Our 5mm SK78 traveller works great and has been the traveller used by both myself and GBR Team sailor Micky Beckett for years. However in the constant desire to improve and develop something better, we have spent over a year developing a new traveller.
A traveller has to do a number of things, and for one traveller to do all of them well is incredibly difficult. Let’s look at what’s important:
- Cleat well: One of the biggest problems with some 12 strand Dyneema lines is that they are usually oval in cross-section and some lines just don’t want to cleat. Our 5mm D12 traveller that we have been selling for many years was selected on its ability to cleat well. Covered, round lines, have the ability to cleat exceptionally well.
- Lowest stretch possible: Stretch is one of the most misunderstood subjects especially where 12 strand Dyneema is concerned, and we could write a whole page about it. In fact we did and it’s here…
- Smoothness over the tiller: You want as little friction over the tiller wear plate for ultimate feel in light winds.
- Ability to keep the blocks in the corners: A combination of minimal stretch, together with a surface texture that helps keep the blocks out in the critical 5-8 knot range.
- Durability: It’s a hard life being a traveller and we wrote a whole article on that subject for one of our newsletters late last year.
In our search for the ultimate traveller we have built around 20 prototypes that have been tested by top sailors in the UK and in the USA. As a result of all this development and testing we are releasing our ‘ultimate’ traveller, the ProMAX-99.
Our ProMAX-99 scores 5* on everything except durability – here we offer a word of caution, especially if you are sailing with a damaged or poorly positioned tiller wear plate, or worse still, no wear plate at all. Our ProMAX-99 traveller uses a thick Dyneema core with a beautiful but thin cover, which will get damaged very quickly if your tiller wear plate is damaged, has rough edges, or is misplaced causing the traveller line to rub against the transition between the wear plate and tiller when the tiller is hard over during sculling. Even worse is if you have no wear plate as the microscopic fibres of carbon on your tiller will tear the cover.
Our ProMAX-99 traveller was used last summer by Team GBR sailors at the UK Nationals and Senior European Championships, finishing 1-2 in both events! This what Micky has to say about it…..
“This is the best traveller I’ve used. It was quite easy to appreciate that as soon as I put it on, it out-performed anything else I’ve ever tried. It cleats instantly and easily and doesn’t slip, it’s lasted very well showing minimal wear after an intense and windy summer of sailing. In that wind range where you really want the traveller to sit down in the corner, 5 – 8 knots, the rope provides a nice amount of friction to stop the blocks sliding up, without being so heavy-duty that it impedes the movement of the tiller underneath it. It’s fantastic, I would highly recommend it.” -Michael Beckett
Tested by GBR Team sailors and chosen by them as the ultimate traveller, our new ProMAX-99 traveller is now available. Chosen for the Tokyo Olympics!