G'day Rum if you posted pics it would be easier. When you shackle your ring to the sail it needs to have the halyard between the ring and the mast as it goes up. That way the halyard pulls it away from the mast when you pull it then you twist the mast to move the the locking hook away. If you have it the wrong way the halyard will just pull the locking ring on tighter. All masts I've seen have the halyard pulley on the bottom of the mast somewhere so that the mast can rotate etc. I really like the setup where the halyard exits at a block right at the base of the sailtrack and a bit of the sailtrack is ground off there so it doesnt chafe on the block. Have you had someone pull the halyard while the boats on its side so you can see whats not happening correctly?
regards