Forestay tension?

then you just remember which hole to put the forestay pin into.

The best way I can describe the H18 rig tension is "snug" to slightly loose. You don't want the shrouds flopping around, but you also don't need the rig to be heavily tensioned.

You are correct, the forestay will automatically tighten when you tension the mainsheet and the shroud tension has virtually no effect on the forestay tension while sailing. The reason you don't want to over-tension the shrouds is because too much tension will inhibit mast rotation.

Before you lower your mast, you should loosen one side of the shrouds. This will make inserting the mast step pin easier as well as make removing the forestay pin easier. It will also make inserting the forestay clevis pin a lot easier when stepping the mast the next time. Note that you don't adjust the rig tension through the forestay, you adjust rig tension through the shrouds. When you raise the mast, the shrouds will initially be loose.

There are two ways to tension/loosen the rig on the 18 once the mast is up. The first is to simply have one person hang on the trapeze wires while the other person adjusts the position of the shroud adjuster. If you have two people, this is the easiest way to do it.

The second method involves using the boom and mainsheet blocks and can be done singlehanded. Connect your boom to the gooseneck, hook up your mainsheet blocks/traveler, and then connect your main halyard to the back of the boom and hoist the boom so there is about 3 feet of separation between the blocks. Tie off the halyard securely at the base of the mast. Swing the boom/traveler all the way over to the side of the boat you want to adjust. Crank down on the main sheet until the shroud goes slack. Adjust the shroud and then release the sheet.

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Tips on how to rig/de-rig...
When I take my mast down to trailer the boat, I rarely unattach the rigging from the mast or the boat (only at the end of the year). I leave the shrouds and trap wires attached and coil the wires on the tramp, I then jam the trap handles (dogbones/handles) into the dagger board case. To keep the wires on the boat put them under a foot strap, and lash them to it with a bungee.

Before you drop the mast un-tension one of the side stays to the top hole of the chain plate and leave it untill the next time you set up the boat. Leave the other side, as it gives you a referance for what hole the pin needs to go in when you raise the mast the next time.

When you raise the mast attach the forstay in any hole, it wont matter, you will tension it accordingly in the next few steps.

Re-tension the side stay so it is the identical to the other side.

Take one of your 4 trap wires and head to the front of the boat put all your weight on the trap handle, you can use a trap harness if you need to. move the forstay as far as you can into the furler and repin in the top hole of the furler. I always use the bottom hole for the jib, to keep it as close to the boat as possible.

MAST RAKE

I add a short piece of line to one of the trapeze wires, take it forward and while pulling it taut, I use my thumb to "mark" the line where it touches the pin that holds the bridle to the bow tang.

Then, while holding the "mark" I made I walk it to the back and once again, while pulling it taut, I touch it to the outer curve of the deck where it rolles over to the lip, behind the rear cross bar and on the outside of the boat. This gives a refrence that is the same for all hobie 18's no matter what the shroud lengths are.

A medium air starting setting should be about 4 to 6 inches behind the back of the rear crossbar. Further forward for lighter wind or heaver crew, and further back for more wind or lighter crew.

Raking it further forward will reduce your pointing ability, but give you superior performance downwind.

Raking it further back will improve your pointing ability but reduce your downwind performance.

Small adjustments in mast rake can be made with the jib forstay tension.

Adjust the shrouds accordingly and keep them fairly tight, the 18 is not a sloppy boat like the 17 or 16.

Small adjustments in mast rake can be made with the jib forstay tension.