I am new to trapezing. Any thoughts on adjusting the harness and line length? I singlehand a Tiger and a H14.

Right now I am adjusted so that when I come in, I am a bit above the deck. This makes it tricky to get off in a hurry, so I will adjust it down a bit. I would guess that I should be coming in right on the deck with a slight amount of tug from the trapeze wire.

I have a large "Magic Marine" harness with a hook and a wire gizmo (on the hook) that gets in the way. I am 5'11". (1.7944 meters) I have it adjusted as far up my body as I can safely adjust it (for back support) and about half way out on the straps.

One strap came undone one day so I will sew the straps so they can't undo... Water's too cold here for a surprise dip <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Also I am adding my old windsurfer foot straps. Any thoughts on location?

It depends somewhat on the sailing conditions. For maximum leverage you really want to be standing so that your body is in line with the beams of the boat. This means that the dogbone will be touching the side of the boat, possibly slightly lower. That said, for the short round the cans racing that I normally do, I usually have it set some way higher, but not as high as you describe.

When you're sitting on the deck, the only thing holding the dogbone on should be the tension from the bungee. When you drop yourself over the side you should drop at least a few inches before the trapeze takes your weight.

Paul

Why not get an adjustable trapeze?
Just before and after tacking you can lower/hoist yourself to a comfortable height without unexpectedly unhooking.
IMHO when sailing solo its near impossible to get the proper setting for all conditions anyway, especially when flying a kite.

I will be sailing single handed on my Taipan project and have decided to have non adjustable but keep two traps of different lengths depended on what I want.... Silly or sensible?

Just use a traditional dog bone, that way you have two height options (one for each loop).

Hate dog bones as my face and ear is always in their way. I have gone for a softer option.

Warbird:

I have never used the adjustable but it looks like it would work real easy. The problem with have two is you might grab the wrong one and not know til you are out on the wire. I would try the adjustable one that doesn't require cutting shrouds, that way it it doesn't work, you can just go back to old system.

Doug Snell
Hobie 17 "Stress Free" #007
Mystere 4.3 #149
Sunfish

Softer option raises all kinds of possibilities in my mind.... <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> but what were you speaking of...

I noticed Robi had 6 mm line with a loop in the end for the "hook". The loop had rubber tubing covering the line ... I suppose for strength and to keep the line firmly in a loop shape.

Very *soft*.

Also has the benefit of not easily coming un-hooked if not under load. I occassionally have this problem with one of my harnesses when I wear a PFD. The PFD seems to want to make the trapeze handle disengage.

I assume he's referring to these things:

http://store.catsailor.com/tek9.asp?pg=products&specific=jmorenhnf0

I much prefer these to dogbones. Easier to get on and off, and much less painful when they hit you in the face.

I have adjusters on the rear trapezes of my boat. I find it really useful to be able to lengthen the trapeze when trapezing right at the back of the boat going downwind.

Paul

Are you referring to the rope loop on that page? HARKEN BLOCK ACCESSORIES: LOUP, 11MM DIAMETER BY 400MM(16") LENGTH
HARKEN BLOCK ACCESSORIES: LOUPS, 11MM DIAMETER BY 400MM(16") LENGTH Developed by Harken by Aramid Rigging in..

Or the wire loop (as on my Tiger)?
My Tiger shows the adjustable trap as the crew one so I'll try switching.

Refer to this thread in the f16 forums.
http://www.catsailor.com/forums/sho...16&an=0&page=3#Post84016

My recommendation is to use dogbones. Adjust the forward dogbone to just touch the deck. Adjust the aft dogbone so the [b]top[/b] ring just touches the deck.

The rationale is that no further adjustment is required on the water:

[*]The crew
[*]uses the forward bottom ring upwind, and [*]uses the aft bottom ring downwind (when the crew is well aft).[/LIST][*]The skipper
[*]uses the aft top ring upwind, and [*]sits on the hull downwind.[/LIST][/LIST] This way, the aft trap wire can be used by the skipper (upwind) and crew (well aft downwind) without adjustment. If it gets rough, the crew switches to the top rings, and the skipper (upwind) moves aft for more clearance (since he will want to move aft as the wind builds, anyway).

For a novice, these settings will seem 6" too low, but they are not, since you should not be on the wire if you're not flying a hull 6" above the water. ;-)

If you want soft dogbones, some have been known to make them from spectra line passed through nylon tubing (from your local hardware store).

I like dogbones but have avoided putting them on my boat because of the teeth chipping factor. The soft bone sounds like the perfect solution. Are both top and bottom rings and the connecting piece constructed of spectra in nylon tube?

Chris.

Yes Chris. It's all line and tubing. The big problem is, it's very bad about coming unhooked. When you take the load off, the line trys to assume a circular shape.

I made one once by soaking the line in epoxy, covering it in heat shrink, laying out the shape, heating the heat shrink, and letting it dry. It was a simple figure 8 shaped loop with one end bigger than the other It worked ok.

Then I found out if you spiral cut tubing and put than on your dogbones, it does not hurt your teeth and it works even better.

The little metal thing on Marstrom works pretty well and has not hurt me yet. Do think your wife woulkd notice if you stole hers?

Trapeze height will depend on sea conditions. in flat water and lots of wind you want your body to be level with the deck, but in rough sea you want to make sure that you are above the waves..I don't recommend the metal dog bones..your teeth will be greatful..

Does anyone have a picture of the soft dog bones? Can you make them yourself?

-Rob V.
Nacra 5.2

You can make them yourself if you needed to. I prefer the J&H handles. They are easier to get into.



Later,
Dan

Dan:

I agree J & H is the way to go. Never missed hooking up and they have never dropped me. Dogbones are DANGEROUS. Keep your teeth!!!

Doug

I just setup a home brewed system.

I all I have is 4mm spectra going through a 6mm? or clear plastic tube. The plastic makes a loop of around 2 inches wide. I never thought it would be easy as cake to get in and out. Well it is, and I absolutley love it. I will eventually take some close up pictures and post them. My system is also lighter than any dogbone. The only weight that is actually there is the plastic tube's weight and that is lighter than any handle or dog bone system.

Plus, its extremely cheap and affordable.