A traveller is a part of the rigging of a boat or ship that provides a moving attachment point for a rope, sail or yard to a fixed part of the vessel. It may take the form of anything from a simple ring on a metal bar or a spar to, especially in a modern yacht, a more complex "car" – a component with bearing-mounted wheels running on a shaped aluminium extrusion. There are three common examples of the use of a traveller. The sheet of a sail is attached to a traveller on the horse, allowing the sail's clew to be positioned to leeward on each tack, thereby giving a more aerodynamically efficient position of the sail. A jib may be attached to a bowsprit with a traveller. This allows the sail to be set and handed without having to go out onto the bowsprit. Lastly, the yard of a lugsail is usually attached to the mast using a traveller. This often consists of a metal ring around the mast with a hook above and below the ring for, respectively, the halyard and the yard to fasten. A traveller is used to modify the location at which lines used to control

sail A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may ...

s (such as

sheets A bed sheet is a rectangular piece of cloth used either singly or in a pair as bedding, which is larger in length and width than a mattress, and which is placed immediately above a mattress or bed, but below blankets and other bedding (such as ...

) are attached to the vessel. The attachment is often by means of a

block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

through which the line runs; the block can move along the traveller. This allows independent control of the direction and

tension Tension may refer to: Science * Psychological stress * Tension (physics), a force related to the stretching of an object (the opposite of compression) * Tension (geology), a stress which stretches rocks in two opposite directions * Voltage or el ...

of the line running through the block, which allows the sailor to position the block in the optimal location for the wind conditions and desired sail trim. This kind of traveller is often a metal track, which is attached to the deck of the boat. The block is attached to a "car", which much like a miniature railroad car, attaches to the track and slides along it in either direction. A traveller on a smaller craft (such as the popular single-handed "Laser" sailboat) might simply be a line attached to two points on the deck, along which another block runs. The term ''traveller'' can also be applied to the specialized lines used to control the location of the block. The

used to support a load on a

jackstay A jackstay is a cable or bar between two points to support and guide a load between those points, or as an anchor to attach something to be constrained along that line. The term is mostly used in a marine context and originated on sailing ships. N ...

is referred to as a traveller or traveller block. It works in much the same way as a sheet traveller, in that it supports the load to be transported along the jackstay and is slid along the jackstay by control lines attached to both sides.

References

{{Sail Types Sailing rigs and rigging