help_outline Skip to main content

ECA Logo Version 11 

Slideshow
Header Slideshow
Add Me To Your Mailing List

Ensign Sailing Forum

Returning to Ensigns: Main Halyard & Traveller...
Author Last Post

Thanks all for your tips and suggestions ! I ended up making a small video and calling Harken to see if it was their traveler rail or not. They said it is and they recommended a traveler car which should fit the rail and replace the car we have. In the process of making the video, we discovered the current traveler car has 3 broken corners. For the halyard we are going to stick with rope for now with a D shackle. We'll keep you posted on the installation of the car and how complex that is. Hopefully we just remove the small end cap at one end of the rail and slide the new car on. But based on how I thought other things would go this season, I could easily be wrong. We'll need a calm day so the parts don't go in the drink !

We have a great fleet over in Mattapoisett if you’d like to do some racing or see current rig set ups. We sail on Tuesday nights.

Tim
“ Uncle Fester”
#1601

Sent from my iPad

We are just about literally in the same boat! LOL…. Nearly 15 years on the trailer, which basically rusted right out from under her.


I replaced our halyards a year ago and just went with some pre-fab line-to-cable jobs from West Marine. They are nothing fancy, but I would think they are at least comparable to the original equipment. So far, so good.


Since then, we’ve just been replacing various lines one at a time as needed. Traveler sounds like a much bigger project.


Anyway, welcome back!


Matt Bailey

#1473 TEETEETOO

Hello Symantha and welcome back to Ensigns-

 

I replaced my traveler a few years ago with the Harken parts recommended by Ensign Spars.

https://shop.ensignspars.com/pages/ensign-cruising-traveler.

 

Attached photo—please ignore my tired old deck that I’d like to refinish. I don’t have a picture that shows both sides of the setup but it is symmetrical. No idea why I had slack in the line at the time—not deliberate.

It works well— Easy to operate from the helm. Doesn’t come with line but I followed the recommendations of 20’, 6 mm line and had it made up by the sailmaker tho you could easily do your own. Ensign Spars will also make it up for you.

Cost for the Harken parts four years ago was over $500 which was surprising. The other traveler, I got with the boat,  jammed easily so I rarely used it. I rinse the traveler thoroughly in the fall and have not had an issue with it.

 

We had to make new holes into the deck for the track as it didn’t fit the old track.             

 

In the forum, there a few different threads on installing travelers if you search using “traveler” as the search term.

 

There is also a lot of discussion about “halyards” in the forum—it seems most are switching over to rope. Our halyard is spliced but that knot certainly looks like it would hold. I have had the unfortunate experience of the splice jamming in the block at the top of the mast so now I am extremely cautions about how high I raise my boom to prevent jamming.

 

Have fun on the water!

Gay.

 

 

Happy Sailing everyone ! I'm returning to sailing ensigns after a few decades away. Started out racing with cousins in Maine and now we are getting out on Buzzard's Bay. It's great to be back to sailing, back on the water and back to Ensigns. We are restoring one that has fallen into disrepair and did alot of work over the spring refinishing the stringers, floorboards and benches. Now she's in the water and we are relearning "the ropes" (LOL).


Traveller: I am used to the I beam with stops for the traveller and I see there are newer options now. What are people using? What works well? I'm open to the spectrum of low cost to high cost solutions. If I can avoid drilling a hole in fiberglass I would prefer to but necessity may change that. The boat we have has what looks like a carbon steel traveller however the cars and trim mechanisms are not making sense to me and they may be a modification that was made for an older sailor who would trim into the cockpit rather than trim at the back of the tiller. If you have a photo to share of something that is working well on your boat, we'd be happy to learn more.


I recall main halyards being wire with a type of U shaped shackle and a spring fitting. Is this also the current method? Are most halyards wire to rope or are people doing something else? I watched this halyard hitch video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEEYkfINomY and read that the knot is considered quite secure. Anyone have experience with this knot?

Return to Forum
Sponsor Number URL address
Sponsor 1 https://www.quantumsails.com/en/default
Sponsor 2 http://www.triadtrailers.com/
Sponsor 3 http://www.ussailing.org
Sponsor 4 http://www.northsails.com
Sponsor 5 http://www.spectrumphotofg.com
Sponsor 6 http://www.defender.com
Sponsor 7 http://www.ensignspars.com
Sponsor 9 http://www.patterson-marine.com
Sponsor 10 https://stores.coralreefsailing.com/ensign_class/shop/home
Sponsor 11 https://zbloksun.com/

ENSIGN CLASS Sponsors