Try tying the know the other direction. Left over right, or whatever is the opposite of the way its tied now. Plus you can tie it from the top of the ring or the middle. Mess with it until you find a combination that works.

Some main/mast combos are a mofo. The mast on my last boat, the only way I could get it to consistently hook and unhook was I made a tapered main halyard and luggage tag the ring onto the halyard. Seemed to work well enough.