Are travelers obsolete equipment on modern cruising yachts?

[Joe]

If a main has a traveler, how important is having a boom? The genoa doesn't have a boom - what would be the impact on a main or mizzen, as in our case, if the booms were removed? That represents a lot of weight, not that the weight would be material in our case, where we displace 39 tons. Any takers?

I'd think for any type of reefing system, you'd need a boom. My Nacra was never designed to be reefed... with ten full length adjustable battens the outhaul is not that effective, or necessary.... Nacra did make some next generation boats that were boomless. Anyway, here's a couple of sporty boats that are boomless rigs....

Ooh.... I like the Weta....

 

[Jackdaw]

If a main has a traveler, how important is having a boom? The genoa doesn't have a boom - what would be the impact on a main or mizzen, as in our case, if the booms were removed? That represents a lot of weight, not that the weight would be material in our case, where we displace 39 tons. Any takers?

OUTHAUL.

It matters.

In fact, any jib that can tack with the clew avoiding the mast greatly benefits from a (Hoyt) boom.

Proper sail trim is really about adjusting the three corners of the sail in 3-dimentional space. The more control you have over that the better your trim.

The Weta don't have a boom to potential reduce injury. All else being equal it would be better with one.

 

[NotCook]

But seriously, sail shape must have something to do with it. A loose footed main needs to be held down at the clew, and you need outhaul for shape. When reefing, where will you affix the necessary rigging?

The intent would be on the mizzen to have "behind-the mast" furling. All reefing would be rolling up the sail. The outhaul and sheets would be the same line - on the mizzen traveler.

In place of the main as it is now, we would have a mizzen staysail, furled on the stay just like the genoa is now on the headstay. See this photo. This shows booms, but we're hoping to eliminate them. We can also do a topsail on the main mast, if needed. Below is the actual original sail plan, which the PO changed before it was launched. The jib sheets to a traveler just ahead of the main mast, the mizzen staysail would sheet on the traveler on top of the pilothouse, just as the main does today, and the mizze sail would continue to sheet on the traveler on the davits, aft of the quarterdeck.

 

[berner73]

Ugh. Just another data point to confirm I'm not the most accomplished sailor. I probably play the traveler more than any other control when tacking up wind, particularly in a blow. Just when you think you're getting the hang of something, along come Lovey and Thurston Howell III in their Oceanis 63 to dash all hope...

 

[Davidasailor26]

The intent would be on the mizzen to have "behind-the mast" furling. All reefing would be rolling up the sail. The outhaul and sheets would be the same line - on the mizzen traveler.

In place of the main as it is now, we would have a mizzen staysail, furled on the stay just like the genoa is now on the headstay. See this photo. This shows booms, but we're hoping to eliminate them. We can also do a topsail on the main mast, if needed. Below is the actual original sail plan, which the PO changed before it was launched. The jib sheets to a traveler just ahead of the main mast, the mizzen staysail would sheet on the traveler on top of the pilothouse, just as the main does today, and the mizze sail would continue to sheet on the traveler on the davits, aft of the quarterdeck.

View attachment 140970

So the boat was designed with a mizzen staysail and no main, the PO replaced that with a main, and you're thinking of going back? I'm surprised that changing back and forth wouldn't significantly change the center of effort, adding lee helm with the main configuration. In any case if you ditch the boom you'll still need a place to sheet the staysail. Based on the picture it looks like the boom is sheeted to a point a few feet in front of the clew? That won't work without the boom unless you have a much smaller staysail. Even then the top of the pilot house probably isn't wide enough to provide a very good sheeting angle on anything lower than a close reach. Having two sheets, one to each toe rail behind the pilot house would probably give good sheeting angles, but would be less convenient going upwind.