I am working on my new trampoline and it is time to come up with some good idea how to attach the hiking straps. The old trampoline is a 20-year-old orig. Hobie tramp made out of vinyl. This tramp functioned as a template. The new one is made from Permatron mesh – it is in one piece with loops of webbing replacing the original grommets for the rear lacing.
On the old vinyl tramp the Hiking straps were restitched at least twice over its lifespan.
Besides the need for restiching I always had two issues with the stock tramp …
*It was always difficult to get my feet in the loops especially when the feet were in booties. Getting my feet in typically required me to lift up the loops slightly and stick the feet in.
*Hiking out always put quiet a load on the straps and especially in the area where the strap was stitched to the trampoline.

Is there any way to attach the hiking straps to the tramp to avoid these issues? I would be thankful for any kind of idea, drawing, picture – aftermarket tramp, different type of cat, boat, whatever works.

Thanks,

Patrick

Patrick, below is what I have done on both my H16 & H14 turbo. Add grommets, some good quality non-stretch line and Rubatex tubing. The tubing is 2" diameter and closed cell foam. Used for insulating exterior air conditioning lines. Lasts for years.

Good luck, Tom G



PS. Having some difficulty posting the pic but will continue to try.

PSS. May need to email the pic direct via private mail.

Tom, interesting jib cleat setup, I've never seen it like that before. Care to explain why you did it that way?

Also, what's the jam cleat for on the front crossbar?

That jam cleat looks like it holds a furler halyard.

Jim,

That's a 14 Turbo - that's the way the jib cleats work, since the foretriangle on a 14 is so small, a jib like the 16's would be like an handkerchief. The Turbo's jib overlaps the main significantly and has no battens.

The cleats are attached to a wire that runs underneath the trampoline, from shroud attachment to shroud attachement. (The shrouds on a 14 are attached to the sidebars, not the hull like they are on a 16.)

The cleat on the front crossbar is for the jib furler line.

Merry Christmas to all!!! Hope Santa filled your socks with lots of sailing goodies.

Jim, the guys are right on both accounts as the photo boat is the Hobie 14 turbo. Roller furling jib cleat line on the front crossbar and the jib blocks are cabled through the tramp. Early design by Hobie to place a jib on the H14.

Sail fast, Tom G

Man, talk about coincidence! I have an '83 16 that I bought this fall. Just took off the tramps as the hiking straps are long gone. I too, had trouble getting feet under the flat straps that someone had jury rigged. Was going to take the tramps to get new straps sewn on..But lo & behold What a great idea, I think? Three questions to anyone reading this:
1. Will the gromets work on the vinyl, and if so should I reinforce it?
2. The photo is great, but I am unsure of how the line is attached at the gromets.
3. I want to subscribe to Cat Sailor, but when I try my desk top blows down(not enuf horsepower). I guess this is a fourth question but I'll stick it in here anyway I am new to cat sailing, and think that the sailing in the 90's book would be great, but is there a book "in the 00's coming out soon? Please respond quickly! I hope you are all following teamellen.com. ralph in NY( the oldest new Hobie sailor in the world)

1. Grommets placed at the sew points on the vinyl tramp work fine. I did a vinyl tramp with my H16. Did not reinforce and have had no problems.

2. Under the tramp, thread the line through a stainless, aluminum or brass washer and then back through the grommet again. Make sure the washer is larger than the grommet.

3. You can easily kick under the tubes while under way. Cushiony and soft to lay on and they help keep the main and jib sheets collected into the middle of the tramp.

Sail fast, Tom G

O.K. the tramp is done... ... except for the straps. At the front of the tramp the straps are already attached by looping the webbing material around the edge of the tramp fabric, where the ramp is inserted in the extrusion of the front beam. I hope that this setup will distribute some of the forces directly to the front beam and cause less stress to the rest of the fabric. All of the stitching is covered by sunbrella - I hope this keeps the TX sun out.

The rear of the straps will form a loop and I plan on tying that end to the extrusion in the rear cross bar. This has the nice side effect that the whole deal is adjustable and nothing will pull directly on the tramp.

Now I need to make up my mind how and where to attach the webbing to two spots of the tramp to form the three loops for the feet. Looking at my old tramp I noticed that the width of the loop is unequal. The one closest to the front of the tramp is in my case 48 cm wide. The one in the middle is 44 cm wide and the one in the rear (the one I use the most) is 54 cm wide. Does someone know why this is setup that way? Why not equal spaces? Or why not making the first loop the shortest, since no one uses it?

Padded straps... triggered by the idea with the A/C insulation, I remember my old monohull had padded straps. The padding was not as thick as the round foam tubing, but this might make the straps stiffer and easier to slide the feed underneath.

I read somewhere that the new Hobies have the straps sewn on with a twist / 180* turn between each foot loop. I assume this is for foot accessibility. Does it work?

I will post pictures once the tramp is done.

Gday YOH,
yep the newer tramps have the straps with a twist between each sewn attachment point. Its a 180 deg twist for each loop and works pretty well,I don't wear boots for sailing and a quick spotting of the point where the twist has left a hole lets slide straight under. Maybe be harder with boots but don't know.

O.K. here is a pic of the tramp in it's current state (straps looped around the front)

hmm... this pic shows the detail of the webbing looping around (top and bottom)

o.k. this is the last pic... ... compares the rear of the old and new tramp. There are more loops on the new one than grommets on the old vinyl tramp (and this is already a double grommet style tramp)

Hi,
this jib cleat setup is standard for HC14 Turbo, but not so good when you are sailing with crew, have someone found a better setup position ?

About HC14 shrouds attachment ... the standard one broke the sidebars (I have an old '82 HC, corrosion where Chainplate is fixed ...), so I have decided to emulate the HC16 standard, attaching the shroud to the hull ... It works very fine !