New owner questions

I recently purchased a 16, and ive begun to sail it up in the Finger Lakes of upstate New York. The ice just melted off the lakes, so Ive taken the boat out once or twice, and ive noticed a couple of problems that ive been having with rigging the boat.

First, ive noticed that while raising the main, I am unable to get it completley up. It typically stops about a foot from the top of the mast, before the bead can seat in the hook. Ive tried pulling at an angle from inside the bridle, outside the bridle, on the side of the boat, but it just wont seem to go all the way up. In fact, it pretty much stops moving up once it reaches this point, no matter how hard I haul on it. Am I doing something wrong? Is there something I can do to fix this if its a problem with the mast or halyard?

Secondly, the mainsheet system seems to be unique compared to anything ive seen posted on the forums before. The boat has a triple block hanging off the boom, with a triple block attached to a ratcheting single block with cleat connected to the traveller. The problem is that when the rig is set up, the cleat faces off the stern of the boat, making sheeting very difficult. Also interesting is that the sheet is tied off to a hanger on the boom, producing an interesting arrangement. I managed to draw a horrible picture on MSPaint showing the setup, but i cant seem to post it. Any help on how to properly rig this system so that the blocks make sense would be much appreciated. Also, if someone can tell me how to post the picture, I think it would probably help to illustrate the situation.

when the sail reaches that stopping point, stop pulling with the halyard, stand in front of the mast and feed the sail into the mast from the bottom with both hands, you will get it up a few inches then pull the halyard to take the slack out. Also get a can of Mc Lube and spray the bolt rope on the sail this will help grease everything up.

e-mail me a picture of the blocks and I will see what I can figure out.
you can upload the picture to on online server, photobuck, imageshack, ect. and they post it on the site.

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Brad Stephens
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There is a detailed description of sail hoisting in the FAQ of the sailing forums... top topic.

http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=371

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

McLube or any dry silicon spray should take care of the main hanging up. Check all the batten pockets with the battens in to see if they've pushed through the pocket. If they have clean up the ends and glue on a new cap on the end.

Post a picture on your main sheet set up. It should be pretty easy to fix.

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if you can't find mclube or don't feel like plunking down 20 bucks for a can, just go to your grocery store and get a box of gulf wax for a dollar. rub it on the luff of the sail as you feed it into the track and the sail will go up and down like a dream. i speak from experience. if you use silicon spray, make sure you get mclube or a food grade silicon. the other stuff has some (censored) in it that, though i can't remember what it is or what it does, is bad.

Also, release the outhaul on the boom. I've found that to make a difference on some boats.

Are you rigging the Main Sail first?
If you tension the jib first, you will truly battle to raise the main.
Its bad enough with batten tension making the main sail curved, and tensioning the jib makes it worse. i.e. raising a curved sail into a straight mast, got it?

In addition to earlier postings, we take the working end of a paddle, and use it to push up on a batten cap. In other words, while you pull the main halyard, your crew/assistant/friendly beach bum feeds the main into the slot, holds the boom up to take the weight off the halyard, and then pushes up with the paddle. Most crew learn to work with five or six sets of hands.

Happy sailing

_________________
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'd stick wiith the dry silicon spray. Wax will build up over time and leave a black stripe on the sail.

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On my 16 it's impossible to raise the main with the outhaul still tight. I seem to forget that at the beginning of every season. Once released it's smooth as silk.

ok, i took some pictures of the mainsheet system, let me know what you all think

thanks for all the advice with raising the main; ill definatley try some of it out next time i get out on the water.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t32/ ... C01105.jpg
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t32/ ... C01104.jpg
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t32/ ... C01103.jpg
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t32/ ... C01102.jpg[/img]

That does not look too bad, I would try and swap the block on the hanger with the tied off end. That should allow the bottom block setup to spin 180 and face forward.

Sam

totally if that bottom triple could be swapped with the upper it would work better, I've been killing myself trying to figure out how this could work better. There is a Becket in the middle of the bottom block, you would use this as a tie off point instead of the extra block hanger.

_________________
Brad Stephens
[email protected]
(866) 786-5266 <--- Advice HOTline
http://www.sunjammers.com
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i noticed that the mainsheet is also probably too thick for the blocks, its a 1/2 " line while the blocks are 2 1/4", I think I read somewhere on this forum that 3/8" or 7/16" line would be a better choice.. so if I change it out, how much line should I get, and what is the better choice of width?

I'd go with 7/16 or 5/16, 44' is what you need for a 6:1, maybe add 10 feet for this setup.

_________________
Brad Stephens
[email protected]
(866) 786-5266 <--- Advice HOTline
http://www.sunjammers.com
www.facebook.com/sunjammers

I want to note that I put my jib up before the main everytime I go out... I leave my cat on a cat-ramp/dock at the lake.. I put the jib up before I put the boat in the water, then I raise the main once it's in the water tied to the dock. The last 6-10 inches is always a little bit of a struggle just because you run out of rope and are pulling on bare wire. I found the best way to do it... is as brad posted, by pushing some sail into the mast from the bottom, then give the halyard a good pull, by wrapping it around your gloves a couple times. Then it goes up and locks without too much trouble. That is basically the only reason I wear gloves on my cat.

I also don't have the boom hooked in at all at that point... it's hanging there until after the main is up all the way.