Mainsheet track redundant?

[Ardenfour]

I'm toying with removing my mainsheet track and replacing with a simple U-bolt on the cockpit floor. Present setup divides the cockpit in two and you have to step over the track to move about. I don't think I moved the sheet from it's centre position all last season, but a glance around the yard shows most boats have a track. Views?

 

[saltylegs]

Are you cruising or racing?
whats the anchor point like?
What type of boat?

 

[CFarr]

Well I couldn't live without mine. It makes an enormous difference letting it down to leeward when we start to get overpressed as well as pulling it up to wind in lighter airs.
It depends how much you like to trim I suppose. I like to try and get the most efficient use out of the sails, don't always succeed but hey, learning all the time
My boat does respond quickly to trim though which makes it worth the effort

What is your boat?

 

[ghostlymoron]

I've never really understood what is the difference between moving the sheet down the track and simply easing the sheet. The boom ends up in the same place doesn't it?

 

[rob2]

The boom ends up in the same place doesn't it?

Not in the vertical plane, no. If you let the car down the track and harden up, there is a significant downward element to the force applied, flattening the mainsail more than can be achieved with the vang. In light winds, pulling the car to windward allows the boom to rise and maes the vang more predominant so the sail becomes fuller and twists off, which is apt as the wind is greater aloft.

Rob.

 

[Cloven]

If you do replace the track with a U bolt, please get the sort that folds flat when not in use. Mine doesn't and I have lost count of the number of times I have almost twisted an ankle, stubbed my toes and in one case actually broke a toe on the protruding bolt. One day will get round to replacing it.

 

[ianabc]

I've never really understood what is the difference between moving the sheet down the track and simply easing the sheet. The boom ends up in the same place doesn't it?

Let's twist again.....

 

[CFarr]

I've never really understood what is the difference between moving the sheet down the track and simply easing the sheet. The boom ends up in the same place doesn't it?

It's about the booms position relative to the centreline when sailing upwind.
To get the boom close to the centreline with Mainsheet alone you'd have to haul in really tight, which flattens the sail and spills wind.
With the traveler you can set the required twist with the Mainsheet then haul the traveler to wind to get the boom on the centreline.
You'll make much better progress upwind.
As the wind strengthens you'll flatten the main with the sheet and let the traveler down to keep the boom close to centre.

Google it. There are some good sites out there which will explain better than me.
It can also be used for playing the main in gusts and lulls as you don't lose the twist in your sail as you do when you ease the sheet.

Like I said earlier though, it depends on the type of sailing you do/want to do.
I avoided boats with the traveler across the cockpit for the same reasons. Mine is on the bridgedeck so cuts across the companionway - but is a bit bigger boat so it's still close to being perpendicular to the boom end so I retain full control.

 

[sailorman]

Well I couldn't live without mine. It makes an enormous difference letting it down to leeward when we start to get overpressed as well as pulling it up to wind in lighter airs.
It depends how much you like to trim I suppose. I like to try and get the most efficient use out of the sails, don't always succeed but hey, learning all the time
My boat does respond quickly to trim though which makes it worth the effort

What is your boat?

Fully agree wit all you have posted, the track is there for a reason, the OP ought to experiment with the track & learn what its for

 

[RupertW]

Although the tack is not as long as I would like (barely a foot either side of the hatch), it makes a big difference to the ability to avoid putting the engine on when beating in light winds and more importantly, allows me to keep the mainsail up longer when reaching/broad reaching as wind picks up.

I would miss it, certainly.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Well I couldn't live without mine. It makes an enormous difference letting it down to leeward when we start to get overpressed as well as pulling it up to wind in lighter airs.
It depends how much you like to trim I suppose. I like to try and get the most efficient use out of the sails, don't always succeed but hey, learning all the time
My boat does respond quickly to trim though which makes it worth the effort

What is your boat?

Me too.

 

[Kelpie]

You can, I believe, buy a removable traveller track. Not as cheap as a U-bolt though...

 

[RichardS]

I've chartered monohulls with the track across the cockpit. As a cruising sailor I would remove it (or relocate it to the cockpit top if possible) as it's usually not very long and causes more hassle than it's worth with crew tripping over the damn thing.

The ideal location is on an arch or bimini top like a cat as you then get a long track and it's completely out of the way.

Richard

 

[sailorman]

Mounted upon the cabin top the sheet is then not ( usually) accessible to the helm to dump the main in gusty conditions, this arrangement os now often fitted to light weight cruising boats that have a tendency to broach uncontrollably in these conditions.
These systems are fitted to production boats ( like saildrives & large pedestals/binacles ) for the convenience of the manufacturer, not the sailor.Benny point 7s have an arrangement for the sailor

 

[Ardenfour]

I know about control of twist by use of the track, I was just weighing up it's usefulness against it's inconvenient location. The proposed u bolt would be hard against a hefty triangular section footbrace which runs along the cockpit floor, so toes should be safe. Boat is a Nicolson 30

 

[JumbleDuck]

Not in the vertical plane, no. If you let the car down the track and harden up, there is a significant downward element to the force applied, flattening the mainsail more than can be achieved with the vang. In light winds, pulling the car to windward allows the boom to rise and maes the vang more predominant so the sail becomes fuller and twists off, which is apt as the wind is greater aloft.

Does that mean there is no point to a track with a rigid kicker, as I believe in-mast reefing systems require?

 

[Tranona]

Does that mean there is no point to a track with a rigid kicker, as I believe in-mast reefing systems require?

You can have an adjustable kicker on in mast - both my boats have had one, the current one a gas kicker. All you need to do is remember to set it at the correct height when rolling sail in or out, but as explained below I rarely play with it. The old boat also had a traveller (and mainsheet) on the coachroof, but the new one has a fixed point in the cockpit.

Despite what some say above, neither the traveller nor the kicker do much on an in mast and do not have the effects on the boat as they describe for their own boats. In particular this "playing the mainsheet in the gusts" bit is largely redundant as you can adjust the amount of sail more easily to avoid the situations they describe. In the 15 years I had the old boat, never felt the need to "dump the main" to avoid a broach - but maybe I am just a wimp sailor!

For the OP, suspect these sail controls will have little impact on the way his boat behaves. He seems to have got along just fine without using the track to alter the mainsail so doubt he would miss it if he removed it.

 

[vyv_cox]

I've chartered monohulls with the track across the cockpit. As a cruising sailor I would remove it (or relocate it to the cockpit top if possible) as it's usually not very long and causes more hassle than it's worth with crew tripping over the damn thing.

The ideal location is on an arch or bimini top like a cat as you then get a long track and it's completely out of the way.

Richard

Mine runs across the bridgedeck, so really not in the way at all as people need to step over to get to the companionway. For me that is its ideal position, easy to reach and adjust. I alter mine frequently. Only problem is when berthed, which is solved by having the mainsheet on a snap shackle to be moved outside the cockpit to one of the stanchions.

I also have the lift-up pegs to control car position. The magazines constantly tell us to replace these with haulers and cleats, but they would occupy the most comfortable seats on the boat. Provided the pegs are moved before tacking rather than after there is no problem with them.

 

[johnalison]

There is no single answer that will serve for all boats. I've not sailed a Nic 32 but been on a few and I would think that for cruising, it would be a shame to abandon a track, though not impossible, being a masthead rig. My current boat has a compromise of a track just the width of the cockpit sole but slightly raised. This is not ideal but works well enough. For small craft, I think a track at the companionway is usually best, and what we had on our Sadler29.

 

[sailorman]

Mine runs across the bridgedeck, so really not in the way at all as people need to step over to get to the companionway. For me that is its ideal position, easy to reach and adjust. I alter mine frequently. Only problem is when berthed, which is solved by having the mainsheet on a snap shackle to be moved outside the cockpit to one of the stanchions.

I also have the lift-up pegs to control car position. The magazines constantly tell us to replace these with haulers and cleats, but they would occupy the most comfortable seats on the boat. Provided the pegs are moved before tacking rather than after there is no problem with them.

The OP`s Nic 30, will be well balanced & sea kindly so less likely to broach violently, a real sea boat