For a 14 what are the trapeze choices?

I am probably getting one this winter and would like to know what people like.

asked a similar question myself a while back. the general consensus was the magic marine harnesses represent quality/value. in the end i bought a magic marine 'smart' harness which is cheap and bulletproof.

What about the wires themselves?
What is the best length? best means of attaching yourself to them?

I have only seen them in catalogues and in pictures.

If you are not worried about being class legal you can use line instead of wire - thin spectra for example. This would be easy to change the lenght of so you could experiment to get the correct length. The best position to trapeze if you are racing is quite low - so that when you are straight you are level with, or even a little lower, than the tramp.

This low trapezing position can be quite wet and seem a little disorienting at first so its probably better to start somewhat higher, then as you gain experience with the trapeze you can go lower. You really need to be flying a hull continually in this low position too or you end up acting like a tea bag.

The trapeze 'wire' is attached to the trapeze harness by a 'dog bone'. These come in different designs. Basically it is attached to the end of the trapeze wire by one end and the other is hooked onto the hook on the trapeze harness. The story is not quite as simple as I've just described as there is some bungy involved and a sliding line. The easiest way to understand the systems available is to look at them on someone elses boat.

The image below shows the how the forward trapeze wire is rigged on a Taipan 4.9 (the Taipan is this photo is a two person boat and this is the forward hand's trap wire). At the end of the wire is a handle - green in this case because its on the starboard side of the boat, the handle on the other side is probably red. These handles are to help you get in and out - but that's another story.

The red rope is run through what looks like a pully in this case - usually it will just run through the loop that is swaged onto the end of the wire. The red rope can run freely through this pully (or loop). One end of the red rope has metal loop on it which is hooked onto the trapeze harness. The other end of the rope is attached to a bungy which in this case runs through the front beam and is attached to the trapeze wire on the other side of the boat.

When you pull on the metal ring to attach it to your harness the rope will pull through the pully until it gets to the knot at the other end of the rope. The length of the red rope is changed to change the height at which you trapeze. Some trapeze set ups use a pulley system attached to the end of the trapeze wire so that you can change your trapezing height while 'on the wire'.

My trapeze is set up so that when I pull the loop down as far as it will go it touches the top of the hull when about half way between the beams. I sail a Taipan so you stand on the hull when you trapeze as the tramp is not raised like on your H14. When you trapeze on the H14 your feet go on the rail not the hull. If you start with your trapeze length a couple or three inches above the rail when pulled down you will be about right. The design of the trapeze harness will affect how long the trap wire needs to be as the distance the hook ends up from your body varies.

Good Luck.
Rob.

Photo courtesy F16 web site: http://www.geocities.com/f16hpclass/