I am considering a Harken low profile track affixed to the top of the aft crossbeam and a Harken 1250 Small Boat CB Car w/Pivoting Fixed Sheaves to handle the load.

Can anyone comment as to the working load of 1250 lbs and the breaking strength of 2500 lbs? Adequate?? Or should I look at larger components.

Anybody else tried this before? Our 18 has the wings and we use it to blast around out midwestern lake. The standard setup is basically useless as a traveler and has taken a lot of the fun out of sailing as it is more of a fight with cranky old gear.....

Thanks in advance.........Nelson

What kind of problems are you having with the stock traveler? It just sounds like you may be fixin to spend a lot of money where you don't have to.

If your traveler doesn't "travel" like it should, find out why. Check the track for debris, corrosion, or build up of gummy residue if you've ever tried to lubricate it. Use some acetone or laquer thinner to clean it, then make sure it is smooth. Inspect your traveler car, the plastic ball and slug can get gummed-up or jagged, they should be clean and smooth. The plastic parts can be replaced. You should not need any lubricant if everything is in good condition, but if you do lube, use only something dry like Sailcote.

Hi,
If cleaning and lubing the travler doesn't work, you might try switching from one ball and one slider to two balls.
David Ho
TheMightyHobie18 1067

That's a pesky unit - I agree. I have an old TheMightyHobie18 that doesn't appear to have any 'ball' in it. Is there a newer replacement unit?

I'm not sure you can bend the harken track over the curved rear beam of the TheMightyHobie18 without problems with the traveler car.

No new unit - there's a place for two delrin pieces that fit into the track. The combination that seems most usual is one ball and one slug/slider. Depending on what you want, you could swap the delrin bits for two balls for less friction, or two slugs for more. It's just a matter of getting the bits and taking things apart.

Supposedly the idea was to be able to sheet without causing unwanted movement in the traveler.

I ran one slug one ball. If there was any load on the sheeting system you couldn't travel out easy without first unloading the sheet some. Hearing people talk about playing the traveler on other boats was fun - it was never an option on my 18.

I often thought about putting a track on top of the crossbeam. I think it would work fine. And, because you could always just use the old track and car, you could easily revert to class legal.

I have to admit that on the 20, I have to get used to the free movement of the traveler. That, and the cleat is on the traveler instead of fixed...

I agree, the whole thing is a POS. The one and only time I flipped was after the car came off. I had dropped the car all the way down in a major puff. With no traveler car, I pulled the traveler control line all the way in to "center line". Next puff, guess what? If you do clean the old system, at least put a stopper knot in the traveler so it can't come out the starboard end.

First of all make sure the track has no ruff spots in it. Some times when the delrin wears out and they 're not replaced soon enough the pins will start scaring the track. Lighty sand the track with 400wet and dry paper,then with 600. Then use a alum. polish or a polishing compound and polish the track until it's smooth.

This does two things, makes the thing slide better but more imporantly the smoother surface doesn't wear the delrin as fast. Then you can use the two slugs. One other thing I did with mine was to use a smaller line for the traveler and using a sheet bend attached it to the mainsheet. The smaller line runs through the system much easier.

Have Fun
Mike

I bought a rear cross bar of the internet and it had the harken traveler system. I like it better than the stock. Of course nothing is perfect and the only compliant I have is ,like mentioned earlier, that sometimes it travels in as you sheet in. What I have is older but what you cited in your post should work. The small boat CB traveler car w/cam cleat arm. I didn't mount the track as it already was when I got it. There might be a bendable version. I am rebuilding some parts of my system. I had great help from the harken people, especially Debbie(may be Debra). She is very knowlegdable and helpfull and totally got me strait. Go to harkenstore.com and get the Customer service #. Let's face it- this is a high action area of the boat under alot of load. things are going to break no matter what system it is.

on my post 'what did you break this weekend' the first comment has an attachment with a photo of the under side of the car. you can see where the end caps broke. Debbie at harken said it caused by banging the end of the track with the car of those high power jibes and not keping the bearing clean with fresh water. This unit is at least five old and should have been rebuilt earlier.

Yeah, I tie a figure eight knot in my traveler control line to just stop the traveler car from banging the end stopper on the track - it wears the swivel cleat a bit more but those are a lot cheaper. I keep envisioning the stopper being knocked off and the car, complete with all the uncontained bearings, flying off the end of the track.

However, The way I've recently been pushing the sails across just before they would go normally has been resulting in some relatively soft gybes even in serious air.

Thanks a lot for the discussion. I have spoken with Harken and am going to do the mod. The track will accomodate a bend of about 4 inches over the length of the TheMightyHobie18 crossbeam so there should be no problem. If it is more than that they can ship a pre-bent track. The stock item on my boat has suffered from a previous owners neglect and is oxidized and scarred. I don't want to spend the man hours fixing what I view as a technologically inferior design. Of course this was designed at least 25 years ago.......

Cheers.........Nelson

You'll love the Harken traveler. She'll feel like a new boat. I found myself traveling in and out more often since it works with such ease.

Nelson,

Will the TheMightyHobie18 still be class legal for racing with the new traveller system? I'd be interested in part numbers and a web site where I could look at the parts. Can you provide these? I'd also like to see pictures of the finished project. I'm needy, aren't I? You struck a nerve with me as far as the traveller goes. The stock one should work better than it does.

Thanks,
Todd, TheMightyHobie18 in MN (First sail or the season tomorrow!)

No, but that should only really be an issue if you are racing TheMightyHobie18 Class in a Hobie points race, and even then it would depend on the race organizers.