Hiking Straps for H15/H146 - A solution
It is amazing how life gets in the way of you messing about in your boat! So now, many months later, I have finally finished the Hiking Strap project and am ready to shift my substantial ballast over the edge when the Fremantle Doctor (the strong summer winds here in Perth, Western Australia) comes roaring in.
Back in April I posted the following 1st steps of the construction:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bostonian
... H15 owner Esterhazyinoz was talking about rigging up some hiking straps last fall but I don't know if that project came about or not. ...
Speak of the devil! Yes I had designed and almost finished installing a hiking strap solution for my H15. There was no way I was going to face the strong summer winds here in Perth, Western Australia (and they were very strong this summer) without hiking straps. Little did I know that the universe had other things in store for me that would see my boat sitting in my driveway, mocking me, since the end of August. The Chinese believe this to be the year of the rabbit (???) but I know it is the year of the leg. First a ripped knee, then a shattered tibia and now a week ago, just when I was going to put the last bits of the hiking strap solution on the boat, a badly twisted (sprained/strained???) ankle. Well as Ned Kelly said, "such is life" and then they hung him.
Anyway back to the hiking straps, , all I can say now is that I am confident that my solution will provide me with the ability to control my boat when hit by a strong gust (25 knots +) and sail comfortably in steady winds of 15-20 knots. Any of these non ballasted daysailers really require you to use/move passengers and crew as the ballast to provide the righting moment. Practically that means constantly moving your arse to balance your boat in unsteady winds. Of course not over powering your boat in the first place is the best starting point. Having a jib furler as standard equipment on the H146/H15's was one of the design factors that drew me to buying my H15 as that easily allows you to adjust if conditions change. If the winds were blowing so hard that I'd had to reef also, I'd reconsider going out.
Re my hiking strap solution, the main challenge is to find anchor points fore and aft to attach them to. Up front I am using the mast step but for H146/H15 owners it is aft that presents the design challenge.
The H170, with its open transom offers access to the rudder support for rear anchor points but the H146/H15 only presents you with a hollow dam and minimal access to the inside of the hull. I saw the main design challenge as being able to spread the load of the weight of 2-3 adults over as wide an area as possible.
Removing the entire rear inspection hatch allowed me to fit one arm into the boat and touch the transom walls. See attached for what it looks like in there. What you are seeing is the underside of the cockpit drain and the forward wall of the transom. By using a webcam I was able to see what I was doing when working in there (got that idea after my knee op).
I constructed my aft anchor points from strap aluminium and a solid tube of teflon plastic cut into thick disks (see 2nd pic attached). The bolt that goes through the anchor, teflon disk, transom fibreglass wall, ali straps, etc never actually touches the fibreglass of the transom wall. The bolt is surrounded by a thick, long nylon spacer as it passes through the transom wall. This spacer is rebated into the white teflon disks to keep it in place always (see 3rd pic).
The 4th pic shows what it looks like inside now and the 5th pic is the view facing the stern from inside the cockpit. The aluminium things are mountain climbing thingo's.
Also for straps I am using Zhik Hiking straps made for NS 14's which are about 6 feet long (6th pic). These straps have a special underside material that really grip sailing shoes and boots.
The initial photos are below in thumbnail form. Here are the shots of the final setup:
It is amazing how life gets in the way of you messing about in your boat! So now, many months later, I have finally finished the Hiking Strap project and am ready to shift my substantial ballast over the edge when the Fremantle Doctor (the strong summer winds here in Perth, Western Australia) comes roaring in.
Back in April I posted the following 1st steps of the construction:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bostonian
... H15 owner Esterhazyinoz was talking about rigging up some hiking straps last fall but I don't know if that project came about or not. ...
Speak of the devil! Yes I had designed and almost finished installing a hiking strap solution for my H15. There was no way I was going to face the strong summer winds here in Perth, Western Australia (and they were very strong this summer) without hiking straps. Little did I know that the universe had other things in store for me that would see my boat sitting in my driveway, mocking me, since the end of August. The Chinese believe this to be the year of the rabbit (???) but I know it is the year of the leg. First a ripped knee, then a shattered tibia and now a week ago, just when I was going to put the last bits of the hiking strap solution on the boat, a badly twisted (sprained/strained???) ankle. Well as Ned Kelly said, "such is life" and then they hung him.
Anyway back to the hiking straps, , all I can say now is that I am confident that my solution will provide me with the ability to control my boat when hit by a strong gust (25 knots +) and sail comfortably in steady winds of 15-20 knots. Any of these non ballasted daysailers really require you to use/move passengers and crew as the ballast to provide the righting moment. Practically that means constantly moving your arse to balance your boat in unsteady winds. Of course not over powering your boat in the first place is the best starting point. Having a jib furler as standard equipment on the H146/H15's was one of the design factors that drew me to buying my H15 as that easily allows you to adjust if conditions change. If the winds were blowing so hard that I'd had to reef also, I'd reconsider going out.
Re my hiking strap solution, the main challenge is to find anchor points fore and aft to attach them to. Up front I am using the mast step but for H146/H15 owners it is aft that presents the design challenge.
The H170, with its open transom offers access to the rudder support for rear anchor points but the H146/H15 only presents you with a hollow dam and minimal access to the inside of the hull. I saw the main design challenge as being able to spread the load of the weight of 2-3 adults over as wide an area as possible.
Removing the entire rear inspection hatch allowed me to fit one arm into the boat and touch the transom walls. See attached for what it looks like in there. What you are seeing is the underside of the cockpit drain and the forward wall of the transom. By using a webcam I was able to see what I was doing when working in there (got that idea after my knee op).
I constructed my aft anchor points from strap aluminium and a solid tube of teflon plastic cut into thick disks (see 2nd pic attached). The bolt that goes through the anchor, teflon disk, transom fibreglass wall, ali straps, etc never actually touches the fibreglass of the transom wall. The bolt is surrounded by a thick, long nylon spacer as it passes through the transom wall. This spacer is rebated into the white teflon disks to keep it in place always (see 3rd pic).
The 4th pic shows what it looks like inside now and the 5th pic is the view facing the stern from inside the cockpit. The aluminium things are mountain climbing thingo's.
Also for straps I am using Zhik Hiking straps made for NS 14's which are about 6 feet long (6th pic). These straps have a special underside material that really grip sailing shoes and boots.
The initial photos are below in thumbnail form. Here are the shots of the final setup:
Attachments
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