Traveler - was Re: [Rhodes22-list] Racing - day 2 Question for the list

[Mark Kaynor]

Bob,

I'm including the text from an email Roger wrote a while ago. I just reread
it and think Julie and I are going to revisit this issue since the winds on
our lake tend to be pretty gusty and shifing.

Mark

> Saroj,
>
> OK, imagine you are sailing hard on the wind.  It's blowing 15 knots
gusting
> to 25.  There are only two of you on board.  You're both sitting up on the
> windward gunnel.  But, it's obvious the boat is going to be overpowered
> during the stronger wind gusts.  You could reef down.  But, suppose you're
> in a hurry or only have a short beat to windward until your next course
> change or the wind is really puffy with many gusts & lulls, or your
reefing
> gear is jammed, or you just feel like rockin & rolling?  How do you setup
> the boat for sailing with full sail in these conditions?
>
> First of all, you want to have the boom in the lowest position.  Make sure
> the centerboard & rudderblade are fully down.  Tighten the backstay
adjuster
> to take the slack out of the forestay.  On my mast setup, tightening the
> backstay adjuster also bends the mast aft thus causing the mainsail's
> airfoil shape to be flattened for heavy air.  However, with the IMF
> mainsail, you don't want to be bending the mast, so the rig is not setup
for
> that.  Move the genoa car back on the track about 6 inches from its normal
> position.  It should be at the point of maximum beam on the track.  This
> will introduce twist into the upper half of the genoa sailshape, thus
> causing it to spill wind & reduce heeling.  Moving the genoa car back on
the
> track to the point of maximum beam will also cause the sheeting angle to
be
> as wide as possible, thus causing less backwinding of the mainsail by
> airflow coming off the genoa.  If you have a boomvang, slack it off.  Now
we
> come to the traveller adjustments.  During lulls, center the traveller car
> on the rod & pull the mainsheet in tight for maximum power.  Most of the
> time, pull the traveller car to the windward end of the rod & let out
enough
> mainsheet to center the boom.  With no boom vang tension, this will let
the
> end of the boom rise up.  This will introduce twist into the mainsail
shape
> & spill wind from the top half of the sail to reduce heeling.  Now, when a
> wind gust comes, you simply release the traveller car control line on the
> windward side.  Pressure on the mainsail will pull the traveller car to
the
> leeward end of the rod faster than you can say, "Dump the traveller!"  At
> the same time, steer to leeward to pick up some boat speed from the wind
> gust & let out some genoa sheet to prevent backwinding the mainsail.
After
> the gust has past, pull the traveller car back up to the windward end of
the
> rod & trim in the genoa while spending your freshly collected kinetic
energy
> to point higher to windward or climb the face of the next big wave.  It
> takes concentration & practice; but, once mastered, it's great fun & very
> satisfying.  You will stop being afraid of sailing in gusty conditions.
You
> will come to regard wind gusts has handy little packets of kinetic energy
> which you harvest greedily & then invest into getting upwind!  You will
> develop the habit of constantly scanning to windward looking for the
> telltale "cat's paw" ripples or dark patches on the water which foretell
of
> a wind gust coming your way for you to play with.  The reasons why you
dump
> the traveller instead of the mainsheet are twofold, trimming speed &
> sailshape.  The traveller has a 2:1 tackle arrangement while the mainsheet
> has a 4:1 mechanical advantage (IMF mainsheets may only have a 3:1 block &
> tackle).  When the gust hits, you want to dump the excess wind out of the
> mainsail right NOW!  The 2:1 block & tackle on the traveller allows you to
> make a huge change in the trim angle of the sail relative to the wind very
> quickly without affecting the sailshape.  If you let out the mainsheet,
you
> would be affecting both the trim angle & the shailshape at the same time
&,
> with all the extra line running thru a 3:1 or 4:1 block & tackle, it would
> be much slower.
>
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Dilk" <Robert.Dilk at trw.com>
To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2003 11:23 AM
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Racing - day 2 Question for the list


Race 2 and 3 on the Pamlico River, NC

For the first time I made it the finish line.
Great fun and I learned a lot about trimming the boat.

I do not have a traveler.

Question for the list....

Do  you have a traveler? Is it the GBI system? Do you use it? How well does
it work? I have a standard main. What kind do  you?

OK OK 5 questions

thanks

Bob
S/V Knot Necessary