Main halyard issue

Hi,

I have a 79 hobie keoke. I am having trouble raising the main all the way. There are two copper slugs on the halyard and the first one seems to be hanging me up. I think that they might be there for a reason (to make me want to shoot myself) but I can't figure it out. Whenever I raise my sail I have to put a reef in it. It goes up to the point of the reef, so I dunno. When there is no load on the halyard it seems to go through the masthead just fine; but when I am raising the sail it gets stuck.

Any help is appreciated

Jake

Likely one is in and the other is out of the track. Both should be outside the luff track. Once you get it fully hoisted, keep as bit of tension on the halyard as you begin to lower the sail. This keeps them outside the luff track.

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

When I got mine, I could not feed the brass stopper through the sheave because when the previous owner installed the mast bob, he put two bolts through the mast head, slightly above the sheave. The bolts were stopping the stopper from going through.

We could not figure it out until we dropped the mast to check. I keep the mast up all the time except for winter storage.

It might help to attach a small rope to the halyard shackle, and hoist the halyard by itself with no sail so you can see if it's fetching up anywhere. You can use the rope to bring it back down.

_________________
Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84

Well the slugs that you are talking about do have a purpose. The one that is closest to the sail should be locked under the "fork" that is at the top of the mast to lock the main in place. The main should not be tied to the cleat at the base of the mast because good wind can break that right off, then its upwind with out a sail for you.
There are a few reasons why the main sail may not rise as easily as you want it too. I found the number one reason being that it isn't easy. The easiest way I found is to raise the jib first then raise the main and make sure that your boat is always pointed into the wind when setting it up. Again that is just my idea. Also don't be afraid to stand infront of the hulls when you are doing this so that the slug doesn't get hung up on that fork. Once the sail is up all the way get closer to the mast and pull down and bring the halyard into the knotch on the fork then let it go slowly to lock in place then cleat the halyard tauntly. Place the rest of the slack in a pouch or tie it out the way.
Look for mast tang in the FAQ it might get you some pictures and look at the top of your mast next time and look for the "fork" or tang. If I am way off I apologize for tricking you into reading my babble.
Happy sailing...

_________________
Corey
82 H16 project complete

It all seems to make sense... The only thing I haven't done is stand in front of the mast while raising the sail. When I started, both slugs were out of the track, then the one furthest from the sail was inside the track. I guess it went inside at the mast head.

I will have to set it up and give some of those ideas a shot on land.

I thought it might be hanging up on the "fork thing" so I tried whipping it out, but t no avail. It makes me think that there is a problem in the masthead....

Thanks all, any other wisdom is appreciated.

Jake