Uncleat the Main Traveller - Really?

Over the past couple years I have been asked a number of times about my heavy air sailing technique in the MC-Scow. To say the least it is unconventional. This blog entry and the associated video show how I do it.

Let's start with a little background.

I'm lazy. I'm very, very lazy.

I grew up on E-Scows, on KU-3. When I skippered from about 1980 through 2000ish, I was just as lazy then. In a blow I really hated to uncleat the mainsheet. It was so hard to bring it back in again. So I would have the third position person run the cars up and down all the time spilling the main and recovering. On one boat I even had the rear traveller controls run back to me too. That person also did vang in kind of a two arm motion: drop car leaning in, grab vang and hike and trim. This completely depowered the E-Scow main in about 2 seconds.

Today I still sail E-Scows as crew on KU-1. I am the one that works the traveller and vang now. So when I picked up the MC-Scow in 2010, I sailed it like an E-Scow. The first time it blew I tried to be the middle man working the vang and traveller. Well the first issue I had was that I nearly broke the mast and boom trimming the vang like an E-Scow vang. Small boat, small motions. Got it.

When I worked the vang the mast bent dramatically. I was not used to this. And the sail started doing some weird things when I trimmed hard. I had nobody to really test against and I hadn't bothered reading any instructions. So I decided to try something different since I didn't know any better. I cranked the mainsheet block to block. This still bent the boom and reshaped the sail, but it didn't bend the the mast as much. I liked the shape a bit better.

Along comes Rob Seidelman for the local Keuka regatta in 2010. In race 1 it blew. Rob vang/sheeted and I worked the traveller, vang off, mainsheet over trimmed. Speeds were comparable. Rob and I extended on the fleet that race. I loved it. In fact it has the added benefit of letting the boom rise during the tack so my fat butt can get under it.

Because my habits are E-Scow based, I continued to over trim the main and run the traveller whenever I get over powered. Over the past two years I have had good success with this technique. In fact I am convinced it is faster, if not much faster than vang sheeting. I even believe I can out point anyone vang/sheeting.

Q: So how does this work?

Mast Bend

Vanging hard bends the boom, tensions the leech and bends the tip of the mast aft and a bit to leeward. It flattens the sail. The vang also pushes the boom hard into the mast thrusting the lower section forward and increasing the depth of the curve of the mast taking draft out of the sail.

Over trimming the main accomplishes much the same except less vang removes that boom thrust into the mast and produces a straighter mast which increases the draft of the sail while maintaining the leech tension and mast tip bend. The smoother mast bend reduces the "speed wrinkles" as laser sailors refer to them.

So just from a speed setup I think hard vang is slower than less vang, to the point where I often use no vang at all in a blow. In a steady blow where speed setup is primary, I go block to block on the main, traveller off (it stays up from the end of the track by itself by a couple inches), vang off, outhaul to the black, and just snug the downhaul.

What about the in-between point, the transition from full power to depowered?

Vang/sheeting starts with the vang. From full power, the first adjustment to depower is to vang on (speed adjustments, not saving your butt from capsizing). As vang is applied the sail shape flattens and the leech tension increases. When vang is on, then you shift to the mainsheet and start easing. It has to be in this order because if you spill the mainsheet before vang is on the top twists off and you have put on the brakes.

Using the traveller mainsheet technique I use traveller first before over trimming. Just BEFORE a puff hits I will drop the track. The boat flattens a bit and the puff hits. The sail is still fully powered but eased. The capsizing pressures are lessened and the boat stays flatter. The acceleration is instant when the puff hits. This is the point where this technique really shines. If you vang before a puff, the sail is not fully powered, and the main being trimmed means it contains just as much capsizing pressure as with no vang.

In both techniques, there is a middle ground. You don't over vang completely before easing the sheet. You also don't completely drop the traveller before cranking on the main. The feel of when to transition from the two methods is something that you acquire with practice.

Handling

Q: In a blow nothing is stable. How does this work when it is in constant motion?

When vanged hard, easing the mainsheet in a blow allows the main to ease without spilling the tip of the sail. Leech pressure is maintained. Using traveller the same thing happens. The difference is in the speed of movement using a 2:1 traveller to ease versus a 4:1 mainsheet. If you have the arm strength, the traveller can provide you very rapid reaction times. The faster you ease, the less you heal up, and the faster you will utilize the puff and accelerate.

When the end of the traveller is reached, or with vang sheeting as the boom nears the water, and you are still out of control there is a final spill that happens. With vang sheeting, it requires that you cleat the main (or let it drag in the water) and reach for the vang to release it and spill the tip of the sail, then return to get the mainsheet. You have either flogged the main if you released it, or if you cleated it you are now fully powered up and have to depower again.

With the traveller technique the final spill requires that you let go of the uncleated traveller, grab and uncleat the mainsheet and ease to spill off the tip of the sail. You maintain control of the mainsheet while twisting off the tip of the sail. Which of these maneuvers is faster, safer, or easier? For me it is a no brainer. How many times have people capsized with the main cleated while reaching for the vang? Think about it.

Finally there is an iceboat effect here too. Iceboats accelerate out of a puff by flexing the mast laterally quite radically and redirecting that force back into the boat rather than into a capsizing moment. In punching puffs like Fenton last weekend, I saw the lower section of my mast flexing like a DN mast. I do not believe this happens as much when the boom is driving the mast forward hard. It's probably subtle but the effect is there.

Pointing

Q: Don't you lose pointing ability when you drop the traveller?

In light air, yes, you would have to bear off when you drop the traveller. But in a puff you do not change course. In fact I am convinced I can outpoint anyone using vang sheeting above 15.

Think of it this way. Imagine the air is perfect blowing 12. You sail along hard on the wind and turn 15 degrees upwind. You will develop a luff in the sail and slow. Now rather than turn upwind, ease your sail 15 degrees. The luff will not develop as much, and even if it does, the sail is out a bit creating a drag vector not as much in line with your course. The more your sail is out when luffing the less it slows you down. A sail 90 degrees sideways and flopping like a flag produces forward motion in a sailboat. Pointing head to win and flapping like a flag produces backward motion. That small luff in the sail during the puff is bleeding off energy without bleeding off speed. Taking the next step and over trimming puts the energy back into the boat. It's probably a bad explanation but it works. Really.

Also this technique addresses your foils in the water, an often underestimated priority. Done right, this method keeps your boat more upright, and does not require dramatic steering. The board foil provides better lift and the rudder turned less doesn't act as much of a brake. Keeping these foils working for you rather than against you is very important.

In reality what I see is that as I drop my traveller, I either point the same or better than boats above and below me. I out accelerate them in puffs, and recover faster after the puff. And most importantly I don't have to work as hard. Remember I'm lazy.

Video


Onboard video last weekend really drove this analysis home. Track down off the bottom mark I repeatedly out pointed and passed boats ahead of me on the same tack. A person on the RC boat was adamant that I was significantly outpointing every other boat on the lake.

Here are two cases where I came off the bottom mark at least 4 boat lengths behind in a blow and closed the distance or passed simply on point and speed. I believe it is the technique difference that closed that gap, not different air. You be the judge. In the first case I was working the track, in the second I was already full track down and spilling.





Try It!

Obviously the sail you use and the comfort level you have with different techniques will have some influence on what you do here. I use a Z-Max. This seems to work well with it. Others with Shure or Moorehouse sails have said it doesn't do as well. I think it has to do with the foot shape more than anything else. The Z-Max shelf may make the difference.

I can describe this all day, but until you go out and sail this way, you won't really get it. Try it. You may like it. And just ignore the fact it contradicts the Melges/North tuning guide. That's the fun part. Feel free to comment here or send me questions. Have fun and sail fast!