Traveller use

[Peter Dubé]

Hi. I have a 2004 Suncat with a mid ships traveler. Is the traveler useful for sail shape?. How so?.

I have been setting it I the middle only, so far.

Thanks for your replies!

[Catawampus]

When close hauled in heavy air I use the traveler to allow me to control the angle of the boom from center while using the mainsheet to apply more downward force on the boom flattening the sail more. Other than those conditions, I usually keep it centered. I do recommend experimenting with the traveler in combination with the peak halyard and the main sheet while watching how this affects the shape of the sail, keeping an eye on the boat speed shown on your gps. In my experience, I usually find that I tend to over trim. As the pros say, when in doubt, let her out.

[hoddinr]

This past weekend I was sailing on Charlotte Harbor in 20 knots.  On Friday I was going downwind.  I noticed that the boom would occasionally start to raise up, so I put the traveller all the way to leeward to act as a kind of boom vang.  This helped.

On Saturday, on the way back across the Harbor (a bay really), I was beating in similar conditions, and with reefed sail, put the traveller all the way to leeward to flatten the sail and control the boom.

On light air days when you want more shape in the sail it's possible to move the traveller to windward  (probably not all the way) to induce more of a curved shape.

These are typical uses for a traveler and they work well on the beamy SunCat.

Ron

[Peter Dubé]

Thanks for the replies. Your posts help.

I found that when beating, the leach seems way too tight, not open as I would like. I have the boom end at the corner of the transom. Maybe pulling the trailer to windward some could help by not having the sheet pulling down as much.

Peter

[Catawampus]

As you say Peter, with my original sail I had to battle too much tension in the leech of the sail upwind and found that moving the traveler all the way to the windward side would reduce downward force on the boom and relax the leech some. This was a counter-intuitive traveler position based on my sloop experience, but it worked.
The cut of my new sail does not have this problem. Now I have a new challenge. The new sail requires much more attention to changing the peak halyard tension. I am going to change the block for the peak halyard so I can more easily change that halyard's tension from the helm.