Soft Traveler for 26X? Concept Only

[Frank C]

. . . from prior thread, Mainsheet to Pedestal - Weak Link
There are beefy L-brackets bolted to my 26X sole, and the ped mounts to them. The problem is not with the L-brackets. The problem occurs when we transfer all mainsail loads to the top of the pedestal, and then through the pedestal to the floor brackets. I have changed the pedestal bolts to 3/8" eyebolts, earlier described at Removable Traveler thread.

This all has given me a different idea for a "Soft Traveler." Watch for another thread.

FLOOR STROP
Part of the motivation for my removable traveler was my dissatisfaction with Roger's anchoring the mainsheet to "the TOP" of the 26X's pedestal. A crash gybe on SF Bay is something to avoid ... but when it happens, it makes you wonder how the pedestal, and engine controls, and steering system ... survived!?

Absent my removable traveler on its oak bridge, I'd still want to add, at minimum, a floor strop through those cockpit eyebolts (mentioned above) with a beefy "floating stainless ring" for shackling the mainsheet. I imagine a 3-foot length of half-inch line, with it's ends tied to each eyebolt, and the ring free-floating anywhere along the line's center section. This would tether the mainsheet tackle at about 18" height. Roger's mainsheet boom bail is 12" forward from boom-end. For both my traveler and this plan you'd want it more like 18 inches forward from the boom-end, assuring the mainsheet and strop clear across the pedestal's front panel.

Now all mainsail forces are going through the mainsheet, then the STROP, & directly to the eyebolts at the cockpit floor.

WARNING: Know what you're doing here! A stainless ring of quarter-inch stock looks plenty beefy, but it's rating is lower than you might expect. Check it first and do your own calculus ... maybe 3/8" is better?? Further, fabricating to this concept, you would now have a heavy metal knee-cap smasher ... just about knee-high in a crash gybe. Maybe not best for novice sailors, caveat emptor!

SO ... IS THIS A SOFT TRAVELER??? Not yet.
It's just a way to avoid slamming mainsheet loads onto the top of the 26X's pedestal.

[Frank C]

SO ... what's a 'soft traveler' ?? Well, the original implementation has been described here many times before. Shackle the mainsheet from the boom-bail to one Genny track, and a vang tackle from the main boom-bail to the other Genney track. Now the two Genny tracks are sharing the mainsail loads, and enabling an improved degree of control over the boom's angle off-center.

Disadvantage to every one of these rigs . . . they block access fore/aft through the cockpit.

SOFT TRAVELER
After accepting the potential benefits of a floor strop to anchor the mainsail's loads, now imagine taking that initial triangle (a beefy line dead-ended at two floor-tied eyebolts, w/free-floating ring between) and tying it to the EZ-cleats on the Genny tracks. Now, by easing one and pulling-in the other, you can 'nudge' the ring to either side. That's the essence of a traveler, easing adjustment of the mainsheet's anchor-point off-center, whenever desired.

There are at least a dozen ways to rig this, but easiest would be just tying two lines from the ring to EZ-Cleats at both side tracks. Add a block to each side of the ring & double the side-wise purchase. While mounting my oak traveler this weekend I got a good look at the underside of Roger's Genny tracks. They are through-bolted with washers.

Can Genny tracks handle the side-wise forces of twin mainsheets, or this soft traveler rig?? Looks like they're okay ... prolly better than top of the pedestal! But I'd rather add a heavy padeye to the cockpit seatback, with a plywood backing board (nobody sits right next to the pedestal anyway). Pull the access panels from under either cockpit flotation chambers for access. Look for an 8-inch square panel over both outboard edges of aft berth, only about two feet aft from the companionway. It's held by corner screws & a whole tube of 5200. Go slowly to remove them, or you could actually delaminate the liner (don't ask).

Whatever you do, make sure your floor strop is well-anchored, providing the ultimate backup to anchor the boom.