Mast Hook advice

I cant really picture what you are talking about. I have worked on a lot of Hobie masts so maybe can help if you post a picture.

winonasail wrote: I have a Hobie 21 that lost it's mast, replacing with a Tornado mast. The hook is mounted on a swivel in the groove line. Have not been able to get the ring seated on this hook arrangement, any info on how it's designed to work; or any advice on replacing with a fixed hook offset (like the std Hobie setup)

I know what we are talking about, the mast halyard hook swivels on a Tornado.
Its a stupid design in a constant chase for speed. The reason they swivel is
this way the top of the mainsail has the same angel to the mast on either tack.
Downside of this system is its very hard to hook and unhook the main and it
destroys the main halyard if not used properly.
3 out of 7 Tornado owners at our little club have replaced it with something
like this:

Now, they are not class-legal anymore. But putting a Tornado stick on a H21
goes beyond that 🙂
So, my advise, get rid of the swiveling halyard hook and rivet a fixed
hook to the mast-top.

André

I agree with above. Hobie still offers the H17 and H18 halyard hooks which work on the same concept as the H21 halyard hook. I would suggest you either buy a H18 hook and modify it to work on the tornado mast, or just get a sheet of flat stainless steel and make your own hook. If you're somewhat handy, it shouldn't be too hard to do, especially if you have a hook you can use as a template.

sm

You might be able to have someone weld your hook rigid.

bacho wrote: You might be able to have someone weld your hook rigid.

That might be difficult, its a stainless steel hook and the pin
on which it swivels is stainless steel too. But it sits really deep
in the mast-top behind the sail-groove ( if thats the correct
description ) So its hard to reach with a welding machine.
To my knowledge its not possible to weld stainless steel
and aluminium together.
If we are talking about a tapered mast, which most T's have.
It is even more cramped in the mast-top.

André

Edited by catmodding on Jan 28, 2015 - 01:14 PM.

Thanks for the advice. I suspected as much. The quick fix is a large cotter pin to reduce the hook rotation. It worked on my first attempt, so hopefully will be a long-term solution. (Although I'll probably find/make a better fitting pin for the hook assembly.