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[quote=jonathan162]I mean, this is all a matter of taste, but in terms of what I see as practicality...

One of the most important pieces of your rig is the hiking straps.  Seriously.  I can't tell you how many times I've encountered obvious newbs trying to get their new/old 16 going, you know, help them sort out bits of rigging, etc., and notice that the hiking strap stitching is rotted *and* that the trapeze isn't set up.  So you patiently try to explain the importance of these things in high-aspect ratio cats, and to show them you mean business you reach over and tug on the hiking strap and it comes away in your hand, and they treat you like some dumb old asshole and go ahead and put in anyway.  Then, later, while you're making good time in decent wind, you see them sitting pretty much still because they haven't worked out the connection between balance and speed, and that balance is a function of how securely you're attached to the boat.  So you figure screw 'em, either they'll learn or they won't.

Anyway, I say hike first and learn how much control you have over it *without* being on the wire, which adds balance issues and that whole getting-in-and-out business.  And besides, flying a hull isn't so much something you learn to do as it is something you learn about having done to you.  For the most part, you're not flying it, you're just trying to keep it from flying too much.  Get a feel for the boat first, then graduate to the higher winds that will *require* the wire.<em>Edited by jonathan162 on Aug 11, 2021 - 09:38 PM.</em> [/quote]

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