Hobie 17 trampoline installation issue

I am trying to reattach a Hobie 17 trampoline that has been left out in the elements for three years.
The trampoline is a 2-piece trampoline and already on the front crossbar.
I put the hulls back together on the crossbars and they are flush to the fittings, but when I try to install the
trampoline it does not reach from side to side. I feed the bolt rope on one side of the trampoline a couple of
inches into the groove on one hull, and then attempt to get the other bolt rope into the opposite groove.
No matter how hard I pull I can't get it far enough to feed it into the second groove. I tried wetting the grommeted-end
of the trampoline with a water/alcohol solution hoping that it would soften up the fabric and allow me to stretch it
enough to get it to fit. I looped a length of rope through one of the grommets and pulled on that with all my might
and it did not budge. Even attaching a ratchet strap and trying to stretch it with that did nothing. Any ideas on how to proceed?
My only idea at this point is to take the trampoline off of the boat and have an upholstery shop turn the 2-piece trampoline
into a 3-piece trampoline and then lacing it up that way. Any help appreciated, thanks!

Is this the original triangle-shaped trampoline?

https://media.hobie.com/digital_assets/H17Manual.pdf#page=7

The lace line should be removed for installation.

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

Hi mmiler, thanks for that manual. It must not be the original trampoline, as it doesn't look like either of the trampolines
in that manual. Here's what I have:

The only other piece is the strip of grommets that slides into the rear crossbar and then gets laced up.
I couldn't find any markings on the trampoline indicating branding or model. Sort of related: When I removed
the crossbars to remove the trampoline there was water sitting in the castings. Is this normal? Will it damage
the boat over time? How do people get it out, by blowing air down in there?

Rather than have a shop add grommets down the middle, maybe they could just lift the bolt rope / white tape from one side and then stitch down a wider strip of tape with a new bolt rope to give the tramp some more width. That would probably be a lot less work than cutting the tramp and adding reinforcements/grommets down the middle.

As far as water in the end castings, it is normal for water to collect there. As long as the castings are tight and sealed, it shouldn’t leak into the boat. While you have the boat apart, the area to check is under the crossbar where the main bolts pass through. If you sail in salt water, you will get corrosion there. If the corrosion isn’t too bad, you can remove the inside plates and put corrosion inhibitor (Tefgel) on the stainless parts. If there is a lot of corrosion, you can add large reinforcing plates inside the crossbar, but it is a pretty involved project.

sm