Walt wrote:

Donal wrote:

Walt wrote:


Why would you want to set the traveller lower? That's usually done to
depower the main, which doesn't seem to be what you were after.

I can understand travelling the main down in a drifter to flatten the
sail, but 8kts shouldn't be low enough that you would want to flatten -
seems to me you should be powering up. What gives?

I'm not very good at sail trim.


I don't know that I am either, but here's my $.02:

Most of the time you just set the traveler in the middle, and trim the
mainsheet as needed. With the traveler in the middle, sheeting the
sail all the way in brings the boom to the centerline - probably over
trimmed for most situations, so it's rare to sheet in all the way when
the traveler is in the middle.

With the traveler let down somewhat ( a dozen cm for a dinghy,more for a
boat your size) as you sheet in hard the boom doesn't come all the way
to the centerline - it only comes in as far as the traveler position.
At that point, sheeting in harder doesn't pull the boom in - it pulls it
down, flattening the mainsail, bending the mast, and depowering the rig.

My 2c

It may 'depower', but it would do so at the expense of efficiency by
closing the leech. The best way to bend the mast is with backstay
tension. This will flatten the sail without closing the leech. To
depower you really need the leech to open and use a Cunningham to help
flatten. Think of the traveller as being used to help control the leech
and it works in harmony with the mainsheet. Once the traveller
adjustment is all used up you really need the vang to help control the
leech. I suggest you should only bring the boom to centerline if you
have correct twist and then the traveller will be generally above
centerine a bit (I'm assuming well cut sails).

Cheers