Hi Everyone,

I've just sold me Wave and bought another Hobie Cat but this one has a twin trapeze. As I've never done any Hiking Out I'd really appreciate advice on what to do, such as how to get out, what to do while I'm out there and how to get back in!!

Also, I've no idea how to pick the best Trapeze Harness so advice on that would also be greatly appreciated.

Regards, Tim

Welcome to the club! It will take a very long time to fully answer your questions.

The only advice I will offer is to start out on land. First, make sure you can right this boat! I think you said earlier that you are fairly light; a twin trap boat is likely to be a handful for a beginner.

Safety first.

trap harness are a tough one for others to tell you what will work for you ... kinda like shoes.. go try on a few and hang out (literally) and see which feels best, but until you are out there hanging for a few miles.. its tough to tell which is most comfortable.

I personally use the Murray's race harness... and don't care for it to much

You've never seen a Hobie Twixxy do you? Or a Dart 16? Both are twin trapeze, none can really be considered an "handful"

What kind of Hobie are we talking about Tim?

To answer the original question. Get yourself a harness designed for sailing. Avoid the windsurfer harnesses. I'm sure there is a dinghy store somewhere on the island, go there and try them. All the serious shops have a loop attached to the ceiling where you can try your harness for fit. The cheap crewsaver harness that you can find everywhere in the UK is good enough.

The best way to try out trapezing for the first time is to be with someone who can show you. Just approach the other cat sailors at your club/beach and ask them. They'll show you. Take someone with you in all cases anyway so you can practice getting in and out without having anything else to worry about (tiller, main sheet...).

The principle is simple. Sit on the hull, get the loop of the trapeze in the hook of your harness. If the trapeze is designed properly it will stay in place in the hook and not drop of. Push with one hand, get your butt outside the hull, putting your weight on the trapeze line. Then put a feet on the hull and push, you will end up standing up sideways on the side of the hull. That's all there is to it.

Start with nothing, then try with a sheet in hand, then with the tiller, then with the tiller and a sheet. Advanced mode is my Nacra 5.2 where you end up with tiller + sheet + downhaul + mast rotation + jib sheet and jib barberhauler

Unless you're a pro here is a list of don't [Those are don't for beginners, there are advanced techniques where those don't do not apply, I know...]:

* Do not stand up to put the loop on or off. Stay seated. Make sure the loop is low enough so you can hook it up while seated.
* Do not grab the handle. Leave it alone. If you pull on it that's when your hook is going to get undone. Trust the trapeze line. The handle is only useful for one thing: coming back on board when you are trapezing low. You never need it to go out and you never need it to stay out.
* DO NOT GRAB THE HANDLE. That's a bad habit.

Nice description. I tell people that getting out on the wire is much like climbing a stepladder backwards.

Regards,
Eric

Does the Rick White Video's cover this? Can we get a snip from the video onto the you-tube? Wouldn't that be a good marketing tool?
Any of you blossoming film-makers want to make the short cat-sailor video series that addresses this, tacking, jibing, mast stepping, etc for you-tube? The cat-sailor channel?

Go up here and take a look: http://www.catsailor.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=215444#Post215444

The first vid has some really good shots of guys using the wire.

Tim,

Which club; there is a very active cat club on the island; I am trying to make contact with them now.

I was out on a trapeze last weekend for the very first time. It was on a brand-new C2...and it was windy. Pepin's description is exactly what worked for me. I had some harness adjustments to make, but once I got my shoulder straps supporting me it was just like laying in a hammock, very relaxing (Ronstan CL11 harness). Things I took away from this ride (other than it was terrific fun!) :

1) A new cat right out of the box is extremely slippery!
2) C2's are very fast!
3) If you put most of your weight on your rearmost leg, any small amount of water hitting your forward leg will sweep it off the boat, taking your other leg with it. At this point you are now being dragged like a hooked fish at 15 knots. I found grabbing the handle was necessary to be able to get back on the boat!

I'm not sure whether leaning towards the bow or keeping your weight equalized is better, or whether it's necessary to keep your knees a little bent so that minor hits don't destabilize you. Bottom line - if I can do it, you can do it!

old salt... yes new boats are slick! did you have shoes/boots on? they usually grab/stick well

here is a video i shot a few years ago. lots of trap shots... no need to tell me the guy steering needs a pfd.. and the beer bottles are full of pepsi (not)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34ciKpv8jbk

The safe position is to keep the two legs apart, front leg straight, and rear leg slightly bend at the knee acting as a shock absorber.

The "I'm a pro and I'm really good" position is so low you can't see the trampoline, with your body completely horizontal and feet facing forward.

Yeah, that looks like something I'll be trying real soon . More like 20 degrees up so when I come in my butt doesn't hit the side of the boat

Is this you?

My first harness was one of those ball cruncher types, it was a Prindle full harness. If you put knots in the line before the line went up to the over the neck part, it helped, but Damn that thing sucked.

It is much easier as you might think.
Key points are:
*) trust the wire
*) keep your feets together. Even seen a boxer or wrestler in a Ronaldo pose? There is a reason for it. Apart from it looks ridiculous.

The rest, e.g. if and how you use the handle, how to come in and out is to your personal preference.

It makes sense to have a chicken line or foot loop on faster cats.

Cheers,

Klaus

Some shots I cut together:

Yeah, I wish I looked that cool! I was more like the guy hanging from the hull here, except the boat was still upright and moving...

Yeah, I wish I looked that cool! I was more like the guy hanging from the hull here, except the boat was still upright and moving...

[/quote]

That was Randy Smyth - that boat had also been hit right on that rear beam previously that day and the beam opening was full of carbon shrapnel. Randy said it chewed up his arm pretty good.