Hobie 16 Newbie Question

I just purchased a 1986 Hobie 16 in pretty good shape for its age. I have been wrestling with it to get it rigged. The problem seems to that in order to get the forestay attached I need to loosen the sidestays which then leaves the mast flopping around. I can go back and tighten the sidestays but that is very difficult. I am unable to tighten the jib so tight as to take the tension of the forestay. My question is: If I leave the sidestays loose then tighten the jib down to the point where the forestay is slack, will that take the slack out of the sidestays? Thanks for your help. Geoffrey

Ok, when fully rigged with the jib tight, you forestay will be slack(quite a bit) there are a few pictures around of Matt Millers rig that show one way to take care of that.

With out the jib up, you will/should have a fair amount of slack in both the forestay and the shrouds(side stays).

Now, there is the question of how much mast rake do you need/want and how to adjust for that and why. Someone else can probably answer these questions better than myself, I like my rig fairly straight up because I do not race.

ENJOY THAT NEW TOY
and feel free to ask questions.

Sam

_________________
Sail Like you Have a Pair
Bluish gray 73 - 83 H16
Super Nice Yellow 84 H18

Yes, The jib halyard system is designed to tension the rig by pulling the mast forward until the shrouds are tight. The jib luff wire takes the entire load and the "forestay" goes totally slack.

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

That's what I thought. I will give it a try this weekend. Thank you. Geoffrey