Halyard inside or outside track?

My sail raises smoothly up to a point (about a foot or so short of the top of the mast) and then it just stops, but not necessarily in the same place every time. When I look up, I see that my halyard is half inside and half outside the track for the main sail. It appears that the halyard wedged in the track and preventing me from raising the sail all the way up. So, my question is: is the halyard supposed to move inside the track or outside? What am I doing wrong? I've read other posts and done all those suggestions.

1. I have already cleaned out and lubricated the track with sailkote.
2. I have also tried feeding the sail by hand into the track before hoisting.
3. I have also tried pulling the halyard from forward of the mast.

I'm goofing it up somewhere, but I don't know how. Any guidance would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Is the wire or the line getting stuck?

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'81 H16

If it ain't a blowin', I ain't a goin'

One easy way to check the problem would be to lay the boat over on its side when you get the sail to the point where it hangs up. You can then get a good look at what is causing the problem. Another possible problem - I always hook up the main sheet blocks before raising the sail and have learned to pull out some slack in the sheet. If I don't, the sail won't go all the way up.

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Howard

It's the line getting stuck or wedged in the track, not the wire.

Hadn't thought about turning the boat on its side. Brilliant!

Are you sure its not the wire getting stuck? If its only a foot from the top then thats should be the wire as 90% of the rope should be in your hand. I kept having a problem with the second wire stay getting caught in the track and hanging it up. Once I got the stay out of the the track it was much smoother. Sailkote and hand feeding it from the bottom also helped. I agree, put it on its side one morning before the wind starts blowing and see what is hanging it up.

Thanks, guys. I'll turn her on her side and see what the problem is. Thanks again.

I had the EXACT SAME problem when i got my H16. On the mast head, there is a small metal lip, when you raise the sail the small bead on the halyard gets clipped on that lip and doest allow you to raise. to fix this problem, simply keep the halyard about 4 feet in front of the mast when raising, by doing that the make the metal bead go in front of that lip.

Hope this helps!!!

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'72 Hobie 16
with
#56 Gonzo Nationals