co26.com: The Contessa Corner

Thanks John.

I found your traveler thread from 2006 (Stainless steel work), and have contacted Stainless Steel Outfitters.  They recently built a new pulpit for Christopher Olsen's Contessa 26, and did a fabulous job!

Cheers,

I sure don't, sorry Paul.

It's too bad Shannon isn't on the board any more. She probably did have the pattern.

Thanks Jose!

Shannon was quick to reply, and is looking for the traveller dimensions.  She said to say "hi" to everyone, and that she would be checking in on the forum soon.

Paul

Hi Paul!

I ran across this company called Weld & Shine Custom Metalworks on the internet.  They make the Contessa 26 traveler set up you are looking for.  Check them out.  Maybe they can help.

http://www.weldnshine.com/index.htm

Have a good day!

Mark

John Lee wrote:

I had one made for Cavendysh #331, which you can find in the Photo Gallery. The company was in Hamilton, ON I believe. I have a thread on this issue that was about 2+ years ago that might have some information. The company had made traveller for other CO26 so they have the needed information. Hope this helps.
jklee

John,

I am curious about your experience with the traveller.  Did this improve your mainsheet performance?  What were your impressions, and how would you do this, if you had to do it over again?

Thanks,

Thanks to the generosity of a friend's time, and access to his boat, I now have rough dimensions for a traveller mount.  Still looking for plans, or a template, if anyone has these available.  I'd like to check against my measurements, before I send these off to be built.

Cheers!

I don't particularly find an aft mounted traveller to be much of an advantage over the (simple)  A-Frame setup.  Personally I'll build a traveller for my boat is when I head south, and the traveller will be forward with boom shortened so to allow a small bimini.  So to allow me not to shake and bake.

Maybe I don't compete (or care to) like I used to, now I'm acclimated to seeing the stern of my brother's C&C 24 in anything less than 10 kts...  But when she pipes up...

Thanks John! I appreciate your comment.  One of the main things (no pun intended) I am looking for is better down wind performance of my mainsail in light air.   

Ian, I like the simplicity of your system.

I believe that the aft mounted traveller support I have specified for the builder will be more than strong enough for the job intended, and the sheeting system that I have chosen can only improve upon some of the more annoying shortcomings of the A-Frame setup.

However, as Stefan said (and others have noted elsewhere), a cabin top traveller (or something arranged in the forward cockpit -- oww!!  My knees!!!!) might be ideal.  I'm not looking to race (never say never, I suppose), but I do believe the traveller will make our sailing experience more pleasurable.

I'll post photos once it's installed.

Thanks all!

When I bought my boat, there was another Contessa 26 (Lady Gail) on the same dock, that had a mid-boom traveler mounted on stainless brackets across the back of the cabin top.  I believe the boom had indeed been shortened a bit.  I can't vouch for how well the rig worked but it's been done.  It would prevent having a dodger and that makes no sense to me, however.

Captnemo was selling a pair of the traveler mounting brackets Merrell Hall designed for Lucy Ann, so I snapped those up and expect they'll meet my needs.  I've been tacking back and forth on the What Traveler? question ever since buying Dreamspeaker six years ago, so this finally commits me to the way of traditional style and simplicity.

If a previous owner made the change and it works, that's one thing, but I  see no good reason to convert a stock Contessa to mid-boom sheeting.  There are several good reasons not to, and really--except for racing--not very many reasons to install a traveler at all, other than reducing mainsheet chafe against the lifelines and the annoying tendency of the deck blocks to get twisted. 

In heavier air, when I'd drop the traveler and dial in some twist to de-power the main, I find the standard bridle sheeting works just fine, and photos of Dreamspeaker going to windward on the race course bear this out.  With the vang set to flatten the main, I can play the mainsheet instead of the traveler in gusty conditions and get 90 percent of the traveler's benefits.  In lighter air, when I'd like to ease the sheet tension or bring the boom up closer to the centerline to stop the genoa backwinding it, I do want a traveler but don't think the sheeting loads are so great that I need to buy a ball bearing car with complicated control lines (and pay race gear prices) to make those adjustments. 

A plain bronze track with a slide and movable stops should be enough.  A varnished teak crossbeam will complement the cockpit grating.  And the ghost of Francis Herreshoff will haunt me forever if I go and mess up Dreamspeaker's simple gear with some new fangled racer contraption....  So I guess I'll just keep it simple.