Hey guys, took my h17 out for the first time today, had a blast even in light air....



came to have some problems when I went to take the mainsail down... I twist the mast till its almost backwards and the ring wont pop off the hook. The halyard wont budge with I tug on it either.



I think I might try and lay it on its side, even though its surrounded by trees. But are there any suggestions on how to get this thing down?

Where are you located? Perhaps there's someone from a local fleet who can help you.



My guess is that for some reason you are unable to hoist the main that extra inch or two that it takes to get the halyard ring above the mast hook.



You also have to rotate the mast in the correct direction to get it out of the hook. I have a Hobie 20, and in my case, I rotate the mast counter clockwise to get the sail down.



The drill is:



1. Hoist main an extra few inches.

2. Rotate mast counter clockwise.

3. While mast is rotated, pull down on sail, and it should come down, and miss the hook.



If you rotate the wrong way, you could rotate it almost backwards and not get it out.



It may also be that something is fouled up there, and you may have to flip her on her side. An additional suggestion is that you get an aussie style ring, which is a twist shackle welded to the halyard ring.



Good luck! I feel your pain!



Sea ya,



Tim J.

When you get it down, check to see if you have the rotating cam assembly at the top of the mast. If you do, cut it off leaving just the hook to catch the ring. The early design had the cam, but it was just a problem, and fouled easily.



Caleb Tarleton

It is the aussie style, with the shackle welded to the ring. I've consigned myself to the fact that I'll have to flip her on her side. Thank you for the help.

I'm located, right now, in Oxford Maryland, I am perhaps the ONLY catamaran within 25 miles

The best thing to do... is get the aussie halyard with a welded twist shackle on the bottom and a welded hole on the top to tie the halyard through. Don't tie the halyard through the hole though, tie it to one side of the hole with the smallest bowline you can get and tape it tightly so there is no tale sticking out of the bowline. When you go to raise the sail make sure the knot is on the opposite side of the mast as the hook.

I had the line tied through the hole but now that I changed it to the above set up I can raise the sail without even rotating the mast and lock it and drop it with one quick small rotation.

Also, make sure the hook isn't bent at all... this happens sometimes... if it is bend it back or replace it if you have to.

As mentioned above take the cam type thing off if you have that on.

Also, make sure the sail track is clean and lubed... you can pull all you want on the halyard but if the sail won't move t won't get off the hook.

Good luck.

-Todd

Almost forgot to make sure you are pulling the halyard right...

Pull the halyard as straight back as you can and hard, feed the sail up a bit if it helps.

After it is being pulled on rotate the mast with it still tensioned. Once it is rotated all the way take the tension off and drop the sail. If it doesn't work rotating one way try it again rotating it the other way until it does.

Hey,



I talked to my local Hobie 17 expert today, and he informed me that older Hobie 17s have a "keeper" at the top of the hook that snaps over the top when the sail is hooked. Does yours have this? If it does, remove it! You'll be much happier without it.



Fair winds,



Tim J.

It doesn't have a "keeper" per say... its a 91, so its not *That* old.



The bowline knot wasn't tight on the ring, with about two inches of slack, so I'm guessing that was my problem. I'll try to retie the knot and pop it off before I go out again.



Thanks for your help

Get some no stretch line (Spectra, for example) for your halyard. With the stock polyester line you kill yourself stretching the halyard 2 feet before you start having any effect on the halyard ring.

Yes, a new halyard is on the long list of things that I must replace

Every time I have been tempted to give up, I have just stood back and looked at the ring and hook and the problem has been clear. Someone even suggested binoculars. Except for one time when the hook hooked in the shackle rather than the ring; directing crew to "pull/stop" until the hook was in the middle of the ring visually then rotating the mast and pulling down, has worked for me.

Well in this case, binoculars wouldn't have done much good because the knot that was holding the ring had to much loop in it, therefore getting jammed in the top of the mast.



Hopefully when I replace the halyard, I wont have this problem again



Thanks for the help again guys.

if you plan to pony up the dough for a spectra halyard, maybe it's worth your money to have it spliced into something a bit more hand-friendly after it's run the length of the mast. spectra line, especially when wet, can tear your hands apart!



I have a spectra mainsail halyard, and every other time I hoist or drop, I'm sorry I didn't splice in something else. yes, I have in fact been known to shriek like a little girl when the line slips through my hands.



oh, also, spectra doesn't hold a knot worth a damn. you might want to have 6" of something else spliced onto the bitter end so you can have confidence in your connection to the ring.