What's wrong with these traveller stops?

[Bigjim]

I bought a Columbia 10.7 recently. Going over the boat it has some issues. Here's one that I cannot figure out.

The traveller has two adjustable stops on it. However something seems to be missing and I've never seen these types of stops before.





The pins on both stops don't seem to move or turn. I've tried pulling them and screwing them but without luck.

Does anyone know how these stops function? I need to release them so we can use the traveller properly or replace it!

[Cheechako]

They are maybe corroded in place. Many are spring loaded but they could be screws also. Frankly, I've not found them that useful anyway. If you can get them off you could just remove them.

[Bigjim]

Believe me, as soon as I figure out how to release them, they are off the boat. My other boat uses cam cleat blocks to control the position of the car. It works like a charm.

[Bigjim]

Here are the full images if that helps:

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by Bigjim

I bought a Columbia 10.7 recently. Going over the boat it has some issues. Here's one that I cannot figure out.

The traveller has two adjustable stops on it. However something seems to be missing and I've never seen these types of stops before.





The pins on both stops don't seem to move or turn. I've tried pulling them and screwing them but without luck.

Does anyone know how these stops function? I need to release them so we can use the traveller properly or replace it!

The Stops are held in place with "Pull Pins". The pin that inserts in the adjusting holes in the traveler has a shaft that passes through a spring that holds the pin down and in place. The shafts pass through the up-raised round jacket that you see and (normally) have a small knob screwed down over them by which you can pull or retract the pins enough to move the stops. Somehow the knobs have gone adrift and it's likely that the pins have corroded themselves to the traveler or are held firmly in place by the rusting of the springs. You can try to free them with something like PB Blaster but you might want to try injecting a modest amount of Wink Rust Remover to "eat up" some of the rust from the old springs and corrosion first. Then follow with the PB. Good luck!

[B-Baysailer]

That looks like the old nicro fico x track (that's what I think it was called) if it is I might have some stops for that

[Bigjim]

OK. I could not get the stops to release. I had to cut them off the track. I cut the top off one and the pin came loose. The other one was frozen in the pin slot and I had to cut the entire thing in half. They are gone and good riddance.

In their place I have installed two stainless steel eyebolts and cam cleat blocks. Now we can adjust the exact position of the traveller at any moment without manhandling it. We've used it for two days now and one race and it works beautifully. I'll take some photos and post them soon.

[Bigjim]

The new traveler setup worked ok, but the positions of cam blocks was a little awkward. The blocks were starting to knick up the gelcoat of the cockpit.

Here's what it looked like:



and a close up:



I bought two new cheek blocks and have now installed them at the end of the track and put the cam blocks on the traveler car itself. This will put all the controls right in the center. I'll add some photos of the new setup after I go to the boat today.

[Bigjim]

If you are interested in what I ended up doing here is a complete progression or evolution of my mainsheet traveller.



The new system works great, but we noticed this week under heavy winds the ratio for the traveller blocks is not high enough. It's very difficult to move the traveller against the loading of the mainsheet in winds higher than 15 knots. So, I may need to double up on the blocks.

[Stu Jackson]

You're right. Our Garhauer system has 6:1, works just great. I sailed on SF Bay for many, many years. Until I upgraded the end cars to the bigger purchase, they, too, were a bear to mover uphill. Not anymore.