Welcome back, Mark.
seaweed88 wrote:
I would appreciate any and all thoughts concerning the rebuild. I am sure that there are new and better ideas that have come up over the past 20 years.
Check the standing rigging for frays in the shrouds and the anchor pins for bends or cracks. If you're suspicious then replace the shrouds, anchor pins, and check the bridal tangs, too, as they are known to fail. Anchor pins are the number one reason for dismasts and the new ones are reportedly stronger than the ones made in the past.
If you do replace the shrouds and forestay then beware that Hobie has changed the lengths since 1980. The new shrouds from Hobie allow for more mast rake, but if you have the original jib then it won't be cut for the increased rake causing the leech to flutter. There are a few solutions:
1. If you buy standing rigging from a Hobie dealer then you may need a new jib if the increased rake causes too much leech flutter in the old one. This isn't such a bad thing since jibs wear out faster than mains and the leech will begin to flutter anyway. You could also try adjusting the mast to be more upright to eliminate the flutter as much as possible - one way of doing this is to add another or longer chain plate adjuster.
2. Replace the standing rigging with new wires made to the lengths of your current ones. But beware that with a more upright mast (as 1980 boats had) the boat is more prone to pitchpoling.
Order a Hobie catalog with a parts diagram so you can easily order the parts you need.