"That does mean that the car will move as you pull the sheet so sometimes you have to adjust your lead." With a line controlled car, you eliminate that problem. It also makes traveler adjustments possible under load. BTW - the Harken traveler cars use replaceable (plastic) ball bearings rather than wheels. Very slick.
The new traveller is starting to come together. I made a riser by cutting a curve in a teak board that was 2" by 2" by 4 feet long. Could have actually used a piece a bit thicker.
Still need to round over the edges and sand it before varnishing.
Decided to just make the top flat instead of curved upwards. It was easier. I also thought it would look odd to have a smile shaped traveller with the ends sticking up in the air.
I bought most of the traveller parts on ebay. The windward sheeting car is supposed to allow you to haul on one side withou having to release the other, but I've never sailed on a boat that had one.
Ran some thin line through it temporarily to play around with.
We'll have to see how it works
Commanderpete, looks like I fabricated my mainsheet traveler system just like yours. I used the Harken small boat traveler kit from West marine they had a sale on one. Not hard to do all though I had to purchase the marine grade stainless steel hardware from a fasner supply business here, needed longer fasners then West Marine had in stock.
I'm using yours as a model there Robert.
http://pearsonariel.org/discussion/a...achmentid=1686
Back down to the boat, underneath the blue tent
Got the old hardware off. I think only the fitting on the right is original.
Only complication seems to be working from below. Strange section of deck there with heavy tabbing. The nuts for that original fitting were buried underneath the tabbing. I drilled out the screws from the top and popped it off.
Just doesnt seem to be alot of room below to fit a backing plate.
I'll figure something out. I can't move the traveller track too close to the hatch because the traveller car is so big.
A screw through the center of the deck area ends up here below (very close to the wall, underneath the rusty ring)
Last edited by commanderpete; 03-07-2005 at 07:39 AM.
I have the traveler track, and a Schaffer car. I was going to mount as others have across the original mounts just forward of the lazy-rat hatch.
One important difference is that I do not plan to use the control lines and blocks at the ends, but rather adjust the car with a set of pins to limit it's travel. I have seen a couple examples like this in the traveler thread.
Saturday, before the race we had a couple come and speak at the Yacht club, and the gal had worked at 'J' world for a couple summers as an instructor.
Surprisingly, in talking to her after the talk she said that the gains offered by a traveler for me as a cruiser and some times racer were probably not worth the effort! This from a died in the wool racer! She went on to say that they kept them centered on the 'J' boats for all but the advanced courses anyway.
I am very interested in learning what real gains have been had by those who have switched from the original block set up to the traveler.
fellow travelors
It's obvious that most sailors have travelors because the boats next to them in the marina have travelors. It's become tradition. Nobody questions tradition because that would be disrespectful to authority figures and yor daddy and yor mommy. If you don't have a travelor on your boat you are either stupid, unchristian, or a weirdo.
On the black blank page that greets you when you get the computer going, I have that well known old photo of Carl and Everet sizzling along in an Ensign, I think. That mainsail is trimmed tight in over the quarter. No travelor. Three blocks only.
Maybe it would be the ultimate in doing it the old way....and maybe it is obvious to a racer that there is no other way....but WHAT GOOD IS A MAINSHEET TRAVELOR?
A traveler controls the angle of the mainsail to the wind. In light air you can keep good sail shape while drawing the boom higher. In heavier winds you can drop the traveler to keep good shape with less heeling.
There are more important things you can do to make the boat go faster. Smooth bottom, decent sails. Having the right sails up, good sail trim, steer a straight course with minimal rudder action, etc.
After that you might want to tweak the sail some more with a traveler.
Last edited by commanderpete; 06-29-2005 at 08:22 AM.
Hello C'pete,
Thanks.
OK, Understand that all you have with the 3 block sheet system is looser and tighter. Looser the boom is probably out further. Tighter the boom. it's in over the cockpit.
Function of travelor is to move the boom, when it's cinched tight, in or out.
That begs the question:
Doesn't the Rigid Vang provide that very same service? Well, it's a bendy boom perhaps, but I think the vang is giving you the same control over the boom as the travelor. How do you see it?
If the vang is holding the boom down (for sail shape, I presume) then easing the sheet will spill the same wind. I don't see the difference. You get the same boom control if you had a
Travelor without the rigid vang OR
Blocks with the rigid vang.
?
So, CAN IT BE ARGUED that the Rigid Vang with the original Three Block Main Sheet will work as well as the Travelor? Racers obviously need the redundancy of vang and travelor to tweak more.
MID BOOM SHEETING
If you have a rigid vang installed, it looks to me that midboom sheeting would be something to consider. You'ld end up with four points of atachment spread out over 12' of boom, quite enough redundancy to keep the spar from bending. And lots of control. FEED BACK ?
Last edited by ebb; 06-29-2005 at 08:40 AM.
I don't know ebb. On the boat I race on I'll use the vang mostly to keep the boom from "skying" or flopping around while running downwind.
We blew out the genoa racing last week, which was fun, since it wasn't my sail.
I don't understand half of what I read about sail trim, and forget most of what I do understand. Diagrams are more helpful
Twist n' Travellers
Also being a visual learner, I can appreciate Pete's comments. If anyone has a copy of the old warhorse "Sail Power" by Wallace Ross, there is a lot of good info on vang and traveller sheeting and sail twist with lots of pictures and diagrams to boot.
Some people say that the book is out of date with regards to its THEORY (slot effect, etc.), but regardless, the PHYSICS of sail trim are as eternal as the particles that create them. So this book still has much to offer and always will, IMHO.
Check it out.
Chapman On Travelers
Lets look at what Chapman has to say on the subject of mainsheet travelers.
"Depending on many variables, the traveler car is either pulled up to the windward side or let down to the leeward. Once it is fixed in place, frequent small adjustments are made to the mainsheet to account for changes in apparent wind speed and angle. These adjustments both position the boom laterally and release or apply tension to the leech, depending on the traveler car’s position. In some racing boats, the traveler tackle becomes the principal control for the main while sailing close to the wind. (P.223)
= =
The traveler, of course, provides a means of balancing the mainsheet’s vertical and horizontal pull on the boom. As the mainsheet is eased, and the boom moves to leeward, the angle of pull on the boom becomes more horizontal, removing tension from the leech. When the traveler car is eased to leeward, the pull of the mainsheet becomes more vertical, increasing leech tension.
The traveler car can also be pulled to windward in light air so that the mainsheet tension is more horizontal but the angel of the boom is still very close to, or right over, the centerline of the boat. This allows sufficient twist, but a smaller angle of incidence to the flow of air at the luff. A rule of thumb is to keep the batten second from the top parallel to the boom . ." (P.225)
More good stuff in Chapman’s chapter on Seamanship Under Sail. It is a worthwhile read. (P211- 236 in the 62nd Edition) [It's on the 4th of July sale at the local West Marine]
Last edited by Bill; 06-30-2005 at 08:07 PM.
Traveler is working out nice. The windward sheeting feature helps if you're the lazy and forgetful type. You only have to pull one string instead of two when you adjust it.
I happened to have some old tackle sitting around that I've been using for the mainsheet. I'll trim the traveler control line when I decide on a good length.
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