Here's my theory, I would have thought that by sheeting out hard at speed you'll straighten the mast and by transferring the power up the sail if anything will just increase your chances of a catapult.
If your overpowered and feel like your loosing control it can be safer to over sheet in. You usually only get a split second to react, only enough time to realize your being catapulted.

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Gonewindsurfing247 said..
Have you tried longer harness lines?

Or no harness lines.

Solved.

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Bayblaster said..
Here's my theory, I would have thought that by sheeting out hard at speed you'll straighten the mast and by transferring the power up the sail if anything will just increase your chances of a catapult.
If your overpowered and feel like your loosing control it can be safer to over sheet in. You usually only get a split second to react, only enough time to realize your being catapulted.

In my experience in order to recover from a potential catapult situation you have to do 2 things:
- Sheet out
- Pull the mast across the board to windward

You have very little time to do this and requires quick reflexes. I find prevention is the better cure. this includes:
- Always pointing your front foot forward when out of the foot straps
- Sitting in your harness ie with knees bent when out of the foot straps
This way the sail has to overcome your body weight to catapult, instead of just pivoting around the side of your front foot.

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t2wheeler said..

baywavebill said..
I have been thinking about modifying my harness line so that it releases or breaks on a big crash rather than breaking me. Only sailing on seabreezes will also have to be my new mantra. Obviously i may have issues with it releasing whilst sailing but better than having to give up the sport. Any suggestions on how i could modify the harness lines?

Here you go - remember to send me my share of the spoils when you patent it.

Very clever??
Scissors mixed in with catapult crash??? Hmmm!

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baywavebill said..

t2wheeler said..

baywavebill said..
I have been thinking about modifying my harness line so that it releases or breaks on a big crash rather than breaking me. Only sailing on seabreezes will also have to be my new mantra. Obviously i may have issues with it releasing whilst sailing but better than having to give up the sport. Any suggestions on how i could modify the harness lines?

Here you go - remember to send me my share of the spoils when you patent it.

Very clever??
Scissors mixed in with catapult crash??? Hmmm!

I considered explosives but scissors are more readily available. You'll just have to watch how you hold the boom - wouldn't want to lose any fingers.

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t2wheeler said..

baywavebill said..

t2wheeler said..

baywavebill said..
I have been thinking about modifying my harness line so that it releases or breaks on a big crash rather than breaking me. Only sailing on seabreezes will also have to be my new mantra. Obviously i may have issues with it releasing whilst sailing but better than having to give up the sport. Any suggestions on how i could modify the harness lines?

Here you go - remember to send me my share of the spoils when you patent it.

Very clever??
Scissors mixed in with catapult crash??? Hmmm!

I considered explosives but scissors are more readily available. You'll just have to watch how you hold the boom - wouldn't want to lose any fingers.

Mabee somehow modify an auto airbag

As suggested, the long line theory has to be the way to go. And maybe a large enough volume board ( but also not too large) with a flatish rocker line that doesn't feel "boggy" when accelerating.

the best part about catapulting is.........

you come up take a breath ,,,unhook ,,,
nothing hurt s,so nothing broken
the board is not dinged and you haven't broken the nose off .
boom is still straight ...phew...
worst...
you check to see if no one saw you ..dam ..its always ya best mate that sees it .LOL sucker.

i hit a rock and catapulted in front of 6 hot chicks in a outrigger the other day .
i was so embarrassed ..
they stopped to see if i was ok ...
they had nice arms.
as i was going over i thought of this thread ..

I always use a boom bra ...and always be ready to ditch it ..
it will happen to the best of us ,if it happens every sailing session you need to
look at some of the suggestions ..some great once here .
I offen thought of a full face motorbike helmet ,when i was learning to windsurf ,
because i catapulted a lot .its the worse move in windsurfing .

I guess how to avoid a catapult depends on whats going wrong in the first place, you might be overpowered and getting too much lift, maybe about to trip the leeward rail? Or maybe you hit a massive gust of wind and you somehow transferred your weight to the front foot and you get flung out of the straps and into the air but your still attached to the harness line and your about to crash!

Keep you hands well forwards of your harness line attachement points so you cannot sheet in fully, but can easily sheet out by letting loose the back hand.
Never grip behind your harness line attachment points, so you never really oversheet your sail.
And coming out of jibes, don't pull the sail in, instead slowly feather and PUMP the sail while sheeting in to get going.

More Downhaul

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t2wheeler said..

baywavebill said..

t2wheeler said..

baywavebill said..
I have been thinking about modifying my harness line so that it releases or breaks on a big crash rather than breaking me. Only sailing on seabreezes will also have to be my new mantra. Obviously i may have issues with it releasing whilst sailing but better than having to give up the sport. Any suggestions on how i could modify the harness lines?

Here you go - remember to send me my share of the spoils when you patent it.

Very clever??
Scissors mixed in with catapult crash??? Hmmm!

I considered explosives but scissors are more readily available. You'll just have to watch how you hold the boom - wouldn't want to lose any fingers.

That's obviously ridiculous. You'll need left handed scissors on the port side. Where are you going to get those?

A much better solution (that doesn't involve a trained beaver) works along the lines of a dead man's handle.
IOW have your harness line attached to the booms by a tape that you wind around the boom a few times and keep hold of. When you let it go there's just a rubber band holding it on so after you gybe it's still there, but if you let go with your weight in it ... kersplash.

It makes so much sense you know you want to try it.

Im with John340. If you are quick enough, sheet out rake the mast to windward then quickly sheet in. Can usually save a catapult from occurring.
But if you havnt caught it. Haha! Then i think oversheeting n rolling with it usually ends up in a clean, damage free exit. But having BIG clean catapult stacks is half the fun.. RIGHT??? They make AWESOME FOOTAGE to watch on the windless days.

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LeeD said..
Keep you hands well forwards of your harness line attachement points so you cannot sheet in fully, but can easily sheet out by letting loose the back hand.
Never grip behind your harness line attachment points, so you never really oversheet your sail.
And coming out of jibes, don't pull the sail in, instead slowly feather and PUMP the sail while sheeting in to get going.

Not sailing sheeted in can actually lead to catapults in gusts. In a gust, the apparent wind angle changes to be closer to the true wind. That has the same effect as sheeting in - substantially more pressure in the sail, and a good chance for a catapult.

There's a detailed analysis with diagrams at boardsurfr.blogspot.com/2011/01/sheet-in.html