Double hiking strap?

So While I was practicing for Bacardi today, I thought why not use the awesomeness of a double strap on a laser? Is it legal? I know how to do it, just is it legal...:confused:
 
I guess you've never sailed a star before?

You keep your legs in the strap, so you can just go. No kicking for the strap.

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What I just read for part 17, on page 36 for hiking strap, it says nothing about what kind of strap must be used, be it single style, Opti-double style, or that very cool Star style.
 
Pose it in the measurer's area of this forum and see what answers pop up

Or come to the Easter Laser Regatta and show me your proposal and I will chat with you about my opinion regarding its legality.
 
Stars dont capsize. Lasers do. Dont know bout you, but i dont like the idea of getting trapped under the boat unable to get my feet out of the straps.
 
Star's do capsize! They will lay on their side! Not so much turtle, but they will lay right over.
 
If it isn't specifically allowed by the Laser class, it's illegal. Clearly, such a (double) strap would give some people an advantage. Therefore, I will vote for 49208.
 
how can it be illegal if they don't even say what kind of hiking strap can be used?
 
For some reason, It wont let me edit my posts. Mods?


There's a simple solution to that! Dont capsize!

But yeah, so stoked that it's "legal". Even if it isnt, It would be cool for club races and such.
 
You only have a few minute window to edit your post. Don't remember exactly how long. If you tried to edit your post immediately and it didn't work, then we need to get Bradley on it.
 
You can't assume, it has to be written in the rules, which it is not.

The general rule of thumb on laser class rules is this. "If it is not stated in the rules then it is NOT allowed."

Also, I can only see an advantage to this thing on long weather legs, (which does not happen often).

How quick can you get out of it if you capsize and, (more likely) run into the surprise starboard tacker???
 
The general rule of thumb on laser class rules is this. "If it is not stated in the rules then it is NOT allowed."


Ok, I understand this, but it doesn't even say that it must be a single strap, it doesn't say anything about the strap at all!
 
OK. Let's say it's legal. Why would you want it?

Other than the, (not too often) long heavy air weather leg where you are on one tack for an extended period of time I would see the thing as more of a distraction and added possibility of getting stuck in it at the wrong moment than being an overall advantageous piece of gear.
 
On Finns they have straps on each side, and rear double straps, and some a single middle, but thats because their wide so it makes sense.

I was just honestly trying to prove the point that it might or might not be legal, but now where does it say what is legal. But you guys probably already figured that out.
 
Ross, you seem to missing the point on the Fundamental Laser rule - As Rob B already pointed out, it clearly says if it isn't specifically written in the rules, then it is NOT allowed - in other words if they don't include wording to the effect that you can have two straps, then you can't.
 
Don't worry, I fully understand the Fundamental Laser rule.


But it also does not say you must have a single strap! I says nothing about what kind of strap you can have. All it talks about is the method of attachment and adjustment.
 
OK. Let's say it's legal. Why would you want it?

Other than the, (not too often) long heavy air weather leg where you are on one tack for an extended period of time I would see the thing as more of a distraction and added possibility of getting stuck in it at the wrong moment than being an overall advantageous piece of gear.

IMHO the real benefit would be in quickly shifting, hiking breezes, where you are tacking a lot. It makes getting fully hiked on the new tack faster. It also requires a bit less athleticism/technique then the single strap
 
then your not athletic enough!

Its alot easier to get out than you would think.

Haha, ill take your word for it. Never used a double hiking strap so dont know! In my opinion the single strap works fine, and if it aint broken dont fix it.

On another note, surely Stars dont caspize but broach?? which isnt really a capsize.
 
IMHO the real benefit would be in quickly shifting, hiking breezes, where you are tacking a lot. It makes getting fully hiked on the new tack faster. It also requires a bit less athleticism/technique then the single strap

OK. I'm now lost on this one. I've never used one of these so I'm going from the picture.

It looks like you would have to slide your feet in and out from between the straps. To me this would be more difficult than just sliding them under the current laser hiking strap.

The double strap looks like something you can "lock into" and just hang there.

In my laser I don't want to be "locked" into the boat at all. Things happen too quickly where you have to move fast.
 
The whole idea is to find a good hiking strap so you can be locked in, it makes working the boat upwind easier.
 
Don't worry, I fully understand the Fundamental Laser rule.


But it also does not say you must have a single strap! I says nothing about what kind of strap you can have. All it talks about is the method of attachment and adjustment.

Actually it does talk about the kind of strap (singular)
17. HIKING STRAP
(a) The hiking strap may be substituted with any type
of non-stretch material and it may be padded....

No where does it say straps (plural)
 
The whole idea is to find a good hiking strap so you can be locked in, it makes working the boat upwind easier.

At 6'1" and 205 lbs it's not hard for me to work the boat upwind. Actually, I pray for the breeze to get to the point where I can actually use my body to some advantage!

My size is probably the reason I don't like the double strap idea. If I were 5'10" and 150 lbs I'd probably feel different about it.
 
I guess I should have mentioned much earlier in this thread that this has been tried and discarded as workable - the attachment points in the Laser tend to keep the strap in an up/down orientation and if you sail with the strap fairly tight (most people over 5'10" do), the twisting on one tack means the strap ends up tighter on that tack. We played around a bit with having one piece longer then the other, but that didn't solve it...

The Star has a completely different setup as far as attachment points, much less then the length of the strap, which allows for twist and some relaxing of the bottom strap (the one you are not hiking off of..)
 
Actually it does talk about the kind of strap (singular)
17. HIKING STRAP
(a) The hiking strap may be substituted with any type
of non-stretch material and it may be padded....

No where does it say straps (plural)

I mentioned the same thing. If we take this literally there is only one strap allowed.
 
I'll play devil's advocate on this.

By definition I see the double hiking strap as "one strap". It is a single strap with a single connecting point on both ends, but it has "layers".
 
I'll play devil's advocate on this.

By definition I see the double hiking strap as "one strap". It is a single strap with a single connecting point on both ends, but it has "layers".

I concur.

Also, you think the Opti style is double, or Single Split? It starts out from a single point, then splits.
 
IMHO the opti strap is more of a 2 strap system and further from the definition of "single" strap. I say this because it splits and has a strap for each side of the cockpit.
 
IMHO the opti strap is more of a 2 strap system and further from the definition of "single" strap. I say this because it splits and has a strap for each side of the cockpit.

Thats what I thought, just begging the question.

I still think the Star style is a single strap, and I know it can be rigged on a Laser, and work in a similar fashion.
 
Thats what I thought, just begging the question.

I still think the Star style is a single strap, and I know it can be rigged on a Laser, and work in a similar fashion.

I think we could successfully argue that the Star-style strap is a single strap because it has single attachment points.

However, having spent my share of time in a Star as a crew, I don't think such a strap would be useful in a Laser. In a Star, the crew sails with a very loose strap that lets them droop hike. During a tack, the crew's feet hit the bottom of the cockpit with the strap around the calves. When the crew jumps out to hike on the new side, there is no need to step over the strap or hunt for it with the feet because the legs are already between the two halves of the strap.

In a Laser, the strap is usually tight, limiting the amount of slack in the strap that would allow some freedom of movement during a tack. The tight strap would also result in different tension in each tack (as someone else mentioned) because you hike off one side on one tack, and then the strap flips over to hike on the other side on the other tack. The cockpit is also very shallow and the sailor crosses the boat in a complex movement that involves various foot positions depending on wind strength. Using a double strap would be like sailing with your feet tied together. Range of motion would be severely limited due to the tight strap and shallow cockpit.

I see no advantage to such a strap in the Laser.
 

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