pics of traveler in venture 21??? anyone got one

[stone_love]

I'm wanting to put a traveler in my venture 21. The cock pit is cramped in my venture 21 with the girly, kiddo and pupps. Lake sailing (narrow channels + shallow water everywhere = having to sail with keel in an upward position)

I don't live on the best lake for sailing. it's small and there is only really one open area for sailing. With all the narrow channels you'll have no wind in areas then straight line winds in other. Forcast will say 5-7mph winds but in some of these narrow passages you'll go from no wind to 10-15mph gusts. This makes the girly and kiddo a little nervous...for me i quite enjoy the rush, the heeling, going 6knots in a boat built some 20 years before i was born.

anyway. The stock triangle control line configuration works well for what it is. I need all new lines back there (3/8) but before i do all that i was thinking maybe a traveler might be my ticket.

From what i've read it will allow me let out my main more quickly to spill air. Since the wind is not predictable and very light in some areas and not others it's not very practical to always run reefed and/or smaller jib.

I've never had a situation where i felt unsafe in the boat other than getting the keel stuck on a submerged log during a gust (that was not fun) but having a way to free the boom much quicker would be great.

When it rains hard in the mtns our lake has a heck of a current and you can watch logs/trees float down toward the dam. Under water obstructoins and/or hitting sediment is always a possibility as these strong currents can change the under water landscape in a matter of a few hours. What was once 6ft deep can be 2 ft deep next month and so on.

So what is the opinion of the old salts from this board? Will the traveler help me out..or do i keep oem configuration and just replace the lines?

thanks

-Josh

[AlaskaMC]

We just bought a 25 and are planning on putting a traveler aft of the companionway. It won't be able to be long unless we span the benches and build up a support (which we may do).

The advantage will be that you can change the angle of attack of the mainsheet allowing you to spill wind by opening the roach of the sail up high. You will heal less with the same mainsheet trim. I don't really know if it would allow you to release the sheet any faster than the current setup except in the flow of the setup. As we look at it, if you are at the helm the sheet will now be in front of you. I find that I am always looking back and "helping" the main sheet out with the stock setup. If it was in front of me, I could keep my eyes on sailing while releasing the line. Seems more single hander friendly to us.

[stone_love]

after a bit of research I think i want to take the dive into the traveler system. I think i want to mount it along the boards that hold up my keel winch (2 individual 2x4's) right infront of my companion way hatch.

I'm thinking about a:

Harken 4:1 Fiddle Mainsheet System

along with a traveler kit like this:


http://www.google.com/imgres?q=traveler ... =121&ty=33

[stone_love]

let me know that your opnions are.

If the traveler will make my ability to spill air easier (lower the amount of heeling i see during a gust) this is exactly what i want.

[bobbieaw]

Hello Stone Love!

I’ll start with I have a Mac21 and while I could install and move a traveler toward the companionway hatch, I have found this arraignment very BAD on previous sailboats. It ends up always being in your way. Yes the sailing purist’s will tell you by pulling down on your mast mid-boom you flatten the sail and thus increase drive while sailing into the wind, but we are talking “tenths” of a knot. Unless you sail with your mainsheet IN YOUR HAND, time saved to dump the wind/sail is marginal (IMHO). Before my current Mac21, I had a Venture23 with the set-up you are talking about. Again...always stepping over the board supporting the keel winch and ducking around the lines....just in the way.

SO...you can give it a try and you may love it! You may be able to always sail with your mainsheet in your hand. You can spend all your time adjusting your sails for ever changing inland winds...but while having the ability to adjust the angle of sail with a traveler on a couple sailboat, in the end I found out I never did I know....Bad sailing technique, but it left a free hand for say a beverage (assuming the other hand is on the tiller).

Also know I sail on the Great Lakes, and on my previous full keeled sailboat learned with the help of GPS and 1,000s of hours of sailing, that a perfectly balanced boat is a combination of a bunch of things on a sailboat...some stuff like even waves are out of your control. I can count the times on one hand where I sailed for hours, never touching the tiller, as the balance was perfect. On a small inland lake, you will never get the chance. Enjoy the Venture 21, and buy your 3/8 line at Walmart (by the tarps normally)...OK it doesn’t have the sailing seal of approval, but it costs less than $15. Comes in fancy colors too I use-ta buy everything with a name on it....now I find fun in getting it done for less....

Again...Enjoy the 21!!!...Scott

[stone_love]

thanks for the input. With nothing in the way and being 6ft 2 i find going down into the cabin a PITA!!! So i am defiantly going to weigh in on this.

My boat isn't actually a venture 21, its a west wind 21, made before Roger started building the Ventures but still build/designed by him. In most ways it's the same boat minus i don't have a locking bolt for swing keel (yet)

another option that i'm weighing in on is a different main sail. Currently i'm running and original main sail off of a venture 21. There is just the slightest amount of slack in it when i pull it. This leaves the sail to not be able to flatten out completely.

I'm wondering if i can get a main sail that will have a shorter foot that will help me out (id also love to have a loose foot) and i can run an eye and a cleat on the end of my boom so i can allow some slack on the boom in light winds and in case of a gust i can pull the foot tight as I also let out the control line to spill more air. This will leave an extra line hanging in the cock put (still one less line, maybe three compared to running a traveler system) so that while i'm on a beam reach i can pretty easily pull the haul without having to let go of the main sheet. Also getting a sail that is about 6 inches shorter will help with head room, the little lady can sit comfortably in the cockpit but if i sit upright and i tack..i'll get beaned.


I try to aviod the beam reach in heavy winds but again with lake sailing i sometimes cannot avoid them due to may unavoidable factors. Sometimes i don't know that i'm going to get hit with the heavy gust. But even in a beam/close reach i'd also like to be able to spill/catch more air as needed.

[bobbieaw]

My current boat came with modified aluminm pole as a boom AND a sail from an O'Day 20 which was at least 2 feet to long. So since like you I'm over 6' and needed more head room I shortened the sail. Local sail loft cut off 2 feet (for about $100), I moved the boom higher and now it clears me when it swings. Over the winter, I was at a sailboat junkyard in Florida (I know most people go to Disney...I go to a sailboat junkyard) and picked up a real boom about the right lenght and with lots of stuff still in place. Sould make for a nice replacement. I've been running a loose footed main, but not with a fancy set-up....yet!

Picked up a new headsail from a place this winter and not only was the price great, the service was as well. The info is as follows if you are interested and the pricing for a custom Mainsail is close to where it should be. For my headsail, I looked at what they had that would work, and got about a 110 from the on hand reduced price new stuff. All told a sail with everything delivered including a sail bag....$270. I got the sail lead from someone else on this site who had great product for a lower price. Info follows

"When are ready for the new mainsail we can custom build in 5oz dacron to the dimensions we have on file, luff 21.75', foot 9.75', with standard battens and 1 reef, for a price of $495

Thanks again and we look forward to being of service.

Dirk Sharland
National Sail Supply, LLC (Rolly Tasker Sails, Florida)
26092 Withrow Rd
Brooksville, FL 34601
1-800-611-3823
fax 813-200-1385
from outside of US 352-540-9101 http://www.nationalsail.com"

[stone_love]

my dimensions are a little different

20 ft 5 inches will give me enough room to comfortably sit on the throw cushion and wear my fishing hat that my little lady hates. I can tilt beverages too!

and for the foot 9 ft is the max from one end of foot to the other, i'm thinking shorten it to 8ft 7 inches so i have more room to thread from eye to cleat.


I'll try to row out to the boat tonight after dinner and get dimensions again after dinner just to be sure.