Footstraps on a Tiger

You really need the foot straps for your back foot. If you stuff the boat hard with the front foot in a strap but the back foot free you'll hinge around the front foot.

Agree with Scarecrow.

Your foot strap should be as far back as possible and used for your back foot. However some crews add a second foot strap just behind the rear beam. This is never for the front foot, it's used in lighter conditions when the crew isn't needed right at the back of the boat.

Personally I have experimented a fair bit and there is alot to be said for hooking up a good safety line (Jesus line, chicken line whatever you want to call it).

Are people just holding onto the chicken/jesus line or are they actually hooking in somehow? I'm a little uneasy about having my crew or myself actually hooking in. If people are simply holding the line is it excessively fatiguing?

Hook up and send it. Would not sail downwind in breeze without one.

How do you not end up hanging in the air like in Tornado blast on youtube?

I have had chicken lines set up two different ways. One, was with an S hook that was affixted to a roller cleat (like used on an adjustable trapeze system. The hook goes to the trap ring NOT the harness. This is a nice system and easy to set up and use, but you need to be careful jibing to hook the S hook to the hiking strap on the tramp when jibing other wise it bounces around on the hull. It works great for distance races, but not so much for buoys. The other plan is to attach to jam cleats to your harness bar (mine are attached to small plates that I had welded to the bar). This way the chicken line just goes into the cleat and when not in use, sucks back into the rear beam with a bungee. A little quicker to use and suits both buoy and distance races. I have crashed while attached to both systems, and neither have hung me like the video.

Holding onto the chicken line is a no no for two reasons:

1. When you plant the bows you'll never be able to hold on hard enough.

2. If you wrap, or it accidentally wraps, around your hand you'll rip your hand off.... or break it at the very least.

If you think I'm kidding, I've straightened an 8G S hook that was hooked into my harness.

The best version of the chicken line is as ksurfer2 described with the jam cleats on the spreader bar. That way it's easily adjustable and it will release if you fall on it the wrong way. The problem with this is if you don't have a bar on your harness you can't attach the cleats, so you need a hook onto your harness... I find hooks dangerous and stuff gets caught on them. I actually use a ball and loop system... it's hard to explain but I'll get some pics up soon.

Also, while hooking to your trap ring may be a little safer it is not as stable.

Hook onto the dog bone. When you come off your ring unhooks. In the T blast video, Forbes hooked onto his harness intentionaly to add visual affect to the intentional capsize.

I'll give the hooks a go, I like the ball and loop idea too. Any thoughts on using a snapshackle?

I have to do something, sweetness has already issued a few threats when she is

requested

to wire up downwind.

We had the lines with hooks (chicken lines) on the Tiger we just sold and liked them a lot. Only used in really big swell and wind. In

normal

conditions it was not used. Only, only only hook it to the trapeze handle and NEVER the trapeze harness.

My plan on the Infusion is to make a cup that inserts into the hole at the end of the crossbar so the hook will hide inside when not in use. So as not to accidentally grab one of the sheets. That does not happen too much but thought it would add a bit of comfort.

Our system was a line from the rear of the boat with the length we wanted it to be, then put a bungee on that line into the rear crossbar so it can be sucked in with no slack.

We also had footstraps that were added before the line. The first ones were attached from the back of the rear crossbar to the hull. That was not far enough back and we added a second set to the very back of the boat. Kept the first ones on. Sometimes I sail with people that are not comfortable getting all the way back on the boat so they can use the front ones.

Later,
Dan

Have you tried straps for the crew?

This is very, very clever! In this case one can use a fast eye snap or carabiner. Currently we have an open hook, but during tacks my main sheet gets very often tangled in this hook.