SLUG & BALL FOR MAIN SHEET TRAVELLER

Just bought yet another slug and ball replacement kit for the main sheet traveller. OUCH. When converted from US Dollars or Euros these items become quite expensive. On the brighter side holidays are with us at 29 degrees C

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Richard Stephens

Look on the bright side, you get a ball. We get two slugs.

Murrays has balls

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H18 '85
H18 '89 "Knotty Passion"
H20 '96 "20/20 Vision"
Fleet 259 Central Coast California

IMO, two slugs are better anyway. The slugs have more surface area, so they slide better. And if you've ever had one of the balls pop out during a race, you will probably never want to go back to them.

sm

I agree with Steve. I run two slugs. It would be different if the balls rotate, but in my experience, they do not.

Jim

I don't care for the slugs at ALLLLLL. We sail in salt water a lot and it seems the salt prevents the traveler slugs from moving well.



I run two balls. I haven't had a problem with them coming out as I don't run worn ones. I also put a knot in my traveler sheet so that the traveler won't go all the way to the end of the cross arm (where the traveler is removed). My traveler never goes past the inside edge of the hull.

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H18 '85
H18 '89 "Knotty Passion"
H20 '96 "20/20 Vision"
Fleet 259 Central Coast California

Hey Matt Miller,

If you look at my post above, it appears that I quoted Jim but in fact the quote was from SRM. What up?

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H18 '85
H18 '89 "Knotty Passion"
H20 '96 "20/20 Vision"
Fleet 259 Central Coast California

You never want a ball to pop out during a race.....

I race with two balls and did have the traveler pop out in a race, but the reason was because I hung the triple block on the rear block hanger on the boom. The blocks were moved to the middle hanger and the traveler stays in the track.

Only had the ball pop out of the track once, but it was during a NAC and it was not good. It was windy and I was trimming the traveler from the trap and gave it a firm yank and the ball end popped out of the track. I had to completely un-string the traveler, try to get the remainder of the car popped out of the track, and then get the car popped back into the track (of course the track opening was on the windward side of the boat which made things that much more difficult since I had to pull the main to windward by hand and try to align the ball/slug with the track opening), and then re-string the traveler sheet. All this in 20 or so knots 2 minutes after the start. I'll stick with the double slug from here on.

sm

I've been running two balls without any issue for over 10 years... I make sure I clean and spray lube the track everytime... I find it slides easier that way especially in lighter airs.

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Paul Evenden
NRO, RMMCC, CJ