Headboard grommet position check

I have a customer who is having difficulty locking his new Hobie 18 Main sail halyard ring. He is experienced and seems to understand all the tricks. I am also confirming with our loft as to the current specification, but what do you guys think? His new grommet is larger and the center is 1/4" further aft than his old sails. Seems we may have made a change and that seems like a good thing to hold the head in place. He just can't seem to hook the ring.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

will check my dimensions and post the results, hopefully by tomorrow.

later

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2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

I have experienced the same thing. I use an Aussie style halyard ring now and it works well. It is easier to lock in my old sails.

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Tom
Fleet 259, Central Coast CA
H18 ('81)
H18 ('85)
H20 ('97)
H18 ('78)

Our loft confirms the dimension is correct at 1 3/4"

Seems better technique is his answer.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

I have a new Hobie main sail with a manufacture date of April 2013 and haven't had any more difficulty hooking it than older sails while using the same halyard/ring setup.

Pictures sent to Matt...

_________________
2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

My clever wife reminded me that we used to have a terrible time hooking up the original 1989 Mylar SX18 sails....
and they were very old sails, well used, and had been repaired more than once,
which was one of the reasons we upgraded to new sails.
New sails go up and hook up like a dream.

_________________
2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

Just to revive an old post.

Apparently the same headboard is being sold. I went to replace my 85 mainsail headboard and then realized that not only are the rivet holes in the wrong position but the main shackle hole is a good deal farther back from the luff track. Probably far enough that the ring would be held off the hook. I now see why some people have to put their boat on it’s side to hook the main but have no problem releasing the hook.

The old gromets are 1/8, the new plate 3/16. I could drill the sail out but the alternate locations would Swiss cheese it up pretty good and some holes would overlap the old ones half way. Would be ghetto

So I’m back cutting my own out of aluminum plate stock like I should of to begin with. I knew something would be off.