[3889]
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Good replies, some of which go over my head, but essentially a bridle is a suitable traveler replacement for a cruiser who wants a bit less hassle when tacking single/short handed without significant performance loss.
Bridle v Traveler?
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MikeBz
Well-known member
As well as wind shear (which varies considerably), another factor which makes twist desirable is that the apparent wind angle that the sail sees is influenced by the headsail(s) in front of it. The headsails 'turn' the air, and having more chord & draft (as well as potentially more overlap of the mainsail) at the bottom than the top they turn the air more at the bottom than the top - hence the bottom of the mainsail sees a different apparent wind angle vs the top.
Another reason we need 'twist' is that chord of a sail reduces at the top vs the bottom. As the chord reduces so does the depth or draft, so some twist is required just to keep the angle of attack at the luff constant - and then more twist is required if we want to mitigate against the effects of wind shear of influence of other sails.
Another reason we need 'twist' is that chord of a sail reduces at the top vs the bottom. As the chord reduces so does the depth or draft, so some twist is required just to keep the angle of attack at the luff constant - and then more twist is required if we want to mitigate against the effects of wind shear of influence of other sails.
jwilson
Well-known member
I agree that a simple bridle arrangement is OK for a non-performance boat with a helm who isn't that interested in fine-tune. However anything that puts a fair-sized block mid-air other than close down to the deck is potentially horribly dangerous, and the illustrations shown by the OP show just that. Imagine a crash-tack from a broad reach with sheets well eased - the mid-air block could go almost anywhere. And you really don't want to be hit by one whipping around - not just sore but potentially cracked skull level.
Bobc
Well-known member
No more dangerous than getting caught-up in the mainsheet, or having to manually sort the mainsheet out after it's got caught round the end of the traveller. The block's only on an 18-inch piece of rope, so can't fly about that much.
Daydream believer
Well-known member
I would agree with jwilson on that one. & i have never had the mainsheet catch on the traveller, cannot see how it can
lw395
Well-known member
What various mainsheet arrangements might catch on or collide with will vary from boat to boat.
Needs to be thought about before changing.
Bobc
Well-known member
Last edited:
Iain C
Active member
On dinghies, a better arrangement to a bridle (which I define as an adjustable length strop with a block fixed mid point along it's length at the highest point) is a "split tail" mainsheet.
With a bridle, you should adjust the length depending on your chosen mast rake for that day/conditions. Although most people won't tweak mast rake on a yacht, the block won't be at the right height compared to the boom for all kicker settings. You will have to compromise between not being able to centre the main, or too much downward pull, closing the leach, in light airs.
The split tail mainsheet is essentially self adjusting. The key thing is to make the split forward of the aft block when the boom is centrelined. Here is a split tail mainsheet on my recently restored 1965 F15 (which incidentally originally had a brass horse across the stern deck) and you can see the yellow mainsheet and blue dyneema tails.
In practice, as I expected, this system was not powerful enough, so it now has an additional fall/purchase just in front on the moan jammer (which can be easily un-reeved for light days). There no reason why you couldn't replicate this system on a yacht, or even have a "German" system with the "tails" led out to either end of the track.
With a bridle, you should adjust the length depending on your chosen mast rake for that day/conditions. Although most people won't tweak mast rake on a yacht, the block won't be at the right height compared to the boom for all kicker settings. You will have to compromise between not being able to centre the main, or too much downward pull, closing the leach, in light airs.
The split tail mainsheet is essentially self adjusting. The key thing is to make the split forward of the aft block when the boom is centrelined. Here is a split tail mainsheet on my recently restored 1965 F15 (which incidentally originally had a brass horse across the stern deck) and you can see the yellow mainsheet and blue dyneema tails.
In practice, as I expected, this system was not powerful enough, so it now has an additional fall/purchase just in front on the moan jammer (which can be easily un-reeved for light days). There no reason why you couldn't replicate this system on a yacht, or even have a "German" system with the "tails" led out to either end of the track.
lw395
Well-known member
That's a great system, also popular on Fireballs, but depends the kicker for leach tension.On dinghies, a better arrangement to a bridle (which I define as an adjustable length strop with a block fixed mid point along it's length at the highest point) is a "split tail" mainsheet.
With a bridle, you should adjust the length depending on your chosen mast rake for that day/conditions. Although most people won't tweak mast rake on a yacht, the block won't be at the right height compared to the boom for all kicker settings. You will have to compromise between not being able to centre the main, or too much downward pull, closing the leach, in light airs.
The split tail mainsheet is essentially self adjusting. The key thing is to make the split forward of the aft block when the boom is centrelined. Here is a split tail mainsheet on my recently restored 1965 F15 (which incidentally originally had a brass horse across the stern deck) and you can see the yellow mainsheet and blue dyneema tails.
In practice, as I expected, this system was not powerful enough, so it now has an additional fall/purchase just in front on the moan jammer (which can be easily un-reeved for light days). There no reason why you couldn't replicate this system on a yacht, or even have a "German" system with the "tails" led out to either end of the track.
In fact that's kind of the aim of it, to separate the in-out from the leach tension.
It allows you to change rake without needing to fiddle with strops.
A yacht with mid-boom sheeting might have a strong enough boom for using the kicker that much, but many yachts won't.
That kind of strength also comes with a weight penalty, gybing a lighter boom is always nicer.
lw395
Well-known member
MikeBz
Well-known member
Simply not true. The only way the blocks could get anywhere near the cockpit is if they became detached from the bridle. If you consider where things will end up if they become randomly detached then all bets are off with any system.
jwilson
Well-known member
In the setup illustrated on the post on http://jeanneau.proboards.com/thread/3318/improving-standard-mainsheet-system-00 the quite large bridle block could quite possibly hit someone climbing out of the companionway if a crash-tack from a mainshhe right out broad reach took place with sprayhood down or not fitted. I was wrong to say they could go "anywhere", but there are significant arcs they can reach. You can get a pretty good bruise from just a piece of rope whipping round: add a block and it gets dangerous.
And I'm not a safety nut - I rarely wear a lifejacket, rarely turn on VHF, and spent years sailing boats with no guardwires. But I have a healthy respect for inherently hazardous bits of rigging.