Chicken Line?

Good question! And how do you use it?

line that is anchored to somewhere on the back of the boat, for the purpose of keeping the crew from being flung forward when you stuff the bows into a big wave.

Yes, they have them at the front of the boat too, well...on the boat i sail...we do...but that's probably customized.

MN3 wrote: line that is anchored to somewhere on the back of the boat, for the purpose of keeping the crew from being flung forward when you stuff the bows into a big wave.

TylerH wrote: Yes, they have them at the front of the boat too, well...on the boat i sail...we do...but that's probably customized.

I know who you sail with, I'd use a chicken harness and safety net!! 😆 😆 😆

Ha, we've only pitched one time and we didn't even flip...we saved it.

sailinagin wrote: [quote=TylerH]Yes, they have them at the front of the boat too, well...on the boat i sail...we do...but that's probably customized.

I know who you sail with, I'd use a chicken harness and safety net!! 😆 😆 😆

Tyler H, how did you not flip after you started to pitch pole. just wondering b/c this summer I pitch poled and was lauched off the boat in a hurry.

I have strap eyes to mount one but I haven't ever seen one so don't know how they are used.

TylerH wrote: Yes, they have them at the front of the boat too, well...on the boat i sail...we do...but that's probably customized.

Not exactly. Chicken lines are typically rigged two different ways. The most common is a line anchored to the upper gudgeon on the rudder (or some system on the transom), attached to a retrieval line going into the rear beam, or attached to a retrieval line going into the front beam. I have the latter. On my system, the skipper and the crew both can use the chicken line at the same time, and continuously adjust their position while on the wire, by using a lanyard to the harness spreader bar. The lanyard is attached to the chicken line with a prusik knot. The chicken line is intended to be used when racing off shore in big waves.

dewy2437 wrote: Tyler H, how did you not flip after you started to pitch pole. just wondering b/c this summer I pitch poled and was lauched off the boat in a hurry.

JD,
Allow me to answer as I was the skipper. First let me say that for us a pitchpole is not a surprise, and we are prepared for it. Tyler and I constantly communicate while we race. We know the environment that is ripe to pitchpole, and constantly talk about what to do and being prepared, as it will happen fast. We ARE ready for it and anticipate it.

Since I weigh 100 pounds more than Tyler, I go out on the wire first when its stanking, and I have one or both feet in foot straps aft of the rear beam. When the kite is up I work the main and traveler, Tyler works the spin. When the kite it down, I work the traveler, Tyler works the main. When the spin is up, you can drive the boat in concert with waves most of the time, sometime you can't. We drive the boat to anticipate torpedoing a wave with only one hull (not two). The goal is to keep the boat moving fast. If we hit a wave at speed hard enough that causes the transoms to rise and loose rudder authority, then we will steer the boat with the sails. Tyler knows to keep the spin powered up to drive the boat through the wave, the goal is to prevent the boat from heading up. If it heads up, he knows to dump the spin (with a reassuring gentle command from the skipper) and I will react with the main and traveler, watching when he dumps the spin. The boat usually recovers as we are firmly on the wire with enough weight to tame the beast, and have braced to prevent our bodies from pitching forward, and drive it on through. Alot of this comes from experience, and understanding the dynamic forces that occur on the rig. You have to be comfortable, balanced, and coordinated while on the wire, and Tyler does a great job.

The idea on spin-less boats is similar. Most folks get in trouble by presenting too much main sail, not enough boat speed, and allowing the forces on the upper mast to leverage the bows down, starting the tripping process, or pitchpole.

mummp wrote:
JD,
Allow me to answer as I was the skipper. First let me say that for us a pitchpole is not a surprise, and we are prepared for it. Tyler and I constantly communicate while we race. We know the environment that is ripe to pitchpole, and constantly talk about what to do and being prepared, as it will happen fast. We ARE ready for it and anticipate it.

Since I weigh 100 pounds more than Tyler, I go out on the wire first when its stanking, and I have one or both feet in foot straps aft of the rear beam. When the kite is up I work the main and traveler, Tyler works the spin. When the kite it down, I work the traveler, Tyler works the main. When the spin is up, you can drive the boat in concert with waves most of the time, sometime you can't. We drive the boat to anticipate torpedoing a wave with only one hull (not two). The goal is to keep the boat moving fast. If we hit a wave at speed hard enough that causes the transoms to rise and loose rudder authority, then we will steer the boat with the sails. Tyler knows to keep the spin powered up to drive the boat through the wave, the goal is to prevent the boat from heading up. If it heads up, he knows to dump the spin (with a reassuring gentle command from the skipper) and I will react with the main and traveler, watching when he dumps the spin. The boat usually recovers as we are firmly on the wire with enough weight to tame the beast, and have braced to prevent our bodies from pitching forward, and drive it on through. Alot of this comes from experience, and understanding the dynamic forces that occur on the rig. You have to be comfortable, balanced, and coordinated while on the wire, and Tyler does a great job.

The idea on spin-less boats is similar. Most folks get in trouble by presenting too much main sail, not enough boat speed, and allowing the forces on the upper mast to leverage the bows down, starting the tripping process, or pitchpole.

Philip pretty much summed up your question.

Edited by TylerH on Oct 18, 2010 - 03:39 AM.

You have to be comfortable, balanced, and coordinated while on the wire, and Tyler does a great job

I'm out

I'm sure everyone has fallen while on the wire, i know i have...

Thanks, everybody. Not something I need to worry about for a while, then. Well beyond my capabilities and boat. Fun to hear story though!

Ha, we've only pitched one time and we didn't even flip...we saved it.

–verb (used without object), -poled, -pol·ing.
(of a boat) to capsize end over end, as in heavy surf.

You only had a hard stuff. There is no recovery from a pitchpole. A pitchpole by its very definition is a front flip. The only way to recover would be if it ended back up on its side and the wind blew it back over or you did a complete 360.

I would be interested in seeing pics of your chicken line system.

cyberspeed wrote:

You only had a hard stuff. There is no recovery from a pitchpole.

Agree 100%. I'll get some pics when I get the boat out.

I would be interested in seeing pics of . . .

a 360 forward flip on a cat 🙂

I tried it twice...never made it all the way.

the closest i ever came was:

i have done a superman when we "grabbed" a crab trap float with the spin retrieval line under the tramp while doing about 25 knots. we were double trapped off the wings of a mystere 6.0 and went from 25 to 0 in 1 second. It was wild, and even fun (esp since it wasn't my boat)... but i learned to make sure there is no slack in my spin halyard when i go over crab traps

Edited by MN3 on Oct 21, 2010 - 08:13 AM.