Halyard Hook and Ring

[DanBerger]

Are instructions available for installing the hook and ring main halyard system? My wire is toast and I like the hook system that I have seen on Prindles and some Hobies. Where do you get the kit??

[Matt Haberman]

Dan,
Give Aquarius Sail a call at 651-462-SAIL (7245). We have a halyard hook kit for your SC19 that includes the hook, shackle and halyard line along with drawings for installing the hook.

[DanBerger]

Matt,

I don't know if I spoke to you or Tom the other night, but the directions I got were to install the hook 1 inch below the head and to line up the center of the hook with the halyard as it comes out of the pulley in the head.

Now, that hook is a serious piece of steel! It came with 5 nuts/bolts, but the two that are closest to the hook would have to be installed in the sail track. I know that will not effect the sail at all, but I don't see how I can get the nut in the track! I was going to use stainless rivets, instead.

Is this a bad idea, or should I figure out how to get the nuts inside the track??

Thanks,

Dan

[Bill Roberts]

Hi Dan,
You can get any part you need for a SC or ARC boat "from the factory".
The halyard lock at the top of the mast is not all that big of a deal. On boats where the mast is structurally marginal, the extra compression coming down the mast due to halyard tension can be eliminated with a halyard lock at the top of the mast. This is not the case with your mast. Your boat has a large mast section on it that doesn't let the boat turn turtle in case of a turnover. There is no structural reason to go to the top of the mast halyard lock on your boat.
Replace the present halyard with a new wire is the easiest solution. With the present halyard lock arrangement you have on your mast, you can let your sail down, release the halyard, no matter which way the boat is headed relative to the wind. With the halyard lock at the top of the mast, the boat must be headed into the wind or very nearly into the wind to unlock the halyard lock. Sometimes this is hard to do. Also the mast has to be overrotated to get the halyard lock at the top of the mast to release. To keep your boat simple, I would replace the present halyard wire and halyard tail and pull out/unlock line.
Bill

[Matt Haberman]

Matt,

I don't know if I spoke to you or Tom the other night, but the directions I got were to install the hook 1 inch below the head and to line up the center of the hook with the halyard as it comes out of the pulley in the head.

Now, that hook is a serious piece of steel! It came with 5 nuts/bolts, but the two that are closest to the hook would have to be installed in the sail track. I know that will not effect the sail at all, but I don't see how I can get the nut in the track! I was going to use stainless rivets, instead.

Is this a bad idea, or should I figure out how to get the nuts inside the track??

Thanks,

Dan

Hi Dan,
Glad to hear that you received your parts, I think you probably spoke with Tom regarding the halyard hook replacement. You are correct in your conclusion that the two aft screws will end up in the sail track. There are two ways to approach this, but I would not use pop rivits. Pop rivits tend to work loose and elongate the holes over time and will need to be replaced.
When rigging the mast we normally put two nuts inside the sail track. We hot-glue the nut to the end of a screw driver and use that to hold it inside the sail track. Once the nut is started and it breaks free from the hot-glue we wedge the screw driver against the side of the nut and tighten the screw.
Your other option is to just drill and tap those two holes in the sail track. If you do this, I would recoment that you cut the screws off short so they just pass through the side of the mast and do not rub against the halyard.
Let us know if you have any more questions.
-Matt