Trap Wires and Trailering

I've had my H16 for several years now and it has the double trapeze set up but I have never used them, never even attached them to the mast or anything. They are actually new-ish, looks like they haven't been used very much if at all and have always been stored coiled up in a box with the "butt buckets" and other goodies that came with the boat.
Anyway, my question is, when trailering, do you leave the ends connected with the shock cord in tact, or do you usually disconnect them from the shock cord?

Also-
I have the assembly manual that came with the boat and it shows how to connect everything up, I am just unclear as to when you would connect the shock cord when stepping the mast. Does one connect the ends with the shock cord before stepping or after? Thanks for any guidance on this subject.

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Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.

First things first... you will love your trap wires.

I leave both ends of the trap wires and shrouds attached at all times. When raising the mast I just make sure that they are arranged such that they won't snag on the tramp frame or rudders. To stow trap wires and shrouds for trailering, grab all the port side wires at their midpoint and weave the bundle 3-4 times through the center tramp lacing. Repeat for the starboard side wires.

I have some tips in an old rigging video that might help:

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thanks Matt, I've watched that video a couple of times just this week, it's my go to video as a set up refresher. I was just unclear as to if the trap wires and shock cord are left in tact when trailering, and when stepping the mast, if the shock cords were supposed to be disconnected. I have the double set up by the way.

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Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.

This is what has been confusing me. On page 9 of the Hobie 16 assembly manual it states, "use the trapeze wire shock cord to tie the lower end of the wires to the mast during stepping", but on page 12 it clearly shows a guy stepping the mast and the shock cord is already in place, you can see it running side to side under the trampoline.
So what I am trying to figure out is,
can the shock cord be left in place under the tramp and trap wires connected to the shock cord when the boat is on the trailer and when stepping the mast, or should it be disconnected from the trap wires during trailering and stepping.

Sorry for all the questions about all this, I'm sure I am making it more complicated than need be, but if it can all be left intact, then it would be one less thing to set up right?

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Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.

Thank you for your help, I see that you leave everything attached so, okay, good deal.

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Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.

The manual is for the first assembly.

I always looked for ways to make rigging easier, so detach as little as possible. Yes, leave bungee in place.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thank you so much Matt, I just now got everything all set to go. Leaving for Okaloosa Island in the morning, gonna be there all next week!!! Sailing in the gulf and the bay, so excited!!!

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Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.

It also depends sometimes on how far I am going. I think that the shock cord gets stretched over time when left in the breeze at 75MPH. If I am driving an hour or two, I leave everything in place. We don't even disconnect the shrouds, we coil it on the tramp and use rope or bungees to locate them. If I were driving it to Florida, I would probably disconnect everything and keep it in the car.

Just drop the mast, pull the pin, and move the base of the mast forward on the trailer mast support.

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Steve
2017 Hobie 16 "Cayman" sails 114795
1985 & 1973? Hobie 14 "Sea & Ski"

Thanks for the advice. Good points.

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Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.

I ended up disconnecting the shock cord from one set of the trap wires and coiled up everything, tied it all together, placed under a hiking strap and tied off to the hiking strap also. Everything stayed in place for the 4 hour drive, no issues.

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Marty
1984 H16 Yellow Nationals Redline, "Yellow Fever"
Lake Martin, 'Bama.

My approach is to have snap clips where the shock cord connects to the trap wires. Before lowering the mast, I unclip the trap wires and clip the shock cord to the boat, letting the trap wires hang free. After lowering the mast, I coil the trap wires and secure them with zip ties. Zip ties are relatively cheap and are very secure in transit.

When raising the mast, I snip the zip ties and leave the trap wires hanging loose. After the mast is up, I clip the shock cord to the trap wires.

Advantage I've found with this method is the trap wires never get caught as I'm raising the mast.

Jim Clark-Dawe

I just coil them up together, and tie to tramp lacing, if not going very far. Grab whole bundle in one hand, make a loop on one side, and the next loop goes on the other side. By putting loops on alternating sides, you avoid any kinks in the process. Repeat as many times as necessary. Same with shrouds.

My double trap wires are 6 inches different in length. So is my setup correct, the longer wire goes to skipper, and shorter wire goes to crew?

Typically the skipper gets the short wire, makes it easier to see over the crew.