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What's the advantage of two main sheets vs. a traveller?

11K views 13 replies 13 participants last post by  pauloman 
#1 ·
Hello all,

I've seen some blue water cruisers rigged with two main sheets, one port and one starboard, versus a simple mainsheet or a traveller. I'm confused as to what advantage this would have. Seems like a lot more spaghetti. Can someone show me the light?

Thanks
Paul
 
#2 ·
Hey,

Some of the bigger boats are now coming with 'german' main sheet. This is a long sheet, usually led aft on both port and starboard. The advantage is that you can trim the main from either side. I have seen this a lot on the new boats with twin helms. I guess this makes it easier for the driver to also trim the main.

Note that a german main sheet does not preclude the use of a traveler.

Barry
 
#3 ·
Much less expensive than a good traveler.. a more stable boom at rest, but the combination of the two sheet tensions can do all a traveler can do..

Definitely more 'spaghetti' as you say with two mainsheet tails to deal with. Also many mainsheet adjustments become 'two pull' affairs (although most main trim adjustments will involve traveler and sheet). You lose the ability to quickly dump the main in a puff with traveler alone.

I've seen it on C&C 24s, Niagara 35s from the factory. In both cases they were cabintop mounted and pretty much negated any possibility of a dodger.

It's rare enough that it's obviously not "THE" setup.
 
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#4 ·
I have been seeing the triangulated double main sheet on cruisers and wondering why they are showing up myself. Frankly they add a lot of line and blocks, don't offer any advantage I can think of, require more skill to adjust and more frequent adjustment, and add bigger loads on the boom. It's a mystery to me....
 
#6 ·
I could see an advantage to opening up space in the cockpit, etc. getting rid of the traveler (avoiding an arch). And I guess I could see where on bigger boats the loads might become such that it's easier, structurally and financially, to do something like a double main-sheet. But I sure do like my traveler.
 
#7 ·
Pretty common on Catalinas since the 90's probably, both my '94 270 and '02 320. Both use travelers, not much advantage really, I use my cabin top winches for the spinnaker so it enables me to carry the mainsheet on the opposite one.
Usually keep the mainsheet on port winch, starboard for main halyard, but then spinnaker halyard and outhaul are port so you can end up switching around a little.
 
#8 ·
Having a boat with the 2 main sheet setup, I can chime in here. I see this setup (not the "German Mainsheet" described earlier) as pre-dating the traveler and is on more classic style boats. It does allow for very precise control over the boom and main but is rather complicated to set. You set the angle to the wind with the upwind sheet and the flatness of the sail, therefore the draft position, with the downwind sheet which changes the angle slightly. Travelers make tacking easier, allowing more precise angle on the other tack and quicker too. Just move the traveler to the spot equidistant on the other side.

I like my setup for gybing. I can slow the boom down as it crosses the wind and adjust just how far the boom will go over to minimize the power of the gybe.

The downwind sheet can be moved forward for a quick and effective preventer when sailing downwind.

You can have a dodger (I do). I don't see how it would preclude that.

Switching from a boat with a traveler to my current boat has been quite a steep learning curve.

Tod
 
#9 ·
My Catalina 25 has the double main sheet, mid boom. It allows a larger bimini to be placed further aft which provides more shade for the cockpit occupants. Here in Texas that is a good thing. Also, not having to move the traveler is one less thing to take care of in a tack or jib.
 
#10 ·
my parents old Grampian used two mainsheets. The way the boat was designed with a transom hung rudder, there was no real way to mount a traveler. It worked very very well

Travelers are older than you might think. If you look at some of the old working boats (and classic yachts) will find a bronze rod that traverses the stern. That was the "traveler" as the block would mount to that with a shackle and could freely move from one side of the vessel
 
#11 ·
A couple boats back we had this. Not all that much spaghetti if you compare to a traveller with a control lines on either side. As has been mentioned, you can use the combination to put downward pressure on the boom, much like you would with a traveller and/or vang. You can control jibes. You have sort of a built in preventer at reasonable boom angles. And its really simple, not much can go wrong with it.

We've got a double ended main (kinda the German system as described above) and a traveler now. Nice for single handing without stepping from the helm. Yea we like that better, but the simplicity and control of 2 main sheets is pretty good stuff IMHO.
 
#12 ·
I've actually been considering a twin main sheet arrangement. My traveller is right at my back when at the helm, uncomfortable to say the least.
This is an old pic from when I was buying the boat. I've moved the boom bail aft on the boom about a foot to clean the sheet from rubbing the bimini, but the traveller itself is still an issue.

 
#13 ·




While i am fully aware of the modern stuff right up to the windward sheeting car on the J24 which automatically allows adjustment of the traveler from the current windward side

There is a lot to be said for how my Cal 29 is setup as it functions like a 7' wide traveler without using any space
 
#14 ·
a traveler allows you to move the downward pull on the boom from centerline to off to the leeward side. This reduces healing (like letting out the sheet) but more importantly it keeps the boom pulled straight downward and thus keeps tension on the leach of the sail so the sail maintains its shape. A boom vang also does this, but a vang doesn't shift the downward pull of the boom to leeward (and reduce heeling). The lines that adjust how much the block on the travel can move port or starboard from center are called barber hauls.

A non traveler boat doesn't have these 'high end' sailing adjustments.


paul oman

progressive epoxy polymers
(and former sailing instructor!)
 
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