1981 Hobie 18

I Just bought an old well kept Hobie, but the mast is pretty bare, nowhere to tie anything down like the main sail and down haul what should I do ??

There is not supposed to be a cleat for the main halyard. There is a hook at the top of the mast, the main halyard should have a stainless steel ring about 3" in diameter attached to it. You hoist the halyard until the ring engages the hook. Read the FAQ section of this forum for detailed instructions on how to do this.

The stock downhaul system on early 18's was a very basic 3:1 system. The mast should have a pulley mounted on one side and a V-cleat on the other side of the gooseneck fitting. You tie off your downhaul line to the grommet on the mainsail, go down through the pulley on the mast, back up to the grommet, and then down to the cleat. There are more sophisticated aftermarket systems available up to 8:1 purchase. Again, do a search on the forum, it's been discussed a lot here already.

You should also download a copy of the assembly manual. Its available on this site and should answer a lot of your questions.

sm

sm,

I don't have the the hooking system on the mast top, but have seen pics of what I should have so this spring I will attempt to add this to the mast. I have no down haul pully but I did look this up I'll order that and install also. Thanks for your help with this old Hobie.

tw

Downloading and PRINTING the assembly manual was the most helpful tool for me besides this forum. I studied the manual constantly and took it with me every time I rigged the boat.

This 5:1 downhaul should be enough for your needs, unless you want to go nuts racing and have some extra dough on hand then look at the 8:1 downhaul.

Greetings! I would first make sure the boat you bought came with a "correct" H18 mast. This just sounds odd to me your mast would be missing both the hook AND the downhaul fittings/hardware. Does your mast have the tang, diamond wires and spreader arms installed?