Hobie Cat Forums

The title says it all I need info on getting my diamond wires tension set up properly? Right now they are pretty tight but it looks like the mast is not straight like one side has too much tension how do I set them up correctly?

While I am working the mast does that little hinged flap on the mast hook at the top really need to be removed?

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Floyd
00 Tiger
http://www.HobieFleet33.com
10 Mile Surfside, Texas
Join us on our Facebook group: Surfside Sailing

On this website under 'Support', Hobie has a section that contains basic tuning tips for various wind & wave conditions. it will give you info on the diamond wires and just about everything else.

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Chris
'88 H18SE Arís

There are also tools to measure diamond tension, Loos gauge. The H18 likes fairly loose diamonds but pre-bending the mast can give better performance.

If you see curvature between the diamonds the mast is most likely bent or it is just an optical illusion. Check the spreaders as well, if they are not aligned it can give a little bend.

IMO you cannot correct a bent mast with diamond tension.

The traditional method for setting the diamond wire tension is to place a series of marks on the mast located at one, two, and three feet up from the diamond wire/rotator bolt. The wire tension is determined by the mark where the diamond wires touch the mast when pressing them inward using moderate force. So the mark at one foot is the tight setting, the mark at three feet is the loose setting. Light wind/heavy crew run them tight, high wind/light crew run them loose. It's not an exact science, but will get you in the ballpark.

You can also wrap a bungee cord around the wires at the mark that you want to be the setting. Then adust the turnbuckles so the wires both touch the mast evenly. This will help ensure the tension is the same on both sides.

For people that have a comptip, they'll probably want to run the diamond wires more towards the tight end of the range because the comptip allows the top of the mast to bend a lot already.

As for whether or not to remove the flip/flopper on the halyard hook, that's something you have to decide for yourself. If you have no issues operating the hook with it installed, then leave it. If you have trouble working the hook, then you probably want to take it off. There's a reason why Hobie stopped using it 20 years ago - it caused a lot of hassle for a lot of people.

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Hi,

I like to set my mast on several sawhorses ... luff track up .... so I can "eyeball" the luff track to determine how I need to adjust the diamond wire tension. Once I get it to where I feel I need it to be, any further adjustment, ie tweeking for particular conditions is done by counting the number of turns, usually w/ the boat rigged/mast-up . At the same time I also clean and lubricate the luff track w/ Sailkote (remember I sail from "sandy" beaches so I need to use a dry lubricant).

Reference: H18 Performance Manual/Phil Berman (pg 42-44)

Please read what Phil has to say .... remember that he wrote this manual/book before the introduction of "Comptips" .... therefore I believe the "SRM" is correct about w/ a Comptip equiped mast, you may wish to adjust the diamond wires to be a little on the "tight" side of the adjustment range.

(That's what my personal experience has been also ... Note: I usually sail in the 300-325lb crew wieght range when racing ...)

As for the "flipper thingie" ( My "highly " technical term ...) my H18 masts have them ... my P19 mast does not .... both systems work well, it's just a matter of personal choice and technic. But note that it is much easier to remove then to (re)install ... so just be sure of your decision before you cut-off that rivet holding on the "flipper thingie" ....

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HarryMurphey
H-18 mag/ #9458
Fleet 54 Div 11

I forgot to say its the older or non comp tip mast. The diamond wires were pretty loose so we tightened them on the beach end of last season then last weekend I looked at it when I loaded it on the trailer and it does seem to be slightly bent to one side. I probably need to start by loosing them up first the starting over.

Seems like the H18 Performance Manual/Phil Berman is hard to find!

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Floyd
00 Tiger
http://www.HobieFleet33.com
10 Mile Surfside, Texas
Join us on our Facebook group: Surfside Sailing

Probably not in the performance manual!!

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Floyd
00 Tiger
http://www.HobieFleet33.com
10 Mile Surfside, Texas
Join us on our Facebook group: Surfside Sailing

Picked up my new turnbuckle today so I am going to take another crack at this tonight. I think I am going to back the other side off so I start at the same place on each side then I can count the turns per side to keep the tension even.

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Floyd
00 Tiger
http://www.HobieFleet33.com
10 Mile Surfside, Texas
Join us on our Facebook group: Surfside Sailing

If anyone is done with thier copy of Phil Berman's H18 Performance Manual, please consider selling a scanned copy if not the book itself. It looks like at this point we need to pass it arround, considering how few copies are out there...