Traveler replacement

[SailnetChris]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, but hope I can get some advice on replacing my traveler.

The boat is a 1972 Yankee 30 MkII, which has mid-boom sheeting with a traveler at the aft end of the sea hood. I'm in the process of restoring her, and had to do a recore of the cabin top. In the process I needed to remove the 'glassed-in blocks of wood that formed the original travelers risers, and since the original traveler was pretty well worn out, I figure this is a good time - with a blank slate - to consider my options and install a system I'll be happy with.

As I see it there are two options worth considering: 1) a straight traveler that comes close to the sea hood on it's way across but is quite high off the cabin top at the ends; or 2) a curved traveler which maintains a constant distance from the cabin top all the way.

Here's what I mean by the first:
; and by the second:


The advantage to the first option is that it's off-the-shelf - Garhauer will send it to me and I'll bolt it in place. The second will require going to a machine shop and getting a curved aluminum bracket manufactured and curving a track to fit it. Although I don't expect it would cost that much more since the track would be considerably less expensive since it wouldn't need to span the entire distance without support. The advantage of the 2nd is that it's low profile and considerably better looking.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Chris

[Jeff_H]

This is one case where ideal aethetic form does not follow function. One of the oddities of traveler design is that the center of the traveller needs to be lower than the ends of the traveller if you are to maintain a constant sheet tension. This occurs because the location of the sheet on the boom moves forward relative to the traveler as the boom rotates around the mast.You might not notice this phenomina if you use a flat traveller track on your boat because it has a comparatively short length traveler.

But if you curve the track so that the ends are higher (sorry that should read 'lower') than the middle you will amplify the effect and so moving the traveller will be much more difficult. You can reduce the impact of this issue by moving the blocks on the boom so that they are aft of the traveler, but that has its own set of issues and still means that you need to adjust the sheet whenever you move the traveller.

Jeff

[JohnRPollard]

Originally Posted by Jeff_H

....But if you curve the track so that the ends are higher than the middle you will amplify the effect and so moving the traveller will be much more difficult. ...

Jeff,

Should this read "so that the ends are lower than the middle..."

[Jeff_H]

Good catch John,

Yes, that should read "But if you curve the track so that the ends are 'lower' than the middle you will amplify the effect and so moving the traveller will be much more difficult."

Jeff

[SailnetChris]

That was a speedy reply - thanks!

And of course in the meanwhile I had come to a similar conclusion. I suppose you could curve it in two dimensions (so the ends go forward and down) to minimize the effect, but it would still involve adjusting the mainsheet to move the traveler off centre.

I found another example of a curved traveler here: http://www.vermontficks.org/northernlight/traveler.html - and the person who put up the entry was aggravated by their old curved one. A good indicator that it's something to avoid!

Thanks again, guys - I think I'll order the Garhauer now.

Cheers,

Chris

[SEMIJim]

If you've never experienced a windward sheeting traveler, you might want to check them out before buying. More important to racers, but still: Went from not knowing what it was to finding it indispensable . Btw: Word I hear is Harken does windward sheeting travelers best.

Jim

[SailnetChris]

I hadn't heard of them until recently, when I started looking into replacements. They're certainly very cool, and on a boat with a traveler across the cockpit like a J/22 it would be indispensable, no question. I think for my boat, though, with the two traveler lines coming back just beside the companionway and me standing there with the tiller between my legs adjusting, I shuld be alright with a regular one that demands I let go the leeward to tighten the windward. Besides, that's what I'm used to at this point, my first two boats were set up that way and my last one had essentially no way to adjust the traveler!

This one should be a treat, with a good traveler set up conveniently.

Thanks for the suggestion, though!

Cheers,

Chris

[Valiente]

If you are going to all this trouble and glassing, you might consider putting the traveller on the bridgedeck or across the cockpit with end-boom sheeting. It's a better way to go, except for the "obstacle" aspects.