Well, I have talked to Rick (a rare occasion ), and he has revived my memory, since I haven't crewed with him for at least 13 years. I am half wrong. He says he has continued to prefer the circular cable trapeze rings to this day. Even after one broke on him, he continued to use them but replaced them every two years or when they got too deformed (bent out of shape), whichever comes first.

It was I who went to the metal rings, because, as crew, I wanted the option of being able to hook into the lower ring or the upper ring, depending upon the sailing conditions. My preference was a ring that was kind of fat and elliptical, with a small round ring at the top of it, so I could hook into either.

I also tried various adjustment systems for trapezing height, but I still liked the option of being able to hook into the lower or upper ring, especially when conditions were stable and one or the other would work best. I never really trusted those cleats on the adjustable systems.

Anyway, the skipper doesn't really need as much adjustability for his trapeze, because he doesn't go anywhere. He is stuck in the same spot. Rick just sets his height adjustment and leaves it.

The crew has to be sometimes all over the place, moving fore and aft for proper weight distribution, and needs to have more adjustability for their trapeze.

As far as the dangers of being hit in the face with a trapeze ring, in our case it was always the crew's fault. In the conditions we always sailed in up in the Midwest, the winds would be light-to-moderate, and shifty and gusty. So the crew always had to be hooked to the trapeze and ready to go out. So the wind is light and I am up on the bow, lying down, but hooked in to the trapeze, just in case I have to go out instantaneously. Skipper is also forward, right behind the main beam. I make a mistake of turning my body a little bit the wrong way, and the trapeze ring slips off my hook and, "BOIING," it flies back and hits my skipper in the face. Not good for crew-skipper relationships.