E32-3 Traveler in the cockpit?

[Nick J]

The folks making my dodger like to employ a slotted attachment on the bottom edge of the fabric. It works similar to the luff tape on a furler with the dodger edge being the luff and the fastened and bedded edge on the cabin top being the furler foil. This results in no spray squirting through the bottom edge when a big wave comes over the mid deck.

It can't be setup this way with the traveler just in front. Snaps would need to be used instead.

Overkill? Yep, that's my middle name

Sounds like an interesting design feature. Do they have a link we can see their designs?

 

[nquigley]

Late to the party with my 2c ... The cabintop traveller is a performance compromise from the designer: mainsail control leverage is lost the further forward on the boom the mainsheet is attached, but the main benefit of a cabintop traveler is that the cockpit is much less cluttered - it's a compromise toward the 'cruiser' end of the 'racer-cruiser' continuum.
I actually hunted for a design with a cabintop-mounted traveler so I could have a bimini that covers the entire cockpit - from helm to companionway - to get full protection for the helm and crew from our hot summer sun (bonus ... also from rain ). My bimini is, in turn, an owner-inflicted compromise - the bimini needs a window so the trim of the main and the windex can be seen easily from the helm, it creates more windage and star-gazing at night is harder. Oh well - boats are always a compromise.

 

[vanilladuck]

Sounds like an interesting design feature. Do they have a link we can see their designs?

Unfortunately, not that I know of.. Business name is Covercraft, in Richmond, CA (San Francisco Bay). I believe they may even have a patent or two for their designs

 

[Kenneth K]

I was surprised, from this picture, that your traveler is mounted so close to the aft edge of the sea hood.



With that spacing, I don't even see how there would be enough spacing for snaps (let alone a track) to hold the front of the dodger.

By comparison, my dodger is mounted a few inches further forward, and it's a "bridge" that's not connected to the sea hood at all. A setup like this might allow you to use your "track" type dodger with a cabin-top traveler. Unless, of course, you're set on the idea of moving the traveler to the cockpit.