Of course only a newbie like me would ignore the traveller sheet when jibing in ten knot winds. Of course the traveller would be going two hundred miles an hour when it met the corner post at the end of the track. Of course a disentingrated lower traveller car costs more than 30 dollars. Now, even though I would never let that happen again, a mistake could be made, so I have wrapped a line several times around each end of the rear beam at the ends of the track to provide a bumper for the traveller car.
Anyone else had this experience?
Thanks,
Greg H14,H16
An old trick is putting some plastic tubing in the ends of the track to act as bumpers You squeeze the tubing flat and slip it under the top of the track. You need 2 pieces about an inch long. I don't remember the diameter.
...of course it was a harken traveler.
I tie a knot in my traveler sheet so that the knot bottoms out on the swivel cleat just before the traveler would hit the endcaps on the t-rail. This way, if I forget to push the main over or mess up the jib, I'm not relying on the integrity (rather - lack thereof) of the end caps or the traveler to absorb the impact - the chordage has a ~little~ stretchy bounce to help too. I'm talking about a Nacra but I imagine the same might still hold true in Hobie land.
[color]Jake
[color]Nacra 5.2 (2112)
Thanks Jake. Sounds like a good idea.
Greg H14,H16
You wouldn't, by chance, drive an um... Audi, woudja, BC?
...just wondering...
... how's that
sudden unexplained accelleration
thing going, huh?
Just kiddin' :-Q
I've had this happen on my old Hobie-14, and the traveler didn't have to hit the end post. The lower part, being of plastic, apparently had just reached the end of its life. It exploded during a jibe, but just as it was passing through the middle of the track, with both of my hands around it - thank God for sailing gloves! Just one more thing to keep an eye on if it's an old boat - the plastic lower and all the little bearing thingies.
Keith Chapman, Annapolis, Md.
H-18
Northstar 500 (monoslug)
WRCRA - www.wrcra.org