chicken wire setup

don't have a good pic, but I have welded a pair of plates on our harness spreader bars where some small harken cam cleats are bolted. The boat has a line running from beam to beam that retracts into the rear beam with a bunji but deadstops when pulled out to the correct distance. We step under the line and drop it in the cleat in one or both directions.

It's not perfect but it works. I can't get mine engaged on my own when I'm driving - it takes my crew to lock me in. In my case, I could probably do some work with the cleat angle to make it easier. The benefit of the cam cleat is that they will release at high angles and it will let you go when the $hit has hit the fan and doesn't keep you locked in forever and forever.

Don't have a picture handy, but I use a hook setup.

1. Chicken line dead-ends to rudder pintle
2. Chicken line is lead through small single block
3. Hook is tied to end of line
4. Bungee is dead-ended to opposite side of rear beam, lead through beam, then tied to single block, sucking middle of chicken line into beam

The opening on the Infusion rear beam is large enough that the hook can be sucked all the way into the beam. To prevent this, you can put a ball or donut in front of the hook. I have a ball that is still small enough to go into the beam, so if I want to use the chicken lines I just tape over part of the beam opening. Otherwise, I leave the hooks inside the beam so they can't snag anything. I think I used the chicken lines once this season.

I use hooks because because I wear a skiff style harness (was a Banks, now a Goodal) and don't have a place to mount cleats. I hook to the trap ring so if we go over I have nothing extra attaching me to the boat.

I second this approach, as it will facilitate getting off the wire and out of the way faster if things go sideways

I used both for the Worrells and Tybees. Long line w/ cleats for the crew and a short tether w/ a hook mounted to a trap adjuster clam cleat so I could get whatever range I needed.The main problem I had was securing it if it didn't get sucked into the rear beam, which it often didn't. It made a very disconcerting sound smacking into the hull every wave. I started hooking it in a rear lace hole. The Harness cleats and long line were a Jamie Livingston trick. He was the first guy I saw using that program. It's really nice because it locks you in in both directions (protects from waves as well as stuffs).

It does help prevent the sit-n-spin. I took graphics off the hull once with my head thanks to a single connection chicken line on a particularly rough day coming through Biscayne Bay chop.

I run it through the beam, with a fixed and a moving block. It was a bit hard to tie the bungee cord but it works great, with two lengths of bungee the tension is more constant in all positions. Same with the foward trap bungee.
I use a small carabiner, the metallic small hook that I'd like to have is a steal.

At first I had just one lenth of bungee. When I left the it hooked to the trap, it would bring the trap back. Maybe not really an issue but it just bothered me.. Now with double bungee lengths on both the front trap and the chicken line, it almost stays where you leave it, tension is similar on both sides and friction becomes more significant.

Originally Posted by Andinista

I run it through the beam, with a fixed and a moving block. It was a bit hard to tie the bungee cord but it works great, with two lengths of bungee the tension is more constant in all positions. Same with the foward trap bungee.
I use a small carabiner, the metallic small hook that I'd like to have is a steal.

Nice drawing. Are the shaded areas the crossbeams? I can't really tell what is what?

yes. The jib is there too.

I would like to bring alive this topic for a moment.

I know the set-up with the hook as drawn in de drawing above, and that is 100% clear to me. But now our intention is to do it with cleats while many people has told me this system has some advantages. Trusting them, we've bought the cleats, but now I do not have a clue about where to place them on the harnas (which direction), and how to rig the system.

After reading the previous inputs I still do not understand. Does anybody has got a photograph?

Are you speaking of attaching a clamcleat to the harness spreader bar for the chicken line cleat into?

Hi Arjan,

What type of harness do you have? Can you post a picture?

Bacho Thanks for your photo!

And Tony, I've got an other brand, but exact the same preader bar on my harness. So that is rather clear to me.

I presume the plates are welded into the spreader bar, and the cleats are

popped in

as explained by jake earlier.

But what about the actual line? I tried to understand the discussion here earlier, but it is either my English or my understanding which does not cooperate. Is this in the same way as the hook set-up drawn by

Totnado Alive

?

I don't want to interfere with the ongoing discussion about the chicken-wire but I like to mention here that there is still the oldfashioned footstrap for the backfoot,
and the making of a special standing-platform as alternative for this wire. See picture:

The standing platform is in my view a must for a firm grip for the legs. In my case with high trap lines, it has to be under a certain angle with the sideboard of the hull.
(you cannot see this good on the picture, but the whole standing-strip is under 60 degrees)
And last but not least,it has to be covered with anti-slip surface.

With this construction I sort of imitate the standing on a windsurfboard where you have to brace yourself against the forces of the sail in diagonal direction.

Because I shaped the hulls by myself I could easily implement this standing-platform in the hulls themselves. But on my previous cats I made some simular add-on constructions with epoxy, glass and some wood.

I never had any need for a chickenwire with this provision on board. I use it constantly in choppy or wavy water and/on broad reach.

And Arjan, you are a bit confused by the mixing of ideas for the chickenwire: some members speak about a wire which hold you aft off the rearbeam on a downwind course.
And some speak about fixing themselves between the two beams for withstanding forces in forward and backward direction (with cleats).