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Tramp Tensioning Tips

The lashed-on nets filling the spaces between trimaran hulls are wonderful things, providing a place to hang out while sailing, dinghy stowage, and a sense of safety when going forward. But the lashings can stretch, making them sag. Here's a tip on re-tensioning them without pain.

© 2006 by Steven K. Roberts
Nomadic Research Labs

A sloppy tramp can be an annoying thing... and one of the first items on my list after acquring Nomadness was to do something about the accumulated line stretch from this un-maintained and almost never-sailed boat. Going forward, they sagged so much that I would effectively be walking on the tensioning braces, and that didn't inspire confidence.

The first one was tightened by hand during the delivery trek from Seattle to Camano. It was difficult work, my crew and I lying at awkward angles across the deck, cramping our hands while working the line under tension from one end to the other. We completed the port side, but neither of us wanted to go through it again...

A week or so later, I found myself docked in Nanaimo, waiting for a weather window to cross the Strait of Georgia. Next to me in the marina was Fast Company, a Corsair 28 trimaran with Wayne and Ann Erickson aboard, and of course the conversation frequently returned to essential tweaks and fixes (after all, Wayne had just sold me the boat). I mumbled something about tensioning the tramp lashings, and commented that the first one had been an awkward and painful project.

He peered at it for a moment, disappeared below, and returned with two pairs of Vise-Grips and his sailing gloves. "Get one of your docklines," he said. "If you want to get something done involving rope, ask a longshoreman!"

Within moments, we had the rhythm down. He stood out on the ama, and would toss me the bitter end of the line. My job was to pass it around one of the segments of tramp lashing and then return it to him, whereupon he would haul on it, taking up slack. I would then use a pair of Vise-Grips to clamp it where it disappeared into a turning eye, then he would retrieve the line and pass it back to me to capture another loop two or three "cycles" along. The second pair of Vise Grips would then lock the new one after he hauled on it, and the first pair released to be ready for the next iteration.

Repeat until done.

The final step was to simply re-tie the tail (and lop off the considerable excess, which on the inboard edge was about 3 feet). Within about 15 minutes, we had done all three sides (the outboard edge is captured on the ama by a boltrope). Alas, I had my hands full or would have taken a photo of all this to illustrate this article... if it's not clear, just play with it for a minute and it will make sense. I suppose one could do it alone with a block and a winch, but that would be a bit tedious; this is one project where two sets of hands make the work fly by.

The technique is simple and perhaps obvious to some, but one of the things I want to do with this website is collect tricks of the trade and other bits of lore that will help other folks avoid wheel-reinvention... or pain.

My boat came with 1/4" Sta-Set yacht braid, which had taken a bit of a stretch. When I get ambitious and re-string this someday, I'll get rid of the "sawtooth" angle that crept in over the years, but it doesn't seem to be causing a problem.

A couple weeks later, I was docked alone in Silva Bay. A family came by, and their little girl squealed, "Oh look! This guy has a trampoline on his boat!" I prairie-dogged my head out of the hatch and grinned at her. "You want to try it?"

"Oooooh, can I?" She looked to Dad for approval, who nodded... so she hopped aboard and gave it a couple of bounces. Naturally, it wasn't very interesting... so she mumbled something in a dejected tone and with a theatrical sigh returned to the dock, shoulders slumped, not looking back.

Maybe I should add springs.

Cheers,
Steve