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PostPosted: Sun Jun 20, 2004 6:21 am 
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It is very difficult on our boat to raise the main sail and get it to clip in at the top of the mast like it is supposed to. It is very agrivating though. Any tips on how to raise the sail with more ease would be greatly appriciated.


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PostPosted: Sun Jun 20, 2004 8:38 pm 
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I am also a new Tiger sailor. Make sure the main halyard is on the side of mast opposite from side that you place the hook. The stopper knot should be on the same side that you place the hook. If you haven't lubricated the luff rope, get some from your local marina. Once lubricated, I had no difficulties with the sail.

Hooking the sail takes a little patience of trial and error. Turn the mast to the port side of the boat. After a couple tries it should hook.

I am actually having the opposite trouble. I cannot unhook the sail at the end of the day without tipping the boat over and unhooking by getting to the top of the mast.

Good luck. Any suggestions on unhooking would be greatly appreciated.


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PostPosted: Sun Jun 20, 2004 9:34 pm 
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Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2004 9:32 pm
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Location: West Texas
chapinb wrote:
If you haven't lubricated the luff rope, get some from your local marina. Once lubricated, I had no difficulties with the sail.

Your standard silicone lubricant (oil free) available at most hardware stores should be satisfactory for this job. :)

Jim


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 7:34 am 
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Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2003 7:17 am
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Location: Clear Lake, Iowa
Ditto on all of the advice; it matches my experience: position the hook to the port side; make sure the halyard is pulled tight and is in the track before inserting the luff rope in the track; and lubricant is the answer for a tight new sail. I found the first raising very difficult. The literature that comes with the boat is SO POOR that the experience became simply, embrassing. I can't tell you how many times I had to tip the boat over to fix things at the head of the sail.

One other word of advice: when you slip the main halyard through the headplate, do not use the typical figure eight for a stopper knot. It was the natural knot of choice, somewhat implied by the boat's literature. I quickly learned not to use the knot when the sail fell into my lap and the halyard flicked back and forth, high above. After tipping the boat, yet another time to fetch the halyard, I realized a figure eight knot pulls right through the head plate as you apply pressure to hoist the main to the top. For the size of the headplate hole and for the amount of pull applied to set or recover the sail, a figure eight is too small and "asymmetrical" . I now use a round stopper knot. The round stopper is symmetical and large -- I've never had a problem.

Google "Round Stopper Knot". There are many examples on the web to follow.

Good luck: lubricant will ease the wear and tear on your feelings about the Tiger and your equipment. A good knot will fix the rest of the frustrations.


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 1:55 pm 
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Thanks a lot for your advice. We were actually thinking it might be somthing with the knot so we will deffinetly give that a try. We have also had a lot of trouble getting the sail to go down as well. What we have found is that if you pull the mast towards the starboard side that it will click out easier, its never good when the wind is blowing you into the dock and you can't get the main down! I'll let you guys know how that works next time we go out. Thanks again we were almost ready to give up on the boat.


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 Post subject: Oh, Yes...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 2:49 pm 
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Location: Clear Lake, Iowa
Good luck.

I did recall a couple other important points. When hoisting:

Pass the halyard through the head of the sail from the starboard side of the sail to the port side. Tie your round stopper knot on the port side. Next, pull the halyard line tight, sucking the track-portion of the halyard firmly into the track. While keeping the halyard tight, position the hook to the port side of the track, place luff rope in the track. Again, while keeping the halyard tight. At no time allow the halyard in the track, or that holding the head of the sail, to loop around or under the hook. Keep them separate: hook to the port side of the mast and clear of the halyard. If it does loop around the hook it will either fail to capture or you'll need to tip the boat to drop the sail.

I've also noticed that tight battens (tight like I used to think was good on my Hobie 18) seem to be very bad on a Tiger. Tight means the sail goes up and comes down with great difficulty. Tight also means that the battens will not pop across on their own; so don't do it! The best advice I can give is, "Don't over tighten the battens." If you were once a Hobie 18 driver, you'll think that a Tiger's battens are just held in place by the batten ties. How's that for being specific! It would be interesting to hear other's experience with battens.


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 Post subject: And once again...
PostPosted: Mon Jun 21, 2004 2:59 pm 
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Location: Clear Lake, Iowa
Sorry, I forgot to mention...I can't remember which side I rotate the mast. It just happens; in fact easier than my Hobie 18! My sail comes right down, now. I believe I typically rotate to starboard to bring the sail down. I just pull up on the halyard and rotate the mast and it falls. Going up I believe that I rotate to port.

You'll also want to take all the pressure off the sail. So if you are against the dock as you suggest, that would be bad. Get the boat into a position where it will point directly into the wind.

Bruce


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 Post subject: Re: Oh, Yes...
PostPosted: Tue Jun 22, 2004 7:21 am 
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Sailing-a-Ray wrote:
Good luck.

It would be interesting to hear other's experience with battens.


My battens have been tight. The top two battens appear to pinch the mast and hold the sail in place. I will give your suggestion a try this weekend and let you know...Thanks for the great detail.


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 04, 2004 6:47 am 
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Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2004 4:51 am
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Location: Hong Kong
Although I'm very new to sailing, I'd like to make some remarks that have not yet been mentioned so far regarding hoisting the main. I just want to mention all this for completion because an experienced sailor may take it all for granted (please do not laugh at me). So I'd like to share some hints that the guy who sold me out boat teached me:

1: Always use an alumina grip with a cleat for the halyard to hoist the main. You get much more power on the thin halyard. Really good sailing gloves are also a must (I use Harken Black Magic).
2: Rotate the mast that the main is not bended at the luff rope when hoisting or lowering the sail. The mast and the main should be in one direction (important when the wind is blowing from the side).
3: Do not over-use Silicone lubricant - if you get it in your clothes, its hard to remove. (Your wife will love you for that!) Never use any other lubricants than marine silicone because it destroys everything...
4: A figure of eight knot works perfect to attach the halyard to the headplate of our 2003 Tiger. (What diameter is your halyard?) The knot should be on the same side of the mast as the hook. It does not matter which side, but if you always use the same side everytime, its easier to remember which side to turn the mast.
5: I tighten the battens to the maximum to gain a proper sail shape at the top. Otherwise you will loose power. Of course the battens do not flip by them own after a a tack or jibe in light wind. Thats the same on a windsurfer. Just to pull the main very rapidly to you after you finished your manuver to help it pop around. Although the batten tension is tight I never have problems to hoist the main.
6: To unklick the hook after sailing, first remove cunningham and boom completely and then push the main by hand up as far as you can to lower the tension of the luff rope. By this you do not have to bring all the power via the halyard to pull the sail up.

Hope this helps and was not too trivial...

Ralf


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 08, 2004 6:27 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2003 11:53 am
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Location: San Francisco, CA
I also have a new Tiger. I took the following steps and now my sail is both easy to put up and almost literary drops when I release the hook.

Here are the steps I took:

1. I carefully cleaned the mast track using a Teflon marine polish.

I took a 8" piece of 1/4 line and a Terry cloth rag. Folded the line in the rag. Saturated the rag with Teflon polish and fed the line/rag combo into the track on the mast multiple times, working my way up the track to completely clean and polish the the inside of the track. I took a clean rag and did the same line trick to be sure the polish was completely removed. This takes 30-40 minutes of work to assure in the track is really smooth and slick on the inside.

2. I sprayed the inside of the track with MacLube.

Again, this takes a little patience. Work slowly using a small tube on the MacLube to apply the dry lubricant to either side of the inside of the track. Takes some time but you will marvel at the result.

3. Clean the luff of the sail and lightly spray with MacLube.

With this done, I can put up the sail without gloves or any real effort. Definitely no tools or grunting. The mast doesn't need to be rotated to set the hook. Just pull and it pops right into place. A quick pull and rotation of the mast to port ( I set the halyard to starboard ) and the sail will come sliding down if my halyard is clear.

One other item: I use a plastic stopper (found at any marine store) for my halyard. It saves on the wear and tear on the end of the halyard and makes releasing the figure eight knot a breeze.

I took this time because I hate to struggle with the main. Good working equipment is such a joy.

Best of luck,

Phillip


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 11, 2004 1:34 am 
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On my Hobie 18 the sheaves for the halyard are aluminium on stainless steel pins. Because the hole in the top sheave was worn out the sheave actually touched the top of the mast profile which caused a lot of friction. Because aluminium on stainless steel is a bad idea (aluminium is too soft) I would advice replacing the sheave with a nylon or brass sheave for lower friction.


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 11, 2004 11:42 am 
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Posts: 383
Location: Long Beach, CA
I put dry silicone spray on the luff of the sail and have no problem with the sail binding in the track. On a older sail do it a couple of times as you put up the sail. It does work well. I like the idea of the Teflon in the track. I will do that as well. Even though I am having no trouble but it could save some wear on the luff. I use the port tie port side hook to attach. I rotate the back of the mast to starboard and let it go to set the hook over the top of the mast. When I pull it down it is hooked. To release I usually release rotating the back of the mast to starboard unless the wind is making the sail blow that way, then I will rotate against the way the wind if blowing the sail. I use one of the plastic round thingys that come with the boat to keep the eight knot from pulling through the head. My sail goes up without the need of gloves, it is as easy as any boat I have ever owned.

Later,
Dan


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2004 8:27 pm 
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Phillip wrote:
1. I carefully cleaned the mast track using a Teflon marine polish.



Great tip on the teflon polish,it seems to ease all the work of getting the sail down. thanks.


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 22, 2004 7:33 pm 
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Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2004 7:18 pm
Posts: 73
Location: League City, Texas, USA
Also check out the angle of the stainless rod that hooks into the fitting at the top of the mast. A couple of us just bought new Tigers and both had issues with the geometry of this system. After speaking with the factory hotoshot my friend put his plate in a vice and 'adjusted' the angle from 45 degrees to around 30. I extended the hole in the top of the mast toward the front of the boat. Both methods have improved ease of 'hooking' the top of the main.

Both boats are 2005 models.

Chris

PS Wouter posted something about this issue some time ago: http://www.geocities.com/kustzeilen/Hobie_headboard.html. In our case the mismatch of angles was such it just wouldn't engage without modification.

_________________
2008 Hobie Tiger


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