dismounting the wire in a crash?

Okay, first off, I still have the old butt buckets with the plastic clip behind the metal hook that hooks to the trap wire... My question is, how do you get off in an emergency, or when being dragged behind the boat?

Obvious answer, don't leave the boat, but hypothetically... Strong winds this last couple days, went out and fell off a few times, swung around like a kid on a tire swing, at the mercy of whatever force wanted to pull me whatever direction... Luckily, I usually flew back and could grab the tiller and point her back in irons... BUT it was a little jarring, and when I TRIED to get off the wire, i couldn't very easily, until the boat almost stopped and then I grabbbed the handle and REALLY hoisted myself up and shoved down on the dogbone to get it off...

So, I had a thought, and had my crew try "falling off" backwards and try to backflip off of it while the boat was going... He got mostly inverted (underwater mind you) but the hook didn't get far enough back to release itself, so I hoisted him back up... (plugged his nose, all good)

So, what's your experience or do I need new harness'?

_________________
Andrew J.
1984 H16
1972 Venture 17
Aquaterra Kayak
1 Rubber Ducky

Cut the plactic clip off.

It's not necessary and it's a pain in the butt (as you have discovered).

Doing a "Wicked Dick" (getting knocked off your feet and swinging behind the boat), you really want to stay hooked so you stay with the boat. Usually, you can steer the boat into irons and climb back on.

Don't trapeze with your feet on the hull. Get good siderail carpet / nonskid / rubber (whatever your preference) and set the trapeze a little higher in waves so you've got more weight on your feet. Turn your forward foot so the toes face forward (you have to turn your body a bit on the trapeze to do this). This puts more contact area on the siderail and streamlines your foot / leg so it's not so easy to knock off.

Nice roll model to use as an example.

Quique is my hero!

It even works for old, fat bastards like myself.


Notice I'm hooked to the upper ring of the dog bone. That helped me stay on the boat, especially with the loose rig on the 14. It was a lot lumpier than it looks. By the end of that race, we were punching through a 4-6 ft chop.