IP 27 Traveler - cockpit controls

Tom:

You can add blocks to the end of the traveler track and then control the main sheet position from the cockpit. Garhauer Marine makes the best gear and it is all USA made. Look at this link to see their systems.

garhauermarine.com/catalog_process.cfm?cid=34

I bet you could add the MT-3 traveler to your boat. See this image.



About using the traveler. I come from a racing background. 10 years on an 18 foot Buccaneer, 400 sq ft sail, 400 lbs then 10 years on a J-35, Main Sheet trimmer and Jib Trimmer. Then IP27 1991-2001 Now IP 35 since 2001 with many many ocean miles. Personally, I NEVER USE THE TRAVELER on an Island Packet Yacht. It is just not worth the effort! WOW, I bet you did not want to hear that. Well it is true. I think we are reaching 25,000 miles on our IP35 and in those miles, I might have move the traveler ONCE. It really does very little to the main sail shape. Save your money, forget it. Instead, spend your money on the Garhaurer Rigid Boom Vang, now that will make a real difference in your main sail performance. It is called VANG SHEETING. With this vang, you can apply so much power that the main sheet will be loose at times. This will power up the roach and really make the boat move when off the wind.

If I were looking to improve the main sail sailing output, then the #1 tool to add is a powerful boom vang that can be run from the cockpit.

Ask any IP owner and you will find that THEY NEVER USE the vang.(that is because it is not lead aft, and it is too weak).....THAT IS WRONG......the vang is just as important if not more important then the main sheet. Trust me, I love sail trim more than most IP sailors and I never use the traveler, it is a waste of time, but I always power up the main sail off the wind with our Garhaurer Rigid vang lead aft.

Get a vang, forget the traveler. That is my call.

Here is the rigid boom vang.
garhauermarine.com/catalog_process.cfm?cid=40

Hayden

This is a really interesting discussion and I appreciate the debate of traveler use vs vang use. I will agree that using the traveler will help to reduce weather helm by traveling the boom down. That does exactly that. Then again, so will easing the main sheet a few inches, weather helm is gone. So will letting off on the vang as it will allow the top of the main sail to twist off lowering the center of effort on the main. Since I love to trim sails and since I am always trimming, I added the Garhauer Rigid Boom Vang to help with main sail shape. (Yes, right now my main sail is SHOT and I need a new one) but I still trim it with:

#1. Main Halyard Tension, on and off as needed
#2. Main sheet tension as needed
#3. Boom vang as important as the main sheet.
#4. Traveler...fixed, centerline

The way I trim and set the main sail is to first decide on the main halyard tension based on wind and direction. If upwind, tighter, if off the wind looser. Next we set the main sheet. The saying goes...."When in doubt, let it out!" That is because an over trimmed main looks just like a properly trimmed main. So trim the main in until it stops luffing at mid mast then let it out just a touch. You should see the main break at this point each time you go over a wave and the mast moves forward on the wave action. This luffing at this point tells you that the main is NOT over sheeted. Look for this.

Next, if OFF THE WIND, we play the vang. Our boom vang is lead aft to a cam cleat right next to the main sheet winch. I can pull the vang there and power up the leach of the sail, or I can let it off and the main sail will twist and depower the top of the sail. To me, the vang is as much fun to play and power up the main as the sheet. Again, this is only really for off the wind. Upwind the main sheet is so tight that the vang will do little. But, let off the sheet onto a reach and you need VANG POWER. Put on the vang and the tells stream and the main powers up more.

The problem on IPS, is that they are so stiff, and the mast does not bend, and the main is so small, that it is really hard to shape it well. But I will say, the vang power is so important that it would be the first thing I would add to a main sail control if it is not there. We just sailed 330 nm downwind, wing on wing, and we had the main out to port, the whisker pole out to starboard. The vang was #1. With the main out to and against the spreaders, the boom was rock solid locked down using the vang with tons of power on. We also had a boom break/preventer on to lock the boom down and forward. The vang in this situation was key and made the main very flat and held the boom down. OH, and guess what.....???? ....the traveler was centerline all the time. Again, I never move it, ever. I know I should, or I know I could, but on the IP, it really seems to not matter to me.

With many trips to and from Bermuda, I do not recall any where we moved the traveler. We simply reefed, or prevented, or vang sheeted, and just sailed.

PS:
I sat in the cockpit of a J-35 for ten years racing in Long Island Sound. We hardly every moved the traveler. Guess what? We had one massive boom vang and it was used a lot. We also had hydraulics that bent the mast like a noodle, but we cant do that on the IP.

IPs have the poorest example of a boom vang I have ever seen. 4:1 rope with a cam cleat, where? UP AT THE GOOSE NECK. Yea right? I am going to go out there and try to pull a 4:1 vang on an IP when it is blowing 20-25 when I really need the vang! NOPE...no way. So, many Ip owners simply tie a knot in the vang and forget. Well, if that is the case, sell it, because you are not using it. Seriously, take off the 4:1 vang, get a real vang, and lead it aft to the main sheet and then USE IT, you will love it off the wind. As for the traveler, you are looking into the wrong area for main sail control.

That is my opinion, you all are free to disagree. I do not mind at all. I enjoy the postings. Postings all feed up to my smart phone and I read then as soon as they happen!

Hayden

Don:

I DO NOT keep a second reef. I removed that and I ran my jib halyard down and aft via those blocks so I can play the halyard tension on the jib. I also can ease the halyard tension on the jib when I am finished sailing for the day. May set their jib halyard once a season and forget it. I keep mine slack until I sail, then I tension the jib.

You could easily use the second reef line blocks to run the control aft.

Hayden

This is a good time to use a solid boom vang. Sailing from Eleuthera to Abaco Bahamas. See this image.



Hayden