Main Sheet Traveler

[mbd]

From the forum in Ben's post:

What's The Traveller Do?
A traveler may have 2 functions: It allows the boom to be brought up to centre when sailing close to the wind. And it can create some downward pressure when you want to flatten the main.

The twin sheets can also provide these functions: Use the windward sheet to bring the boom back to centre. And, use the leeward sheet to control downward pressure.

The leeward sheet can also act as a preventer for accidental gybes.

Playing the sheets would be a little more complicated. Which would you adjust to maintain helm balance? Adjusting 1 may require adjusting both. Maybe on a cruiser, it would not be so critical.

For some reason, twin sheets have not gained a lot of popularity.

Of course, any good thread requires pics. Here are the two Bingham-style drawings towards the end of the thread (minus the cat and mouse).

From user alan white on boatdesign.net:



From user MMNet SEA on boatdesign.net:



Although it looks like he may place his on the aft end of his cabin top, the original Ariel setup has them at the aft end of the cockpit. We've talked about this somewhere before, maybe in the context of using the boom vang as a preventer? But you could add 2 U-Bolts somewhere up on both rails (or use the stanchion bases if you have them), then use that attachment point to rig the second the mainsheet as a preventer when cruising in the tradewinds...


Last post of the thread - probably a cruiser:

If you put in that middle U-bolt I see in the pix, you could just use a single main sheet on lazy days. I bet after a bit you'd find that 99% of your days are lazy days.