Trapezing on the capri

caviman1

New Member
Hey everyone, I'm and junior sailor up at Huntington Lake, California where the wind is consistently blowing around 13-17 with gusts no more than 25. A couple of summers ago I recieved a Capri 14.2 for free only asking us to buy a trailer for hauling it up to the lake. The boat is by no means a racing boat and it's more for us older kids to enjoy on the weekends. Last summer I decided to try a trapeze system to make the sail more interesting and fun. So far it has worked fine with a few minor adjustments I will have to make before I go back up. My main concern was if I was hurting the boat in anyway. The boat is probably from the late 70's or early 80's and sometimes I wonder if the trapze was really not made for this type of boat. What do you guys think? Thanks,
Eric
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YA-3
 
Sounds like a hoot. The boat probably wasn't designed for a trap but if you've already done it and it works, all the better. As far as hurting it, I'd just keep a good eye on the mast and mast step area for any extra wear. Check the mast standing rigging as the screws that hold the shrouds in place can get loose over time. Have fun!
 
thanks Richard. Actually I just remembered that when we got the boat they said we needed a trailer and that the only piece we needed to repare was the trapeze equipment. At the time I thought nothing of it, but hopefully the boat can handle it because I plan to use it many summers to come.
 
Trapeze for 14.2

I was thinking of adding a trapeze to my 14.2 for my son. He is 7 years old and weighs 60 pounds and he gets bored in the boat with little to do so I was going to add a trapeze to make things more interesting for him. Where is your trapeze mounted? How is it attached to the mast? I only plan on using the trapeze for my son.

Thanks
Roger Lohrey
 
Let the little guy drive so he won't get bored. My boys started to helm the boat about that time and now at 13, they can't sail enough. I'm sure he would enjoy the trap too. On the other hand may be sailing isn't his bag. Good luck!
 
Trapeze setup

yeah that would be a great idea for your son. after adding the trapeze it really makes things alot more intense and most of the time more fun. It would be a lot of typing for me to explain the whole setup but what I did, was I went around looking at other monohulls and catamarans that had trapeze setups and then used their boats as examples.(It's very simple) Once I got it up I had to make some minor adjustments but it has worked fine. My biggest concern is that your son has grip for his feet. Last summer, we were out and I had one of my friends go out and she got out there but after I hit some waves I saw her start sliding forward. She was panicking because her feet were sliding on the rail and eventually lost grip and eventually went around the forestay! It was an automatic flip. That day was very exciting, Best of luck!!!
 
Eric,

The 14.2 would make a good trapeze trainer I think. Just make sure you use lock nuts where applicable and/or check the trap parts regularly with the rest of the boat. The Coronado 15(also from Catalina) uses the same mast extrusion and shroud mounting hardware so you should be fine. I just got back from crewing a C-15 in the Nationals at Huntington Lake this last week. There was certainly enough wind for me to be full out on the wire in the afternoon. :D
 

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My son's race 420s down hear in San Diego. When they hike on the trap they wear Ronstan dinghy boots. Now they don't slip. As far as adding a trap to a 14.2 for me it just isn't windy enough often enough for it.
I think if I want to go the trap route, I'll get a 505 as there's a nice local fleet to race in.
 
A 505 would be sweet. I use Gill trapeze boots and they work well, protecting the feet and giving excellent grip.
 
Trapezing

Yeah I have the Gill hiking boots too and they make difference, but we still had to add some grip. My crew has a tendency to slide forward so we went to a local surf shop and bought some material that had adhesive on the bottom side; they use the product for grip on windsurfing boards. I also had an idea that dealed with drilling to holes on each side of the deck. I would run a line through each hole and then making a knot on each end. So that the line would stay up and act as a foot strap, I was going to add a clear bendable plastic sleave that would cover the line ontop of the deck, keeping the line in a constant bend. We ended up not using this idea because my dad told us we would be putting too big of holes on the side of the boat where water could come in. I still thought it would be a great idea and work great, does anyone else think that that's a good idea? One last thing, the picture above has a trapze line using actual rope, is that okay? With the amount of weight I carry and the amount of wind we have up here at Huntington Lake, I would never trust a single small line of rope.
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Yamaha VMX1200
 
Alot of skiff type boats have foot loops for the skipper when he is far aft on reaches, but crew never use them. The crew needs the freedom to move fore and aft to trim the boat properly in all trapeze boats. I've almost gone around the mast once, when I started out trapping. The key is to anticipate waves, lulls, etc and brace accordingly(that doesn't mean splay your feet wide out either). It's not that hard, it just takes some practice. Gripping the trap handle does no good in such situations. All that does is take weight off the loop/hook and increase the chance of it slipping off. Studying photos of the pros is a great way to get an idea what good trapezing looks like.

I was wondering if you would notice the trap "wires". ;) That isn't regular rope. It's spectra, a very cool type of line. It's UV resistant, chafe resistant, has almsot no stretch, is lightweight, and is incredibly strog, stronger than most comparable tyes of SS wire. It's no good for cleating since it's very slick unless a cover is spliced on, however. It lasts almost forever The boat is the C-15 I sailed on in the Nationals last week. Those lines are 3 years old I think. Spectra much better than wire for trap lines because it can't be confused for shrouds when setting up the boat, and can be spliced easily(its 12 stand). It comes in a few colors as well. It's fairly cheap too. The specific type of line in the photo is called AmSteel 12, made by Samson. The size is 7/64. Tiny, but the tensile strength is 1,200 lbs. Most serious trapeze boats these days use spectra lines instead of wire for their trap wires.
 

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