Topper hiking tips

If you are too tall to use the centre toe strap use the one on the far side of the cockpit.

If you've grown a bit, yes, tighten the straps. A Topper is very low freeboard, so you need to keep your derriere out of the water and use upper body for leverage. In a breeze where you're hiking but not overpowered, power up the rig as best you can in a Topper. And sit forward in light/moderate. In lighter breezes the straps won't matter, in a moderate breeze, you'll need to be able to sit in and out without disturbing the boat too much, in a breeze, you can just hang off the strap and you'll go like the clappers!