Traveler Mods

[rpwillia]

At the Atlantic City boat show last weekend I noticed that the traveler on the Catalina 355 had both control lines led to the port side. Struck me as pretty nice, and I am wondering if folks have heard about modification kits to do that. On my 310 I have a Garhauer traveler and have sent them a message, but am wondering if other folks have seen anything else.

It looks like if I were to add an extra pulley and a bigger plate on the port side to hold the other cam cleat I would be good to go. Thoughts?

This would help some times with crew who forget to release the opposite side :neutral: and go to bring the car up. Having both lines right there would be sweet.

 

[alexco38]

It'll be ok if you do mainly cruising where heeling is usually not that deep. If the control line is only at the port side, you must go to the low side on a port heel.

On my previous boat where the traveler is just in front of the steering, I had the control line in a loop on the car. But my current boat has the traveler on top of the conch roof. The control line on the car would not work as the dodger is in the way.

It's more of a training issue.

 

[rpwillia]

This is a mod for racing

It'll be ok if you do mainly cruising where heeling is usually not that deep. If the control line is only at the port side, you must go to the low side on a port heel.

On my previous boat where the traveler is just in front of the steering, I had the control line in a loop on the car. But my current boat has the traveler on top of the conch roof. The control line on the car would not work as the dodger is in the way.

It's more of a training issue.

I agree it is more of a training issue. On the Potomac River, we don't do all that many races, and we are continually scouring for more crew so training is a huge issue. By relocating the lines to one side, it is easier for a newer crew member for when (not if) they forget to release the line on the other side they can just grab the line instead of having to jump to the other side which tends to be a 15-30 second evolution/distraction.

 

[SamLust]

I have done exactly what you're looking for. Garhauer traveler with both control lines run back to the cockpit at the wheel. No Kit. Still, a piece of cake. The bad news is I will not be able to post the pictures till next week. Unfortunately, Uncle Willie (William Grant) is taking the entire U S operation to Miami for a 3 day meeting. I'll be forced to drink Balvenie, Glenfiddich, Reyka and Sailor Jerry. It's a tough life.

You might want to send me a personal as a reminder. My brain is likely to be fully addled by that time.

 

[rpwillia]

I have done exactly what you're looking for. Garhauer traveler with both control lines run back to the cockpit at the wheel. No Kit. Still, a piece of cake.

Back to the wheel doesn't help as during a race the helmsman (usually me) is too busy to spend time trimming, hence the need to make it easier for a relatively inexperienced crew member to do.

 

[Joe]

Back to the wheel doesn't help as during a race the helmsman (usually me) is too busy to spend time trimming, hence the need to make it easier for a relatively inexperienced crew member to do.

I'm thinking the inexperienced crew only needs to make the mistake once, but can't you just have the jib trimmer(who will be on the leeward side) reach over and uncleat the line? The lines should at least be close to whomever is trimming the main. If you race with the dodger down, then both lines can be conveniently left together on top of the hatch near the mainsheet. Just pull one and release the other. If you are leaving the dodger up while racing, well... that's another issue... because you're racing for fun and crew work won't be that important.

Another thing you could do is remove the cam cleat on the traveller and relocate it to a more convenient location, the coaming for example, or near the mainsheet cleat (or the mainsheet winch) anywhere that both port and starboard control lines can be easily handled by the same person.

Or... you could shell out some bucks for the Harken Windward Sheeting Car. http://www.harken.com/traveler/WindwardSheeting.php

Finally, and don't take this the wrong way... but it's a bit unusual for a racing sailor to use the term "pulley" when referring to a "block".

 

[rpwillia]

Pictures for Joe

Finally, and don't take this the wrong way... but it's a bit unusual for a racing sailor to use the term "pulley" when referring to a "block".

Not sure how else to take it. I do think by adding a pulley to the port side and a cam cleat over there I can get the same thing. But thanks for the purity lesson in terminology ...

 

[Stu Jackson]

Chill, your pulley photo was taken on land!

Good point about relocating the cam cleats. Many of us have removed the cam cleats on the traveler cars and run the traveler lines back through bullet fairleads and then to new cam cleats on the aft edge of the cabintop. Then the two traveler control lines are right there and so close, and so crew being on one side of the cockpit or the other simply doesn't matter.

 

[Joe]

Not sure how else to take it. I do think by adding a pulley to the port side and a cam cleat over there I can get the same thing. But thanks for the purity lesson in terminology ...

Sorry friend, I was hoping you might not want to seem too lubberly when you went down to the chandlery (that's a marine supply store) to purchase your parts. But since you're going to make your modification your way, anyway, why bother ask our opinions. FWIW this is what I had in mind.

 

[Todd Smith]

Do you expect the traveller trimmer to always sit on the port side ? What if you healing on starboard tack ? You want the weight on the windward side AND the ability to quickly lower the traveller in a gust.

I find that the easiest is a continuous loop with the cleat mounted such that you can pull from the high side to uncleat the low side's traveller. No need for a fancy splice, just tie the ends of the two control lines togethor.

Todd

 

[Witzend]

I had the same problem with my crew. The way I helped solve is:
Just before tacking I would have someone relieve the main traveler down first and cleat off the leeward line, then after the tack it would be already set.