The garage hoist is a nice idea, or any come-along or tightening uses.
I use mine for light air, keeping the boom out, connected from boom vang to leeward stay/shroud. Just remember to disconnect before sheeting in or jibing/gybing; I have a broken boom (repaired) to remind me...usually.
Another place I use it is in choppy waters and light air to keep the mast from rotating back and forth, slamming on the stops. I have a small loop of halyard-size line (or a shackle) in the mast-raising hole and connect from there to the leward outboard notch where the tramp enters the front crossbar. Mine had a hook'ish end that slipped into the notch, but a loop of rope on the side rail where it meets the front crossbar should work with these snap shackles. Again, remember to loosen/disconnect before jibing.
These are generally more straight-line cruising applications, as when racing it's a bit busier and changing course more.
One final application you'll probably never use, but it was employed on the Quest de Baja:
The Hobie 18 went out through some big surf at Isla Santa Margarita (about 3/4 of the way down Baja), and the shroud anchor under the lip of the deck started lifting the deck apart from the hull. We used the two H-16 boom vangs to shift the load to the two trap lines, anchoring them further forward and aft of the shroud anchor, until we were able to make repairs further down the Baja coast.
Remember, the Hobie Class Association strongly discourages long distance sailing as described in this story.
If you're interested:
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