Some of the mainsail controls on our boat are sub-optimal. New Garhauer blocks are on order to improve mainsheet function. The traveler is the weak spot. The old Lewmar plastic blocks attached to the car regularly foul and the cheek blocks on the ends of the traveler are mounted at 90 degrees to each other which introduces chafe and resistance to the movement of the car. The dodger also limits the ability of control lines to be easily lifted out of the cam cleats.



I am considering several complementary solutions. I have reviewed the many threads on traveler upgrades but questions remain.
The first solution would be to stack the two cheek blocks on top of the traveler to get a fair lead from the traveler car. This appears to be physically possible simply by using longer bolts, but I'm wondering about the loads imposed by doubling them up. I see others with *similar* Ronstan traveler systems do have doubled up cheek blocks but I cannot tell if the same end cap base mechanism is used in that configuration. Would this work?
The second solution would be to replace the old traveler car with this model: https://www.ronstan.com/marine/product.asp?ProdNo=RC63215

This would eliminate the block with becket currently attached to the car and should eliminate fouls and increase the travel distance of the car. Question: can I simply knot the end of the traveler line to the outside pins on this car, or will it cause problems I am not currently anticipating?
The third solution involves the cam cleats on the ends. The dodger limits the upward range of the traveler line which makes freeing the line from the cam cleat very difficult. Eliminating the dodger would immediately solve this problem, but would create other issues that I am not willing to deal with at this time.
I tried new Harken cam cleats which exacerbated the problem. I have yet to try new Ronstan cam cleats, but the existing ones operate smoothly at the correct angle. Short of having the dodger re-worked, I am considering bending the plate the cam cleats are attached to a few degrees down to help the line disengage. Is this a bad idea? Maybe a wedge would be better?
Thanks!



I am considering several complementary solutions. I have reviewed the many threads on traveler upgrades but questions remain.
The first solution would be to stack the two cheek blocks on top of the traveler to get a fair lead from the traveler car. This appears to be physically possible simply by using longer bolts, but I'm wondering about the loads imposed by doubling them up. I see others with *similar* Ronstan traveler systems do have doubled up cheek blocks but I cannot tell if the same end cap base mechanism is used in that configuration. Would this work?
The second solution would be to replace the old traveler car with this model: https://www.ronstan.com/marine/product.asp?ProdNo=RC63215

This would eliminate the block with becket currently attached to the car and should eliminate fouls and increase the travel distance of the car. Question: can I simply knot the end of the traveler line to the outside pins on this car, or will it cause problems I am not currently anticipating?
The third solution involves the cam cleats on the ends. The dodger limits the upward range of the traveler line which makes freeing the line from the cam cleat very difficult. Eliminating the dodger would immediately solve this problem, but would create other issues that I am not willing to deal with at this time.
Thanks!