What does the traveller do?

[Mings74]

Hi all,
Was out sailing today, trial and error, playing about with the traveller trying to squeeze a bit more speed out. Is there a best way of using it?, and what does it actually do?. Cheers Ming

 

[ccscott49]

Main traveller? Changes the angle of the sheets of the main, thereby flattening, the sail, I guess. But basically changes the angle of pull on the boom.

 

[BAtoo]

The mainsheet traveller is to de-power the main by altering the angle of attack to the wind & closing the slot between main and head-sail. it is dumped to leeward in gusts etc. It does not flatten the main as it keeps the shape the same whereas letting the sheet go puts more belly in the sail (and changes the angle).
The traveller can also be used to set the slot when off the wind and the head-sail is eased.
Especially important in fractional rigged boats.
(to flatten the main you use the outhaul; cunningham & backstay (and a flattening reef if you have one!)) these will set the overall shape & power of the main.

 

[KenMcCulloch]

It gives you a degree of independent control of the angle of the sail and of the shape of the sail. So for example in light winds you could centre the traveller to bring the boom well inboard but by adjusting the sheet you can induce or reduce twist in the head of the sail. In heavier air you would leave the traveller to leeward to maximise the 'forward' component of the sail's effort and reduce heeling.

There are a number of excellent books on the subject of sail trim, mostly written by people who have forgotten more than I know.

 

[Kochi]

On our previous boat which didn't have a kicker it was a really useful way of changing the angle of the sail to the wind without the boom lifting and spilling wind. When over pressed we would let it out but in lighter conditions we would pull it up which helped get closer to the wind. There is an excellent booklet on sail trim given away with PBO a few years back which explains it all very well but I've forgotten who wrote it!!

 

[Elemental]

It's a way of changing the angle of the mainsail relative to the centreline of the boat without changing the shape of the sail. Often, the mainsheet is used to do a similar thing, but changing the sheet tension will also change the height of the boom (by allowing it to rise or fall according to the pressure on the sail) and thus change the sail shape.

On a cruising boat, one can often create similar changes by using the vang and main in tandem, on racing boats with bendy rigs there's a bit more to it as the vang can also induce mast bend and other effects.

Mark

 

[sarabande]

I met a traveller from an antique land, once. He had been on a package holiday to the Middle East, and had a good story about some broken statue or other.

 

[richardabeattie]

The bridge-deck mounted traveller is a device for holding the main sheet block out of the way when it's time to go below to put the kettle on.

 

[KenMcCulloch]

[ QUOTE ]
The bridge-deck mounted traveller is a device for holding the main sheet block out of the way when it's time to go below to put the kettle on.

[/ QUOTE ] It can also be used as a means of punishment: release the traveller to allow the car to slide freely. Place the miscreant in the cabin with head/arm sticking out (depending on the severity of the offence) then gybe. Seriously I know of a number of broken arms etc caused by these devilish devices.

 

[LeonF]

There was an excellent lesson on Youtube.. some guy in Portugal.. but can I find it again ??

 

[Fergus]

'ave a look 'ere
http://www.kempsails.com/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=17&Itemid=12

 

[AngusMcDoon]

You need to control you boom in 2 directions - pull it downwards, and pull it towards the centreline of the boat.

When you hoik in your main sheet, it pulls the boom down, but also pulls it towards the centreline of your boat.

When you pull in the traveller, it pulls the boom towards the centreline of the boat.

So these 2 controls are not independent of each other. If you just want to pull the boom to windward, just pull in the traveller. If you want to pull the boom down only, pull in the mainsheet, but then let the traveller out.


Why'd you want to change the position of the boom anyway? Pulling the boom towards the centreline of the boat changes the angle that sail presents to the wind (angle of attack), along the whole height of the sale. Pulling the boom down changes the difference of this angle up and down the sale, called sale twist.

How do you know what is right? You need some telltales on the rear edge of your sale - 6 to 10 of 'em. The intention is to get them all flowing smoothly, apart from the top one which should be curling forwards occasionally.

How to adjust? You want the telltales to change from flowing to curling together when you adjust the traveller up and down. You achieve this by adjusting the height of the boom using the mainsheet/traveller combaination. Once you have got this, then you can adjust the angle of attack so that all the telltales just start streaming smoothly.

It's easier to figure this out by just having a go, but what you want is all telltales streaming nicely, then drop the traveller a tad, and watch them all start curling. Very satisfying once you have achieved this.

The above applies from close hauled to close reach. After that the traveller is not really useful.

 

[flyingscampi]

The answers in this thread remind me of 'Call my Bluff' /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

THIS is a good book.

 

[Mal113]

They live in caravans and cause local villages to be up in arms.

 

[Slow_boat]

The ones nearest us mostly rip of pensioners for tarmacing and gardening, burgle, shoplift and claim benefits. They drive new Mercs and big pickups.

Oh, and they're all called 'John Smith' /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Mings74]

Thanks all, at least there's not much to think about!. Ming