Field of the Invention
This invention relates to traveler assemblies, or slider assemblies, employed to position and control a sail on a boat and more particularly to an improved traveler assembly especially well adapted for positioning the main sail of a Hobie catamaran or similar boat.
Description of the Prior Art
Traveler assemblies or sliders for use in positioning and controlling sails on a boat are well-known and numberous structures have been devised for this purpose over the years. The more common of the prior art traveler devices, particularly in recent years, have employed some form of rolling contact between the fixed track or rail and the movable slider block, examples of such devices being disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,326,170 and 3,623,445. While these roller or bearing mounted travelers provide the least resistance to movement and therefore the greated ease of control of the sail, they are relatively complex and require substantial attention and maintenance. Further, such bearing mounted travelers are not employed on some classes of boats, and their use is specifically prohibited in certain competitions involving specific classes of boats. For example, Coast Catamaran Corporation, which manufactures the 14 foot and 16 foot Hobie catamarans, specifically excludes use of roller-type traveler cars on their craft, and the Hobie Cat class association specifically prohibits from any local or nationally sponsored Hobie catamaran races the use of any type of bearing or roller-type traveler, which in any way, modifies the standard Hobie traveler track, or which places roller bearings or wheels in surface-to-surface contact with the standard Hobie traveler track.
The standard Hobie traveler track consists of an open-topped channel which is generally in the form of a rectangular tubular member with an elongated slot extending through the top surface of the channel to receive a slider member. The standard slider is in the form of an inverted T-shaped extrusion, with the leg of the T projecting upwardly through the slot in the channel and with the laterally extending arms of the T sliding in the generally rectangular open center of the track in underlying relation with the top wall of the track adjacent the open slot. The track is mounted on the aft transverse beam of the trampoline frame and extends between the two laterally spaced hulls of the boat. Thus, to swing the main sheet about the mainmast, which is mounted on the forward transverse trampoline frame on the fore-and-aft centerline of the boat, the boat's skipper moves the traveler in a straight line along the transverse track. Since the main sheet boom swings in an arc about the mainmast, there is a definite tendency for the force exerted by the line connecting the sail to the traveler to tilt the slider block in the track, thereby causing it to bind or jam in the track, with this tendency normally increasing with the distance of the slider from the leeward side of the boat to the centerline. While self-lubricating plastic bearing blocks, in combination with the anodized aluminum surface on the traveler track, are used to reduce the binding tendency, it nevertheless continues to be a serious problem, particularly in competition where easy and accurate control of the sails is a necessity.
In order to overcome the defects of the standard Hobie traveler assembly, numerous traveler devices have been devised. For example, it has been proposed to provide a hinge in the slider block, near the track, to permit the body of the slider to align itself with the line connecting the sail and slider block while minimizing the turning moment applied to the track-engaging portion of the slider block. It has also been proposed to employ fairlead sheaves on the slider block to reduce the frictional contact with the control line as opposed to merely passing the control line through an aperture in the slider block as in the standard Hobie slider. While these modifications have provided easier and more positive control of the Hobie mainsail, they nevertheless have not proved entirely satisfactory for various reasons. For example, in the prior art hinged traveler, the control line cleating arrangement was mounted on the boat's centerline, and no provisions were made for reducing the friction of the control line passing through the slider assembly. On the other hand, in the prior art devices we have employed fairlead sheaves for the control line, no provision has been made or considered practical for reducing the tendency of the substantial force exerted by the main fiddle block tending to tilt and thereby bind the slider block in the track. None of these have adequately provided for quick and easy cleating and releasing of the control line.