I have seen problems raising sails on prebent masts, The worst lines are the ones with hard outer braids. However, most of the time when the sail locks up the problem is something on the leading edge of the bolt rope. Either a hard point or it's worn out and allows the halyard to get caught between the bolt rope and the mast.

I settled on Yale Lite or Sampson ultralite in 4 or 5mm as the best compromise for cost/performance/life for halyards. The slippery polypro outer cover really helps raising the sail.