Mast rotation impeded by Aussie jib set up?

Hi. We have a new to us 2020 Hobie 16, and it came with the Aussie jib set up. We’ve been watching joyriderTV on YouTube, and he recommends “sweating” the halyard to get the mast as vertical or forward as possible. The purchase we are able to get with the jib halyard seems to be meant for this. However, when we sweat the jib halyard, the mast rotation gets impeded, i.e. we cannot hand rotate the mast. Is this a problem? Will it rotate under sail anyway? Is it supposed to be able to freely hand rotate without power under sail?

The shrouds do get pretty taunt when we sweat the jib halyard, maybe the shrouds are too tight? But the mast leans to practically 45 degrees when it’s on the beach and only being supported with the forestay, so loosening the shrouds feels worrisome.

Also, after our last sail, the jib halyard had an incredible amount of twist in it. It was all gnarled and bunched and looked terrible. Anyone have an idea about what is causing it to spin up?


Thanks for your help!

First question…..are you using a mast chip in the mast step?

sm

We have a chip in, although it slips to the back half of the step when we try to get it completely under the ball when stepping the mast. Could it just be this?

We sailed this afternoon with the jib halyard pretty tight. A couple of things happened. One, during tacks, the jib battens are getting caught on the main’s halyard cleated to the front of the mast. And two, we had to assist the mast in its rotation to achieve proper sail trim.

Thanks for your input!

The jib battens will catch on the halyard. It's just a fact of life on a 16. That being said, the stronger the wind, the less the jib catches during tacks. Further, a light wind will cause the mast to rotate slower. Until the main sail fills and exerts its power against the mast, the mast won't rotate. With light winds, sometimes you have to give the boom a shove where it connects to the mast to get it to rotate.

Jim Clark-Dawe

Under moderate jib halyard load, the mast should be able to rotate pretty easily by hand. You also shouldn’t need to go crazy tensioning the jib halyard - just get the shrouds snug.

If the mast won’t rotate easily under moderate rig tension, then I suspect your rotation issues are related to the mast chip working its way out of the step. The mast chip should be favored slightly towards the front of the step before you step the mast. That way it will be aligned with the axis of the mast when sailing.

sm

In which hole are you pinned at the shrouds? When you tighten the jib halyard, is the front of the mast base touching the step? It sounds like you may need to be pinned further down on the shrouds. That setting limits how far forward the mast can go. In other words, you may need to tighten the shrouds instead of loosening them. Pics might help you get better advice.

The shackle on your Aussie jib halyard that you attach to the jib head has a swivel, right? The spiraled strands of the line do tend to wind things up as you raise the jib. Make sure the three sections of line are unwound first, then minimize tension on the jib luff as you raise. This should minimize the winding up some. A few spirals are okay, but, if excessive, it could prevent the jib from going up all the way.

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Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16

This is interesting and may just well be my problem. The shrouds are pinned at the highest hole. I’ll take a look at the step when we rig it up next and adjust from there.

Thanks for the tip on not tensioning the luff as I raise it too. I’ll give that a try as well!

Further clarification...a lot of advice out there (including mine) is general in nature, incomplete at best, and needs to be taken in context and with a grain of salt. The Joyrider recommendation on tightening the rig is generally good but only applies after the mast rake is set.

General procedure for setting H16 up for maximum (farthest aft) mast rake (sometimes you really don't want max rake, but it's a place to start): Pin shrouds at lowest hole that still keeps main blocks from going block to block when sheeted hard. (As a reference, this is the second hole up from the bottom for me.) Pin tack of jib at lowest hole that still keeps jib blocks from going block to block when sheeted hard. Pin jib clew for even tension on foot and leach (upper and lower telltales act the same). It's an iterative solution requiring the rig to be tightened/loosened a lot to make adjustments, and changing one setting can affect the others. Where it all ultimately ends up will depend on the particular equipment you have and its condition.

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Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16