I've used Dakines on a Hobie 16 in the past (early to mid-90s). I put them on the side rail (didn't want to add holes in the hull). Never had an issue with getting a bootied-foot into or out of them, they were adjustable as I recall. I never capsized or pitchpoled while using them, so I can't say whether it would have been a problem.

Having said that, almost none of the top H16 guys use (any brand of) straps. Most call them "ankle breakers."

I never put them on any of my new boats (owned three starting in 1997). I can think of lots of capsizes that would have been avoided with them, however...

Mike

if the strap goes past the ball of your foot, it's too far.

As Jake said, it should take a bit of muscle to hold your foot there, so it would be relatively easy to get out of should there be a problem. Wedging your foot in the strap spells eventual disaster.

This has been said a million times before but the footstraps keep your feet from getting swept off by a wave , a chickenline keeps the rest of you in the back of the bus. Wouldn't have done much to help the crew in the vid though, unless she had lines for and aft like we used in the Worrells and Tybees. Too much spaghetti for buoy racing though.

I asked Dazz, who started this thread and broke his foot, after the rather low trapeze-hook position.

I asked that because when sailing at sea and using the hookposition from the vid that is impossible. You are hit from the cat in the first wave you meet.

So, for me using a low hookposition, looks more something for flatwater sailing. Nevertheless I keep wondering why you want to chose for such a low position as is seen on the vid.
I mean he was hanging in an angle of more than 90 degrees to the hull.

Is that still usefull?? 90 degrees gives the most leverage, doesn't it. And even so, a footstrap is supposed to keep you from being pulled forward and not from pushed backward. So if there is a serious risk for that last, do not ever use the footstrap,

IMHO the AHPC footstraps are too soft and harder to kick out of than the Magicmarine/Nacra one's.

You'd think somebody would invent a breakaway footstrap, kind of like the binding release on downhill skis.

As far as I can tell, that video is not of Dazz.

Untitled by Green Room Graphics, on Flickr

This is what I'm talking about...a much more open loop than the DaKine style straps.

The video is of Julia and James sailing the Viper, Julia is the one with the busted foot and the moon boot to prove it!

It has been said that that the nosedive was cause by the skipper not concentrating on where he is going. I tend to agree that Julia could have been trapping a little higher so she didn't hit the waves.

standard equipment on C2 and Vipers now, my C2 came with those.

Now I'm not saying this boat has a history of nosediving, but... in this picture you can see the boat was fitted with the new style magic marine foot straps.

James & Julia

Um, OK... Just watched the video; agree, he was looking backwards right before he lost it, probably could have happened to anyone.

How do you get the boat back under control without capsizing, single handed downwind, with the chute up? Can you just sheet everything out and round up?

Mike

You foot deep, but not jibe, then either hope your helm is very neutral or hold it with your foot and douse. I've had to do it a few times.One of them (Hogsbreath 2002) I didn't get the "not jibe part" right and gave myself a concussion with the boom. Temporarily blacked out as the boat flipped over and came to with a death grip on a chickenline seconds (I guess) after hitting the water.

But Jake, the openess of the loop that you want, is fully determined by how you screw the strap on the hull.

Mounted on a horizontal level you can bend the strapends before the fixation a little so that they make a little horizontal angle to each other, resulting in any openess that you want. (Besides the fact that you can adjust the bow itself by the screw distance and the adjustable velcro-mechanism.)

Your fixation with one strapend horizontal and one vertical on the transom itself, I would never use. What do you gain :one or two inches more backward? But your method makes it clear why you have troubles with forming a nice fit for the Dakines.

I like to comment more on the almost standard common used strap position on cat-hulls :

Afb002 by northseajunkie, on Flickr[/img]

You see that I created a much more vertical angled platform for my both feet and I made a specific full platform for my strap. The risk of being trapped in a fall, or when loosing the wire, is much less now. Besides it stands much more comfortable for your feet.

It seems to me that footstraps and their position are still a "stepchild" for cathull designers. You can see on the new Nacra-17's that they made a small step in adapting the hull form a little bit, but not enough TMnHO.

Downwind, got it. Probably not as easy as it sounds, especially if the crew is separated (said Captain Obvious)...

Mike

A word of warning. I've read reports that boats with straps positioned as this picture were said to not be class legal at the A Class World this year: it "increases the hull length". You may agree or not with the decision, but the chief measurer was adamant. Depending on which class of boat you sail you may want to position them differently.

However, considering the number of F18 with straps like this, it's probably a non-issue for that particular class.

Huh...so the footstraps should also be made out of hard stuff since it is, by his definition, part of the hull? That's silly.



Added to which, optional fittings are specifically listed and include footstraps. So, lets take this to the next step; fittings for rudders are also listed as optional items in the same section...by his definition of the footstraps being an extension of the hull, the rudder pintles/gudgeons should also clearly be included in the hull measurement. They are not and have never been even though the rules don't explicitly exclude them from the hull measurement in the same identical way the footstraps are defined. If we subscribed to his interpretation of what constitutes "the hull", every F18 in the world is now illegal. The intent in the rule with regards of the hull measurement is clear and it doesn't include footstraps or rudder pintles....that guy is misopinionated. One man's opinion does not a law make.

What's next? If a crew retention line or trapeze ring swings outside the hull dimension, I'm suddenly illegal?

.

I can confirm what Pepin said. At the A-class worlds last Feb. It was determined that mounting the footstrap with the tab on the rear off the hull constituted part of the hull length and violated the class rule regarding hull length. Everyone had to move their strap forward to comply with the class rules. Rudders and their hardware are excluded, provided the leading edge of the rudder is no more than 3" of the transom. If the leading edge of the rudder is more than 3" of the transom, then the rudder is considered part of the hull measure meant, and the trailing edge is used to determine the 18' max hull length.

I don't have time to dig it up, but there are procedures for measurement, which apply to all boats. Then there are class rules and procedures.

While my "common sense" reaction is exactly the same as Jake's (and I believe I just made the same face as Chandler when I read Pepin's post), there may be more to the story. The class should work with that measurer to find out what he was thinking, and if still in dispute, should work with ISAF for clarification and/or retraining for the measurer, as appropriate.

Mike

Not sure I'm seeing things, but looks like her foot is really jammed in the strap - to the point you can see the front half on the other side. Wouldn't a larger opening encourage putting the foot in too far?

I like the idea of a break-away "fuse" that fails before your foot does.