Mainsheet Traveler

[Josh]

Let's see 'em! 2 to 1? 3 to 1? 4 to 1? Windward sheeting? What are you preferences?

I just rigged my boat after all the work we did and am not happy with the windward sheeting cleats on the traveler car. Got into some puffy conditions this weekend and had some trouble reaching down to the car to ease the traveler. In my previous experience on a Santana I was able to release the traveler while hiked out thanks to not having the windward car cleats.

[hwpratt]

S2 7.9 installation, definitely mounted too high

IMG_8040 Cropped Tweaked.JPG (141.23 KiB) Viewed 12333 times

Capri 22 installation, could be mounted a little lower

IMG_1255 Cropped Tweaked.JPG (198.87 KiB) Viewed 12333 times

Windward sheeting works well if you can arrange to pull horizontally relative to the plane of the traveler. I prefer the "Brady Cleat" approach with two cam cleats on an angle bracket fixed to the cockpit side. Go to http://www.apsltd.com/c-2560-j22-mainsh ... ystem.aspx and scroll down to "Traveler Cam Bracket."

If you mount them too high up on the cockpit sides it can be awkward to release the line from the lower leeward cam when you're on the windward rail. Remember, you may be pulling the car to windward from the lee side, so you'll be pulling horizontally on the opposite traveler line. But, when you're heeled up and playing the traveler from the rail you don't want accidental tension on the leeward control line to auto-cleat the line, nor do you want to have to pull UP at an awkward angle to release the auto-cleated line.

[dave]

Nice rigging Harrison!

Not to hijack Josh, but how was your first outing at the Equalizer?

[Josh]

Dave,

The equalizer was a great experience. It looks like I'll be taking over the vice commodore spot for the club up here on Beaver Lake and hope to shape up the race committee's reputation after seeing how much more enjoyable a race day can be with a committee that is always on top of what is going on and great at keeping all the boat informed. As far as my sailing and performance, I seem to remember someone telling me to practice at some point or another. Bob, Lisa, and I got a little bit of practice in 2 weeks prior to the race on the day that we finally splashed the boat. But more or less we spent the whole weekend working on more efficient procedures and job duties. Besides the last race of the first day, when we downsized to the #3 right before the wind started to calm, we were never out of contention in any of the races. A couple of the pics on the main page show us right there (within 1-2 boat lengths) of some of the bigger competitors. I raced her yesterday in our fall series up here and can already tell that I'm getting better with handling the new sails and therefore being able to leave the tiller a lot straighter. Throughout this winter I'll be making a few changes with the running rigging and even the placement of a good bit of the cleats for control lines in the cockpit. I'd like to think that'll we'll be competitive on Maumelle by the end of this season (once the crew has had time to gel and I have some more time on tiller). If things keep going well I'm thinking about hauling her up for class championships in MI next year.

btw....did i show you the pictures of my boat?

[hwpratt]

Dave,

I can only take credit for the Capri 22 set-up ... the 7.9 set up is "as bought"

Nice rigging Harrison!

Not to hijack Josh, but how was your first outing at the Equalizer?

[dave]

Give yourself some credit: you could have changed it!!!!!

[upgradingdave]

Thanks for this idea. I'm planning to upgrade to the "Brady Cleat" for this season. Looking forward to being able to control both sides of the traveler without having to move all the way to the other side of the boat!

[upgradingdave]

Just wanted to bump this thread, I'm looking to update the configuration of my traveler so that it's easier for me to control in stronger wind.

My S2 is from 1994 and (I think) it has the original traveler and original setup.

I'm going to try connecting the 2 ends of the traveler line in a loop so I can release the leeward cleat when sitting to windward. Can't believe I didn't think of that before!

I'm also thinking of adding an extra pulley (like the photo in the first post of this thread) to give it 2:1 purchase to make it easier to pull the traveler to windward.

I'm on the fence whether replacing everything with a harken windward sheeting system is worth it.

I'm also not sure I need the brady cleats mentioned above. But if the brady cleats allow me to lock the leeward control line before tacking, that might be cool.

If anyone has thoughts / advice / pictures of your favorite traveler setup, thanks in advance!