Aussie Jib Rigging question

I have been sailing a 1970's vintage 16 for a number of years and recently bought a newer model. The 70's boat had the original Hobie Jib halyard. The new boat is a 2011 but the mast is not from the original boat but looks to be reasonably new (has a comp tip and a Aussie Jib). With my 70's boat there was the cheek block on the mask and the pulley on the halyard which gave lots of purchase to tighten the rig. On the new boat the mast has the same cheek block but there is no pulley at the bottom of the halyard so I am finding I do not get enough purchase to get the jib tight enough to produce slack on the main halyard. I am wondering if I am missing something in my setup. I have searched the forums and see that there is a kit that puts a second cheek block and a jam cleat above the existing block. Is this kit required whenever there is an Aussie jib.....if not am I missing something in the rigging steps?

The purchase is in the blocks up the mast. You can route the line down to the turning block and then cleat to get some grip on the line as you "ratchet" up some tension. Hold on the cleat and pull the halyard like a bow... then pull up slack at the cleat. You should be able to achieve enough tension just by pulling straight down too. It is a lot less tension on the halyard itself than the old version. Just check that shrouds get tight.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Your old halyard had a 3:1 purchase in the section of the halyard going down to the cheek block/cleat. Your Aussie halyard should have a 3:1 purchase in the section that's hooked to the head of the jib. So no difference in purchase....just the location of it.

Your reference to producing slack in the main halyard doesn't make sense....do you mean slack in the forestay?

Here's how I do it....
take out all the slack that's easy to get out
get a new grip with a couple of wraps around one hand while holding the line against the block
push the halyard down with the other hand.....still keeping the line pressed against the block a little, so it doesn't go crazy on ya'
(that should bring the mast forward and snug it up....if you're a lightweight, Matt's bow method will probably work better)
while being careful to keep the tension on, complete the routing around the block, then take a few wraps around the cleat, then add a few hitches

You should indeed create slack in the forestay if the rest of your rigging is correct. Pictures might help to make sure that's the case.

The kit with the extra cheek block and cam cleat is a rather advanced system to allow the jib halyard (and therefore overall rig) tension to be tweaked on the water. It is in no way required to raise the jib and tension the rig.

Hope this helps!

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Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16