Cat Trax Sliding Fix?

Would using a longer set of lines work? Tie off to the very front of the hulls and to the rudder fixtures at the rear?

My Viper came with cleats mounted vertically to the shroud adjusters to hold the cat trax lines. I have only used these around my yard so far but seem to work well. I have seen other boats use this system as well. Nice not
to have to tie and untie the lines each time and no wedging at the hull which I have experienced on other
boats.

If you will push the boat forward you may tie the lines to the front beams rather than the shrouds. In my case the balance point is between both. And when you move the boat backward you may tie to the shrouds. It sucks when you alternate though, because the wheels typically will only slip once and stay in the unbalanced position even if you change direction again.

What I did for long time was tying to the front beam and having a second thiner line with a hook at the end, at the right length, to clip it around the shroud adjuster. But the second line often got tangled. Still preferable to not having it. At each end of the front beam, close to the inner side of the hull, I have a line around the beam, that goes through an eye strap underneath the beam, to keep it in place rather than using the tramp to stop them laterally. I use that loop for three purposes: to attach the jib tangle preventer, to attach a bridle for a tow line (I do that diferently now), and for the wheel lines.

Today I have longer lines for the wheels and make a sort of triangle: first around the shrould, then through that loop on the beams and ending on the wheel again, on a loop that I set for tying the end. I tied a knot on the line to mark the point of the shrouds, it also prevents that the line slips around the shroud.

In any of the configurations that I've tried, a slip knot is just enough to fix these lines, and it's easy to remove

Would adding a ring to the side stay fitting allow tighter retention of cat trax? Now the rope just gets wedged between stay anchor and hull.

not sure what kinda ring you mean but a big floppy ring could cost you a finger in a capsize if your hand gets near it

Do you have cradles? they are a must have on skeg boats

We used to add clam cleats to our stay adjusters to hold our spin line and they worked GREAT for also holding the beach wheel line

As mentioned above, If you are moving the cat bows first, tie off to the front beam. wedge it into the dolphin striker bar

if you are going to push sterns first, tie off to the rear beam (or maybe still just the sidestay depending on your CE

MN3 wrote: Do you have cradles? they are a must have on skeg boat.

Cradles help a LOT on my Hobie 16 as well (balance point is a foot or so aft of the shrouds).

The Hobie Wave balance point is apparently aft of the shrouds as well. In addition to the normal line tied to the shroud, I've seen those sailors use a second line from the trax aft to the rudder area and back to an in-line jam cleat or such. (I may not be describing it exactly right, but hopefully you'll get the idea.) The second line is marked somehow to get the balance length right every time. With both lines snug the trax can't move in either direction regardless of push/pull.

I don't know how I did it before cradles, so much more enjoyable.

CRADLES then add the T Handle post. Never need lines again!

😉

Do you have cradles? they are a must have on skeg boats

X2
We have 3 skeg boats, N5.7, N5.0, & a Dart 15. The Florida Sailcraft cattrax are used for the Nacras, & it would be a big advantage to have cradles.
I don’t tie the lines to anything, just wrap them a few times around the stay adjuster, then pull the tail end under the standing line, where it’s tight against the hull. Seems to work ok.
The Trax for the Dart have cradles, & no lines are needed, it stays put.

We use cradles. The beach at low tide is steep, so the boat shifts.

Cradles also let the cats sit a little higher on the trax helping drain the hulls