Aussie Jib?

I have a 1978 Hobie 16 that is original(no upgrades). I have puchased harkin 6:1 blocks,bzzzz line, 6:1 downhaul,new jib cars and a few other goodies... I would loke to get the aussie jib halyard, do i need to change my forestay and shrouds to make thiis work. I have checked past threads but could not find this info. Also what about the mast base? with the increased rake will it be ok or should that also be changed?
Glenn

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1978 Hobie 16 31743

I didn't when I put one on my boat. Just attatched it to the Tang (love that word) and off I went. I did add a couple of eye straps on the way down the mast to keep the line away from the jib battens.

When was the Aussie set up introduced?

Thanks

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1994 HC16

You don't need to change your shrouds, but if they are the older (longer) ones it's time for a change for safety, and change the anchor pins while you're at it. The Aussie kit (from a Hobie Dealer) if I'm not mistaken, will have the new forestay in it. Your mast base will be fine.

j

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A LONG time ago... Not really sure when... maybe in the mid to late 80's?

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

I bought my first Aussie halyard in 1983.

Wasn't standard on the boats until late 90's / early 00's.

Interesting. So far I thought that mine hasn´t got the aussie halyard, but when looking to the parts list I seemed that on my hobie it looks somehow similar to the aussie system.
I don´t think that the previous owner upgraded something, so it should be as delivered.
Does the pigtail version also has th 4:1 reduction?

I guess I have to have a closer look to it.
Since some of you seem to know everything about the hobies you probably can tell me if the hobies used at the first ISAF worlds (which at that time was still called IYRU) in 1994 in la Rochelle were outfitted with the aussie halyard, because mine is one of those boats?

nice evening

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1994 HC16

The boats provided for an event like the IYRU Worlds in 1994, would almost certainly have upgraded (for the time) systems.

Timelines quoted in this forum tend to be when Hobie Cat US did something, not necessarily when Hobie Cat Europe did something. They've been separate companies since the late 80s.

I have been patiently waiting for a reply to my question. If my shrouds are original, would i need to replace them because they will be too long? I understand that i should replace because of possible age, just wondering. Thank you gentleman.

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1978 Hobie 16 31743

You certainly DO NOT need to change your shrouds as a result of switching to the Aussie halyard system. The Aussie halyard system simply provides an alternate means of hoisting the jib (namely the 3:1 purchase is achieved up at the hounds rather than down at the mast base).

You MAY need to change your shrouds if you want to run your rig with maximum mast rake (but if you're still running 1978 sails, you probably can't rake back as far as modern boats anyway).

sm

Glenn,

If you've purchased the 6:1, low profile blocks you may as well replace your shrouds and take advantage of abililty for increased rake. Which brings us back to your original post IIRC, sometime after 1978, (1981?) the mast base changed and may also have been moved farther aft on the crossbar to facilitate increased rake.

You can acheive the same effect as the aussie jib halyard with your setup by looping the halyard through the (horn) cleat on the starboard side, up through the block, and cleating on the port side (jib) cleat. This keeps the tension on the centerline of the mast and prevents the mast from bending sideways when lots of rig tension is applied (and only using the block supplied on the side of the mast). The only drawback is having the (wire) halyard at the front of the mast, interfering with the jib battens. Most folks cut them off flush anyway, and regardless (of whether you do this or have an aussie jib halyard setup), in light air the jib will need "help" to cross the mast.

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