I like having hiking straps too. H-17's don't have them because of the wings, but they would still be nice for downwind sailing in a breeze. I definitely used them on the 18 & 20.

I did have one concerning incident with them once though on the 20. The straps are adjustable and I had them set loose. Going downwind in a breeze, I had one foot under the strap. As I went into a jibe, I left my foot in the strap so I wouldn't slide off the boat. Unfortunately, as I rotated around to cross the boat, my foot didn't come out and instead the strap wrapped around my ankle. So then I was stuck half on the low side going downwind in a breeze. I managed to get out (I think I had to jibe back), but I tightened the straps after that.

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