Optimal Mainsheet rigging for 1979 Independence 31 Cutter

[LWolf]

Hello, this is Lisa Wolf, new owner of an old Ericson 31 in need of some updating. Any suggestions for the best mainsheet rigging to keep the cockpit unobstructed? Can we run the line from the traveler back up the boom and back to a block attached to the cabin top?
Thanks for any suggestions - especially pictures!

 

[Loren Beach]

Welcome (or Velkomin, in Old Norse)!
Unfortunately no photos, but at an Ericson Rendezvous up in Sidney BC a few years ago I got invited out for a ride on an E-31C. It had a dodger and a bimini and a connector piece. At the dock -or anchor- the couple would unsnap the mainsheet connection to the traveler and shackle it to a place by either toe rail. Then they could keep rain out while socializing.

Admittedly this might not be a solution you were envisioning, but perhaps worth a thought or two.

 

[David Vaughn]

Hi Lisa and welcome. Always nice to meet a new E31 owner- we’ve had ours for a little over three years and they are great boats.

When you say “cockpit unobstructed”, if you mean in terms of cockpit coverage, what Loren suggests works well, it is how ours was set up. Ours zipped in and we just moved the traveler all the way to one side, eased the sheet, clip a spare line to the main sheet attachment on the boom and the other end to the bottom of a stanchion. Snug the sheet to keep swaying to a minimum and zipped the panel in place. Works fine docked or at anchor. I say all that past tense as we just replaced our dodger and bimini, and I have not added that feature to the new one yet.

If you mean keeping the traveler out of the way of the companionway, that’s more complicated. There is a discussion on the Sailing Anarchy forum about the pros and cons of a traveler vs a double main sheet system. Traveler or double main sheet
Never seen one in person but the thread is an interesting discussion.