The shock cords that hold my harness wires in place on my P-18 have frayed and snapped after minimal use. Anyone with similar problems? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

Scott Poulton
Prindle 18
Annapolis, Maryland

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Scott
ARC 21
Prindle 18
Annapolis, Maryland
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Good quality shock cords should last quite a while, maybe yours are too short so they are being over-stretched? If you are buying your shock cord at a hardware store it might be UV damage doing you in.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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It was likely poor quality shock cord.

Are there any sharp edges that are causing the wear? It doesn't take a lot of rubbing before shock cord will fray if it is being bent over a sharp corner.

After you fix any edge problems my suggestion is to get some good quality shock cord from Murray's or Annapolis Performance Sailing. If you want to make it truly bullet proof try some Solcor solid covered elastomer.

http://www.apsltd.com/c-1…tomerCoredShockCord.aspx

This stuff is seriously tough.

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Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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How are your shock cords run? I've seen some strange setups.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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Shock cords run under the tramp, come upthrough gromets in the side of tramp, through pulleys, then clip to dog bone connector on wire. I have not seen any sharp areas on gromets or on pulleys.

Scott Poulton
Prindle 18
Annapolis, Maryland

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Scott
ARC 21
Prindle 18
Annapolis, Maryland
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They are probably too tight or too short or just crappy cord

One suggestion would be to add a pulley in the center of the rear cross bar under the tramp. This adds a bit of shock cord length to the boat and allows the cord to stretch much further. If you pitchpole while on the wire you will fly past the front of the boat and your current shock cord set up will surely snap the cord or pivot you right into the jib and bridles if it doesnt snap. By adding the center pully you have much more cord and that gives the cord the ability to stretch much farther.

Shock cords run under the tramp, BACK TO PULLEY, come upthrough gromets in the side of tramp, through pulleys, then clip to dog bone connector on wire

If you dont understand what im saying let me know and ill take a picture for you.

I had the one side to the other in a straight line system you described up above. 15-20kts of wind on the wire flying along and i stuffed the hull pretty good. Rather than Peter pan around the bows the shock cord ran out of bungee and it slammed me through my jib and cut my leg on the bridles.

If you pull out on your current cord you will see that it doesnt come out from the boat very far. by adding the pulley you are adding twice the chord which will allow you to Safely "Peter pan" out in front of the bows and not slam into the bridles/jib.

My rule of thumb is that if i cant pull the chord out past the bridles its not long enough.



edited by: TurboCat, Jul 20, 2010 - 11:50 PM

Quote

One suggestion would be to add a pulley in the center of the rear cross bar under the tramp.

The is exactly what I've done on my 5.2 as well. I attached the pulley to the rear beam with about a foot of shock cord.

Without it I barely have enough range to trap out on behind the rear beam.



edited by: yurdle, Jul 20, 2010 - 06:18 PM

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Rob
OKC
Pile of Nacra parts..
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spoulton

then clip to dog bone connector on wire.

That kind of sounds like you have the bungee connected directly to the dog bone? You don't right? The shock cord is connected to a line that is connected to the dog bone, like this?

This pic has the "can't miss" handles instead of the dog bone.


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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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[quote=TurboCat]They are probably too tight or too short or just crappy cord

TurbCat if you could send me a picture it would be great. Do you have a seperate pulley for each line or a double pulley?

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Scott
ARC 21
Prindle 18
Annapolis, Maryland
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Damon, my set up is similar to the one you picture (except for dog bone instead of "Can't Miss
Ring"), but I do not have a pulley on the eye of the wire. I think the line runs through the eye and the stopper hangs up at the eye of the wire when I hike out.

Scott Poulton
Prindle 18
Annapolis, Maryland

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Scott
ARC 21
Prindle 18
Annapolis, Maryland
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[quote=spoulton]

TurboCat

They are probably too tight or too short or just crappy cord

TurbCat if you could send me a picture it would be great. Do you have a seperate pulley for each line or a double pulley?

Here is a picture from under my tramp. i have a very cheap little block tied to the corners at my rear beam. the single shock cord criss-crosses under my tramp giving me lots of extra cord.

It could also work with a single block somewhere near the middle.

That would be funny if you missed the "cant miss" handle.

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Tyler holmes
Panama city, FL

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Quote

i have a very cheap little block tied to the corners at my rear beam. the single shock cord criss-crosses under my tramp giving me lots of extra cord.

I like this (in theory) better than the way Turbo and I have done it. If nothing else, it should allow me to have a little more tension on a little longer line, but I think it'll allow a significantly longer shock cord. I'll have to remember to grab an extra bullet block next time I order stuff and try it out.

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Rob
OKC
Pile of Nacra parts..
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Quote

That would be funny if you missed the "cant miss" handle.

While sailing in the gulf about a month ago... I was on the wire in a very turbulent area (about a mile outside the clearwater/sand key pass) and was getting bounced around a lot.

and then my "can't miss" handle broke. apparently the cable inside it rusted some and all the bouncing around broke it. SPLASH... i held on to my mainsheet and was dragged about 40' until it capsized.

I had a righting bag but was unable to self right it. luckily 2 guys on a jetski came and helped me.

Nobody i have talked to has ever heard of one of them breaking... but i doubt i will purchase another set.

yurdle

If nothing else, it should allow me to have a little more tension on a little longer line, but I think it'll allow a significantly longer shock cord. I'll have to remember to grab an extra bullet block next time I order stuff and try it out.

what can't be seen here is that the cord also runs along the rear beam from one block to the other.

ps i dont use bullet blocks here, i use some real cheap ($5) blocks our local guy sells.

Thanks everyone. Rigged with Solcor shock cord as per design suggested by Andrew. Seems to be much better than prior straight across run with cheap shock cord. Haven't had enough wind to "wet" test it but prediction is for good wind this Wednesday and plan to go out that afternoon.

Scott Poulton
Prindle 18
Annapolis, Maryland

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Scott
ARC 21
Prindle 18
Annapolis, Maryland
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I would suggest you test first.

Set up your cat in front yard. Rig mast.

put out kids swimming pools (one on each hull if possible).

Get in swimming gear (including fins and snorkel, SAFETY FIRST), put on PFD and trap harness. Get on the wire and flail around until you fall OFF the hook and hopefully into the pool. If all works well,,, you are safe to take it to the beach and go sail. If not, try again

Andrew do you have a picture of that setup as I am not sure of the how big the kids pools should be and where they pools should be located. Thanks, Scott

Scott Poulton
Prinlde 18
Annapolis, Maryland



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Scott
ARC 21
Prindle 18
Annapolis, Maryland
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