Typhoon traveler thoughts

[Ben Miller]

My Ty has a mainsheet traveler (it was on there when I bought her) and I've been trying to learn how to use it. One thing that's been a bit of a pain has been the way it was set up. The traveler line (one for each side) goes from a loop at the end of the track to a block on the car, back to a block at the end of the track, and then through a cam cleat. I don't have a great photo, but check out the attachment for at least half of the system.

The problem with this is that the tail of the active line is always pointing towards the lee of the boat. If I'm steering and trimming from the high side, moving the traveler up means pulling the line down towards the lee, which is awkward at best and difficult in a strong breeze. I could reconfigure the gear so that the line pulled in the other direction, but then if I happened to be sitting on the low side--which I do sometimes--I'd have the same problem all over again.

I guess the ideal solution would be to have the working end of the line terminate at the middle of the traveler so that they'd be usable from both sides of the boat, but that would take significantly more modification.

Folks with experience on a Ty with a traveler: How is yours set up? Is there an easy option here that I'm missing? And do you usually sail from the high side or the low side?

[Sea Hunt Video]

Ben:

This brief article by Brian Toss (respected rigger) may be of some assistance in confirming the configuration and routing of the traveler sheets. Diagrams and photos are small but helpful.

http://www.harken.com/article.aspx?id=16233

This article may help with suggestions on using the traveler on various points of sail and wind conditions.

http://commutercruiser.com/4-practical- ... -traveler/

[mgphl52]

After adding boom vangs to my Typhoons, I never felt the need for a traveler.
A traveler can help in pointing a tad closer to windward, if you're racing.

[Ben Miller]

Thanks for the resources! Some interesting thoughts there. I liked the idea (in the Brion Toss piece) of using a continuous line. I'm still on the fence about my cleating options though.

As far as whether to have a traveler or not, I doubt I would install one if it weren't already there, but since it is, I'm going to use it!

[Paul D.]

My Ty did not not have a traveler. I have seen some Typhoons with traveler lines though that terminated with a cam cleat on the aft inside area of the teak cockpit coaming. That way at least the pull for either tack is to forward.