Have any of you installed footstraps?

I'm considering adding one on each rail near the rear beam. Any thoughts?

I never really found them necessary for upwind/downwind course racing. For fun reaching, we use a sissy cord (http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=35385). If it's really windy, the skipper sits right in front of or on the rear crossbar with crew straddling the skipper and the jib sheet in one hand and the sissy cord in the other. Probably safer from an ankle injury standpoint plus the crew isn't limited to one location. The F18 guys obviously use them though. I've personally never liked the idea of strapping my ankle to a 400lb boat - the boat goes one way, you go the other, the ankle loses.

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I've installed them on both my H16 and H18.
When racing the H16 the foot strap kept me in place when recovering from the bows digging in while my hands were busy with the tiller and mainsheet. it was clear tubing with a rope threaded through near the transoms.

On my H18 I used adjustable padded foot straps (Dakine) through bolted near the transoms. while digging in the bows is not as critical on the H18, when trapped out the foot strap has kept me in place on more than a few occasions, again while my hands were occupied with tiller and mainsheet.

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Chris
'88 H18SE Arís

Thanks guys. I was mainly thinking it would be nice having something to tuck my rear foot into on those days when the swells are up and they sneak up behind you. I've been knocked off the rail more times than I care to admit, mostly after getting caught off guard by a wave when I don't have enough weight on my rear foot. The sissy line sounds like a great idea except I mostly sail solo so I'd have to clip it to my harness or something (I'm afraid to do that). The weather here stinks right now. I'm hoping to get out on Monday.

Brian:
You are right, the weather stinks, which is why I did not call.
Went shopping for Robline instead...hard to find.
And Monday we drive to Toronto, so have a good sail.

Footstraps - I installed one on a Club 18 many years ago....
used some 1 1/2" clear plastic tubing, a piece of 1/4" line, and drilled two holes through the lip.
I remember using some epoxy to 'seal' the holes that we drilled.
Hobie sells a kit for that same concept.

Be well.

_________________
2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

John, I hope you found the local West Marine stores. There are two of them, both equidistant off I95 ~10 miles away. I prefer Defender Industries, which seems to have better pricing and line selection. Defender has a huge outlet warehouse in New London but you can also buy from them online.

I've had them on the upper rudder casting, centered over the rudder pin on a 16 (have seen several other people with similar setups that I copied the idea from), and on the back of the wing of the 21, we have one for each person's rear foot. They add a lot of security in big waves, and conditions when you need to travel all the way out, and be as far back as possible.

The used to make 8" windsurfer straps-what I used on the Hobies which are big enough to get a shoe into. The tubing over line always looked dangerous to me, but I know a lot of people used them. Some performance sailing company makes them now, like the old DaKine ones, but I don't remember the company name.

You only need one for your back foot.