Team Seacats

OK…so I probably over-engineered this but what I have here is the ultimate trapeze bunji setup. For those not familiar with catamaran trapeze systems, we have two wires (sometimes more, sometimes less depending on the boat) that come down from the mast hound on each side of the boat. We hook into these wires and suspend ourselves, in a standing posture, off the side of the boat to help counter balance the power of the boat. These wires are usually kept in place near the side of the hull with a bunji that runs through the hull and under the trampoline in some way. We had an issue a couple of years ago because the bunjies simply ran across the boat from one trap line to the opposing trap line. We broke a bunji and it left the leeward side trapeze rigging dangling and swinging from the breeze and the wave motion. We didn’t give it much thought at the time and continued to sail on a tight reach. When the wind angle changed and we elected to hoist the spinnaker, we found that the loose dangling trapeze line had knitted itself and the spinnaker halyard with the sidestay. I spent 15 minutes on my back working to free the snarled rigging while staring into the sun and having waves wash over my head every five seconds. Meanwhile the rest of the fleet took off with the chutes flying. That won’t happen again.

I’m sure this has been done before and probably in a similar fashion – but I set out to design a system that accomplishes several things. First, I wanted a system that was separate from side to side. This way if we broke one on one side, it wouldn’t release the trapeze line on the other side. Second, I wanted a backup bunji somewhere so that if we did break one, we could use the backup. Third, I felt like the crew should have some extra length in the bunji under the trampoline since they are the more likely of the two of us to make a tarzan-esque flying trip around the forestay during a pitch-pole (sorry Frank…it’s true!). This “Amazing Flying Bambini” maneuver is usually what breaks a bunji – but having extra length might help it survive. I made a diagram to keep all this straight in my mind. Under the trampoline are two double blocks with a becket and two single blocks. If we break either the crew or skipper bunji, at worst we will lose the backup on the opposite side if it was the crew bunji. Even then, the backup bunji on the near side to the break will remain operational and we can simply transfer the near side trapeze line to the backup bunji where it peaks out of the side lacing with a loop and a stopper ball on it. To better understand the system, click the image below – each color represents a separate bunji. Have I completely gone overboard? Feel free to comment below!

Originally uploaded by Team Seacats.