Continuous Main and Traveller Sheet

[Graham Collett]

I noticed in the technical tips that in Sport mode a continuous main and traveller are useful. What length would you use and given the two cleats in the standard set up look different does one need changing or is there a size of rope that works for both?

Graham Collett
Sprint 1941

[Charles]

Graham

If you're happy with the length of your mainsheet & traveller tied together then just measure that, or you could take the max allowable measurements & add them together.

Kevin Dutch leads his around the mast ball so it is less likely to go over the side or back, seems a good idea.

Personally I like having 2 different ropes tied together, it's easier to work out which to pick up next!

[Derek James]

Graham ,
does this mean that you are going to Carsington ? After poor showing at Saundersfoot I am thinking that hanging off the side on a piece of wire may be the way forward . If you are going let me know where you are staying .

[Kevin Dutch]

Graham.
I have got a long traveller line on mine think it is the longest allowed and have got the mainsheet and traveller line spliced together to make one long continuous line. Charles is right in saying that i have it going around the base of the mast and i find that it does stop it running out the back of the boat, especially going upwind in big chop. If your going to carsington I'll be more than happy to show you.

[Bob Carter]

If you do not tie the traveller around the mast ball the traveller is much too long. I cannot see the point of having the traveller under the tramp (it's no good for righting the boat - so it's only use is as a(nother) handle to hold on when the boat is upsidedown). So as I do not want the traveller tied around the mast ball I cut the traveller in 2 and save half for another time (another boat). There is still ample traveller & main length but less to get tied around my feet or to haul in if it goes overboard. I used to sew the shortened traveller to the main with whipping twine so it is one continuous rope but this has 2 disadvantages to tieing them together with a double sheetbend. They are a) a knot tends to prevent the rope going through the slot between the tramp and the rear beam b) if you use a knot it is easier to end to end the mainsheet as it gets worn to move the section that gets gripped by the cleat to the other end. So more recently I just tie them together.

Quite a few of the Carsington boys sail in Sport mode with the trapeze & jib so you will not be alone if you choose Sport mode.
Cheers
Bob
PS I'll be interested to hear if Kevin or any of the others manage to right the boat with the traveller on the mast ball. As I can't I go straight for the main halyard if the boat is inverted.

[Kevin Dutch]

Bob
my traveller line does not go under the tramp either. I find that having the mainsheet going around the mast on top of the tramp and then back again to the traveller works best for me.

[Martin Searle]

Bob
my traveller line does not go under the tramp either. I find that having the mainsheet going around the mast on top of the tramp and then back again to the traveller works best for me.

Thats a ME too I used to go fishing with the mainsheet and traveller everytime I went out when I first started until I started to loop it around the mast.

Although I have to admit I've never tried to right a 15 from a full invert (never had it happen, except on a Windrush on Holiday) but I can see that you might need something to hold onto at the very back of the boat but giving the traveller line a yank should result in ample line, depends on how much leaning one has too do to bring it to lying on its side.

I'll read my "Catamaran Book - 3rd Edition" I won at the nationals (Ps Thanks Brian)

Martin S.

[Bob Carter]

Bob
my traveller line does not go under the tramp either. I find that having the mainsheet going around the mast on top of the tramp and then back again to the traveller works best for me.

So why not cut off the excess rope? It saves rope for another day, reduces the string on the tramp to get tied up in and lightens the boat.
Cheers
Bob

[Robert]

I reckon Kevin's idea is a good one because the location of the slack in the sheet becomes a bit more predictable. I would be concerned about having to reach right in for whichever one I haven't picked up, though. Thanks for the tip Kevin.

[Robert]

Kevin, does your mainsheet diameter work just as well as a traveller line (I think this was the original question)? If so, what diameter do you use?

[Bob Carter]

Strictly speaking the Mainsheet should be 10mm diameter & the traveller should be 8mm. BUT we seldom scrutinise the boats down to that level of detail.
The traveller works much better if it is an 8mm rope yet 8 mm rope can cut into your hands as a main sheet so it is better to stick with 2 ropes.

[Steve Willis]

Most of our 18s are rigged with the traveller rope from the mast ball under the tramp to the back.

This is not for righting but for having a means of having something to hold onto once you have righted the boat astride the front beam position and if you want to get on at the stern. It allows you to hang on as you swim under the tramp without having to grab for one of the handles.

Not so much a problem on the 15 as the front beam is lower to the water and easier to get on.

Kevin's idea I must look at for the 15 as it would help keep the sheets on board - and nearer the windward side than if they fall down the tramp on the heel. Never got close enough to him on the water to see how it works so will have to try the beach!

Steve

[Martin Searle]

<snip>Kevin's idea I must look at for the 15 as it would help keep the sheets on board - and nearer the windward side than if they fall down the tramp on the heel. Never got close enough to him on the water to see how it works so will have to try the beach!

Steve

I find that with the main and traveller lines tied together and looped around the mast it makes the main and traveller readily available at all times since they are almost always within arms reach especially when beating since they tend to sit more to the centerline of the boat the further up it you go. But chief benefit is that it stops them being washed off the back of the boat in one great klump. Also tangles tend to be minimised, in the old days when I went sprinting I would invariably end up with a wad of rope in the middle of the boat amongst which was my Jib sheet, Main and Traveller and I would have to untangle it whilst trying to race

Its pretty common practice at the club Steve, I've been doing it for at least 14yrs!. I think it was Chris S. or Kevin\John that suggested it to me.

The thing that I haven't done is splice the two ends together I guess the main advantage is that it prevents any knot from coming undone (mine are notorious for doing just that), I can't see the spliced end ever reaching the travellers cam since Kevin's is a full length line like mine is. It looks neater. I'll leave Kevin to estoll the virtues of his arrangement.

Martin S.

[Kevin Dutch]

Right then, my mainsheet is the 10mm sheet and the traveller is the 8mm in two different colours as is required. How they have been spliced is by pulling out about 4-5 inches of the inner core of the main and threading the traveller inside, once that is done you can then get the whipping twine out then sew the two ends together. I will not snip any of them down to make them smaller or make the boat lighter because you are only talking about saving a few pounds really and with what i eat and drink the night before i don't really think it matters too much ha ha.

[Bob Carter]

Hi Kevin - you can't be trying hard enough. So what about the extra rope getting caught around your feet and the difficulty in end for ending the main when it is spliced to the traveller?