I had the boat of for the first sail last weekend. Great sail-great boat-good purchase!
I one thing that didn't seem to work very well was the vang. My boat has the GNAV that is attached and just slides in the boom track. Is adding the track and car (using the Harken Kit) the way too go?
We made the conversion a couple years back. Big improvement. Worth doing.
It's off the shelf parts except for the car Tom. Contact Paul Zimmerman...I believe he has all the parts in stock for the track/car.
His contact info is on the viper640.org site
we made the conversion to harken track on #100. Big difference in the ease aspect, but need to work on the forward end cap as a block hooks it sometimes
these work well for the mast end of the gnav track.
http://www.mauriprosailing.com/Harken-Small-Boat-Track-Accessories/HAR446.html
has anyone used this kit from APS? Or is that what you all are talking about?
http://www.apsltd.com/c-6097-viper-640-mast-and-rigging-accessories.aspx
Do NOT use the APS kit. We've asked them to take it down. That version (from the Melges 20) has a rotating pin on it that causes our booms to roll over on the long axis. Very bad.
I just received the kit from Mauri Pro
http://www.mauriprosailing.com/Viper-640-Deck-Hardware/ODV640GNAVKIT.html (http://www.mauriprosailing.com/Viper-640-Deck-Hardware/ODV640GNAVKIT.html)
The kit comes with:
1250 CB HL UTILITY Car
About 18 inches Track
two end caps - one tapered and flush to avoid snags and one standard
And track mounting hardware -screws and slugs.
I haven't installed it yet, I am going to pick the boom up from Mhead tomorrow. It looks like I will need to drill holes in the existing GNAV bracket to screw into the car with two machine screws (not supplied)
I will take some pics for reference.
Thanks, Chris, I do believe that will solve the issue.