Hobie 17 Halyard Hook Failure

Hi everyone,

I had the halyard hook on my Hobie 17 fail. The mast has a composite comp tip where the halyard hook is mounted using rivets. It had been dropped by the previous owner, creating a small crack in the hook that propagated over time. I purchased a new halyard hook assembly (50403011). I am unsure how to approach the removal of the rivets and the best practices to ensure a long lasting repair. I intend to drill the rivets out. Is there any where I can find more information about this type of rivet? Will I be able to reuse the same rivet holes in the mast?

Late reply, but maybe still helpful…

The rivets for the hook pass through the composite mast tip and into the aluminum insert of the mast head/sheave.

Replacing the hook is simply a matter of drilling out the rivets, taking off the old hook, and riveting a new one on.

To drill out, use an oversized drill bit, about 3/8” diameter, to remove ONLY the head of each rivet. If the rivet starts to spin, you can also use an angle grinder to grind the head off. Note that you don’t need to be especially careful about avoiding damage to the hook since it’s being replaced anyway.

Once the heads are off, you can use a 3/16” diameter straight punch to drive the shanks into the mast. Then install the new hook with rivets. You may also want to use rivet caps during the installation to help seal the mast. Either way, be sure to seal everything with silicone caulk.

A note that you shouldn’t need to remove the mast head for this repair, but if you do decide to remove it for some reason, be very careful not to damage the mast when doing so. The mast head may be tight and/or glued in. When tapping it out, there is risk of cracking the mast, so use caution.

sm

According to the Hobie Catalog (H17 Rvet Guide on P. 56), the Halyard Hook rivets are Part No. 8011231...stainless or monel, no doubt. They are apparently 3/16" x 1/2".

https://media.hobie.com/digital_assets/Online_-_International_Hobie_Sail_March_2020.pdf
https://westcoastsailing.net/rivet-pop-3-16x1-2-ph/?srsltid=AfmBOootm9_eSKifHtNSIpHWrYtTXfFenbWMVtbqO5T2FyKCnV93kgwh

If the rivet holes weren't damaged during the drop and you follow srm's sage advice above, it should be no problem using the existing holes.

_________________
Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16