Hi all,
I normally sail a Hurricane 5.9sx (a development of the International Tornado) in North Wales, UK.
As a winter project I am going to spruce up and modernise a Hobie 17 with new sails (square top main and battened jib), standing and running rigging, better downhaul and never ending loops of line fed to both sides etc. Not to compete with, just for fun :-)
So for my question, has anyone ever successfully fitted a spinnaker to a Hobie with a Comptip mast (any as I believe these were fitted to several different Hobies over the years?) If so, how did you mount the halyard as the Comptip part of the mast is obviously not really up to the job.
Any advice is really appreciated.

Here in the US a H14 mast tang is attached to the comp tip for the H16 spin (with stainless rivets and casings). It's included in the Hobie spin kit (which is actually from Hobie Europe). I don't see the smaller Hobies with spins very often over here, but I've never heard of a failure. Might the square top main add to the potential problem with the comp tip?

My 2008 H16 came with the Hobie spin setup when I bought it in 2012. I promptly removed it and sold it to a guy who was planning to put it on his H17.....I never heard how that worked out.

While these installation instructions don't actually include the H17, they are listed under the Hobie (US) product support page for the H17:

http://static.hobiecat.com/item_attachments/40998010z52.pdf

The spin sheet routing in that diagram is way off, by the way, and there just wasn't a lot of good installation info out there when I was looking. There used to be a better diagram somewhere (Hobie Europe site?). I actually put together a pretty good installation guide with pics for my buyer, but it only addresses the H16. PM me if you'd like a copy.

Hope this helps....good luck!

Thanks Jerome! That's really helpful. I was concerned about the strength and durability of the comptip but (hopefully) it seems as though my concerns are unfounded... This is the Square top I am looking at: http://www.forward-sailing.com/mainsails/hobie-17/mainsail-hobie-17-18.
The square top should if anything ease the pressure on the mast top as the sail will tend to fold away and not power up like pin tops, at least that's what I understand (and it made my Hurricane more easily handled in gusts when I swapped the original for the new sail). Thanks again :-)

I ran a square top and a spin on my 18SX with a comptip without any issues. There was a tang riveted to the comptip. The tang if I recall wrapped around the side of the mast similar to the one the traps and shrouds attach to, just not as big. The tangs are available through most suppliers as they are often fitted to booms on mono slugs.

I've bought a Hobie 14 Tang for my Comptip mast. Will run the H16 spinnaker kit on it as well as my new sails. A full refurb project and new sails, fun winter project. Thanks for your replies and helps :-)

I would have thought an F16 Kite would be better and cheaper than a Hobie 16 kite.