Hobie 16 luff track not measuring up!

First post and first catamaran so hoping some of you can help me out!

I'm restoring a 16 but thinking the mast may be from another model? I pulled the comp tip this weekend because it has a lot of play. The plastic luff track on comp tip has several broken pieces. West coast sailing has one for the 16 listed at 95" long. I measured mine and it only measures at 87.5". Thinking I may have a different mast?

There is a tag on the mast that is barely legible but has the numbers 45717. Is this an identifier for the mast? if so where can I find info on that?

thanks!

Yours is "more than likely" a Hobie 16 mast.
For the first few years the comp-tip section was the shorter length as you described.
You'll need to shorten the luff track to fit your tip.

_________________
1984 H16 "Mister Rogers"
1984 H14 "Sundays"
2000 H20 "Jet"
Sheet In, Max Out

Thank you! If it is the shorter mast I’m assuming the standard 16 sails would fit it?

As mentioned above, it is probably one of the early comptips (around 1985). You can confirm it by looking at where the comptip meets the aluminum lower mast. On the early version, the comptip terminated about half a foot above the mast tang and had two large screws (one on each side of the mast) that held the tip in place. With the later comptips, they terminate right above the mast tang and are held in place using the mast tang rivets.

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Thanks. That confirms it then because that's what I have, two screws on each side. Assuming during this time of shorter comp tip, the main portion of mast is a little longer to make up the length? Still just trying to confirm my sails will work. And I imagine they will work either way, but want to know for sure since already bought them. (If sails didn't work with shorter mast, then I would be looking for another mast instead of buying luff track if that makes sense).

Thanks for the help guys. As mentioned earlier this is first catamaran and just want to be sure!

Correct, on the original comptips, the aluminum section was a little longer and the comptip was a little shorter, so the overall length of the mast was the same.

sm