Tramp tension, how tight is too tight?

So I have been trying to do all I can to make my H18 more responsive, I have read that a tight tramp is a good way to help. When I asked a local buddy about how tight to get the tramp, he said as tight as humanly possible. I have tighten my tramp 3x since I installed it, each time getting it as tight as I could with a couple pairs of vise grips until I could pull no more slack from the lacing. Today I did some thinking and took a water meter tool which is pictured to my tramp lacing and was able to get it REALLY REALLY tight, I was able to pull another 8" of slack out. I am now questioning, when is it too much? I have not broken an eyelet out, but some of them look pretty stressed at the moment.

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2010 AHPC C2 #218

I have actually seen a tire iron used to tighten down a tramp. We did pop a couple grommets but the tramp was at least 30 years old. On my H18 with a new tramp I used a piece of wooden rod and it stretched after a couple of days so I think you will be all right with what you are doing.

My tramp is tight as hell, and I like. Also the line was ran through twice at different angles so it helps distribute load on grommets.

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ALLEY CAT 1984 RED LINE HOBIE 18 MAGNUM
Sail # 10505 or 277

The tramp is too tight when you start pulling grommets out.

Honestly, I don't think having a tight tramp really makes that much of a difference on the 18 as far as performance goes, but I can't stand having a sagging trampoline. From a racing standpoint, I think at the very least, having a tight tramp adds to the psychological aspect of knowing your boat is as tight as you can make it. Plus, there's nothing worse than sitting in a puddle or having your butt drag on the water. So for my racing boat, I pull the sucker about as tight as I can get it. It sounds like a drum when I hit it with my hand. You definitely run the risk of pulling out grommets with the tramp like this, so you may want to consider adding double grommets to the center lacing. Also keep some 1" wide nylon webbing handy with a needle and thread. You can easily repair or reinforce pulled out grommets by hand sewing a piece of webbing using a few rows of bar tacks, I've done this several times.

I find the best way to avoid pulling out grommets is to tighten the tramp incrementally. Lace it up and pull it snug. Then go back and do a second round of tensioning to pull it real tight. This way you minimize overloading any single grommet. I also find that the best way to get the tramp good and tight and to minimize wrinkles or pockets is to tension the rear lacing first, then do the center lacing.

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it also helps a great deal if you use pre-stretched (or no stretch) line for lacing the tramp. beats having to do it all over again.

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Chris
'88 H18SE Arís

I used to get it REAL tight and used the standard hobie (or whatever line lacing kit Murray's sells..).. and over a few weeks it'd loosen up. I thought it was the mesh tramp stretching...

This time I got 3mm dyneema... cranked it up tight like I usually do... well I've sailed the daylights out of it for a while now and the tramp is STILL nice and tight...

So line REALLY makes a difference... [b]I think there's low/no stretch line, then there's dyneema![/b] I love it.

I'm going to learn to eye splice the stuff and use it for my trap lines, just for fun/cool factor.