Well i excitedly managed to finalise the addition of a 20 sq foot jib to my Hobie AI, basically created a small daisy wheel on the top of the mast by doing similar to Robertse's posting but instead having a 3 inch stainless chain plate swivelling on the 3/16 bolt. Tested on dry land first and i could furl mainsail OK but not much room for error (or as i found out later bending of the chain plate under load)
I first tried with some doubled-up shock cord between top of halyard to chain plate but there was too much sag to leeward in the jib and couldnt control properly, so replaced with some halyard rope (which according to salesman where i bought fittings has some stretch in anyway)
I also added a new padeye 10 inches back from the front padeye bolted thru the hull with the intention that it would be stonger and couldnt pull out but found this location not as good as the front padeye for wind dynamics between the jib and mainsail, so had to revert to front padeye.
Rather than hoisting the halyard near vertical to main i used the front padeye also to help keep the lines further away from any tangles with the mainsail. I added micro cam cleats with fairleads just forward of the seat at 45 degree angle and as you can see from photo i set up a temporary track for the jib sheets to run thru by putting a bungy cord across the aka and with a spring clamp in place that i can move inboard or out to alter angle of jib sheeting.
Down to sailing....the excitement of finally getting on the water to test on the first time was a let down, barely a wisp of wind, i had to peddle to where there was any, but it still helped me to sort out the best set up.
The next day, race day, ha ha i am going to suprise the fleet today (so i thought), wel i get all rigged up with 5 -10 knots of breeze but patchy with araes of nothing on the lake. Having floated around before in similar conditions i also packed the peddles this time (to see what reaction i got if i used the peddles to move betwen blank spots) Anyway the jib worked great in these light winds, even up to 10 knots everything was under control, speed was noticeably better and i rode towards the finish beating Hobie 14s and Hobie 16s ....but was disqualified for peddling (i was spotted a few times making up ground when there was no wind)
So for the afternoon race i promised i wouldnt peddle, as the winds were increasing and more consistent, the dilemma was whether to take down the jib or not....oh well just go for it i say to myself, i can always furl the main if the winds get too strong!!
Started off good in moderate winds BUT as i was getting near the first windward mark i could see the lake getting whitecaps which usually mean 15 to 20 knots, oops now i get a bit worried, the jib gets a bit hard to handle and the lee ama is burying badly, so i reef the main, helps a bit BUT then the centre of effort is too far forward and i cant point properly, the full jib is pulling the bow around to the leeside, so i give up the fight and bear away to reach down to the second mark anyway, wow what a ride, almost planing, get around second mark for another reach back to start, still have the main reefed, not game to let it all out, still almost planing, a Nacra 5.8M screams past me with a high pitched humm coming from his rudders straining under the load.
I made it back safely to shore and took of the jib, found my chain plate bent somewhat from the load and even though i didnt break anything i would agree with previous posters that if you add a jib to the Hobie AI ONLY use in 10 knots or less, because lets face it the mast is stayless, therefore not as rigid as sloop rigs and adding a jib just upsets the mainsail dynamics in higher winds.
But i still cant wait for another 10 knot day to use again in a race, i will be replacing my 3 inch chain plate with a four inch of heavier gauge for my daisy wheel to make sure the furling definately doesnt fowl up next time. I have added some pikkies, but unfortunately the close up of the top of mast with the daisy wheel got cropped as i took in the sun and couldnt see the frame properly, the jib is brand new hence all the creases from being folded up for some time - after riding out the big blow, creases are no more!!