About to replace my dyneema trap lines and looking at the options for attaching them to the hounds.

I am thinking it should have some sort of cover to prevent chafe from the spin halyard. Looked at the falcon setup and they have thimbles on all four lines.

any really good suggestions or setups out there?

We use one continous line for both traps on each side with a stainless thimble locked in with a Brummell splice. I used to slide plastic tubing up there for fear of chafe, but I stopped doing that some time ago as there was never any wear marks on the rubber.

I make a long spliced loop and put a cover over the loop so if the cover starts to chafe you have time to notice before the dyneema chafes

This is definitely the wrong way. Doing it this way will load the fibers at the crossover and not in the bury (because there isn't any) and ultimately lead to broken lines much sooner than if they are spliced independently.

Splice them each independently with some cover over the loop. Replace every 2 seasons to make sure they are OK (spectra is cheap).

Ian is right. Don't ask me how I know. Always gives at the big events...like Worlds!

I also had a failure at Worlds. I've gone back to wire, it's a freaking F18!

I like dyneema for two reasons. It's easy to make your own and dealing with them when setting up or tearing down the boat.

I splice a loop and put a piece of cover on it as well. I haven't had one break yet, (fingers crossed), but I'm pretty good about inspecting and not risking it if they look sketchy. Losing your boat as a singlehander is not awesome.

In corpus, Robbie and I were double trapped going to weather when the return part let go. I hung onto the mainsheet and drug the boat to a stop. Power flushed my sinuses on that one, and I think I just about dislocated a thumb with my death grip on the main sheet.

You guys know it's a 180 kg boat by class rule, right?

How many times are you going to build a rope trap to the number of times I'm going to have to replace my wire trap? And I'll bet you an adult beverage I can build a wire trap faster than you can make a rope trap.

I won't use a rope trap but I absoluty encourage my competition to use rope, it's the best thing EVER!

Just for the record, wire traps aren't invincible either - don't ask me how I know...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-kezBD2PDs

In this case, the wire had fatigued right at the thimble/handle junction in an area where you would never be able to see it. Needless to say, the whole lot got replaced.

One minor advantage of the spectra lines is they're a bit easier to manage in the rigging box.

Oh I agree, wire rot happens but what vintage was that Tiger? :-) Just to be clear I'm not encouraging anyone to use wire traps. Gawd I can be such a tool! :-)

It's an '02 I believe. No idea if the wires had ever been replaced - obviously overdue. And to your implied point, no way spectra would have lasted 1/2 that long.

Damnit! Just can't spin you guys up today. Where is Hart and Pollard, they where always in for an old fashion **** storm. Even Mark S is playing nice, damn that Obama he is just f'in up everything.

they're saving up for the healthcare fines

Thanks for the input guys!

More than a few interesting points raised, some of them are definitely down to personal preference.

in 2009 we replace the wire trap line on the capricorn with 3mm dyneema, sailed almost 5 seasons with that set before replacing them early this years because we were going to the Oz nationals and were not not keen on anything breaking. I copied the way Macca setup his tornado and used two small shackles on either side of the main shackle to move the rope away from the wear area. there was no cover for chafe and they still looked in pretty good shape. the boat sits out side 12 months of the year with the mast up on trailer. so they copped plenty of UV! Prior to that I was replacing wires every 2 seasons or less.

pic of macca's setup:



When i picked up the C2 this year it had a single loop and a cover over the rope, what I didnt know is that it was being held with a knot to keep the sides fixed. that knot formed a weak point and eventually would break. (about 20 meters from a finishing line) There is a lot to like about this system over the 2 shackles, there is no clunking when changing tacks, and getting the trap line straight when rigging up was so much easier. With less shackles also come reduced risk of things getting caught and wear on the spin halyard.

pic of the single loop system:



so with the view to keeping the loops, not having thimbles or shackles, making the system chafe resistant, and separating the two sides I have made two thick dyneema loops, to attach to the main shackle, then spliced the trap lines onto those loops. I figured if the loops are free then every time the mast goes up and down they will move to a new wear point.

pic of the new loops:




Been using the Ronstan RF5122R trap handles for a while now with shock blocks for the turning blocks, have to admit to being very impressed with them and recommend them highly.



Oh well we will have to wait and see how they hold up.

At our last nationals there were about 40 boats, only a few were under weight, most were between 4-10kg over and quite a number 10+ honestly I don't know how much difference it makes on the race course, crew weights varied by more than 50 kilos with a few in the 200kg + category. On land I would prefer the boat to be as close to the 180 as possible (the old boat was 3.8 under and the current is 2.5) certainly makes pushing them around that little bit easier.

I'll take that build challenge, and raise you a cigar...

Done! Either way it goes it's a win win :-)

weigh in for crews must be fun.

Did you see that article on SA about the UFC guys losing up to 30 lbs before weigh in and gain it back within 24 hours of the match.

oy

We are a long way from there and beachcat sailing works the opposite way. You want to make weight and then lose it for the competition (typically). Teams have been busted for weight infractions and I'll never understand why a team will risk their standing in a regatta for a couple of kilo's, but it happens and it's dealt with.