Hobie Cat Forums

Just replaced my old style (no, not the beer) blocks with a 6:1 block. My boom has two block hangers to accommodate the old system, and am wondering if it makes a difference in performance on which one I use to attach the new block, forward or rear. Any thoughts or preferences? Thanks in advance.

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KU
'79 H16
#64048
#58757

Rear. Puts forward force on the boom to keep the mast rotated.

The way the cleat is angled on my lower block, I can't easily uncleat when it's in the front, another reason I use the rear. Flipped once due to that.

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Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84

Yup, same here. Then we tried to switch the shackle while out on the water, proceeded to drop the pin in the water and had to jerry-rig it to get back to shore. Same thing that happened on that Cialis commercial if you know what I'm talking about

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-Zach
West Lafayette, IN (school)
Melbourne, FL (summer)

Thank you gentlemen; appreciate the insight. Will do as advised. And PurdueZach, I know exactly what commercial you're referring to. Funny.

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KU
'79 H16
#64048
#58757

I use a snap shackle for hanging the blocks to the hanger, can't loose the pin. I do keep spare pins on board though for where I use pins.

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Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84

56kz2slow, good thought. Not familiar with the term snap shackle; can you refer me to a page in the catalog so I can see one....? thx in advance. Oh, and pretty boat in your signature.

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KU
'79 H16
#64048
#58757

Bottom of page 30. Here is a photo:

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Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84

I use the forward hanger. I find that the aft hanger pulls my traveler back at an angle that keeps it from sliding freely.

I like the forward hanger as the rear hanger seems to add too much pressure to the mast rotation and gooseneck connection....

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Bill 404 21SE

Whether you use the front or back hanger I found that it is difficult to find the right angle setting on the lower block that makes it easy to uncleat/cleat the mainsheet over the full range of the traveler when you have the main tight sheeted.

I prefer the front hanger and I have my lower block angled so I only have to pull on the mainsheet to get it to uncleat and slightly pull up on the mainsheet to get it to cleat.

This works fine as long as you don't travel the main traveler out all the way and pull the blocks almost touching. Under this arrangement, I found out the hard way too often that when a gust hits and the hull went up that I couldn't always uncleat the mainsheet before capsizing. To prevent this situation from happening, if I need to travel the main out alot and have the main sheet real tight, I don't let the traveler out all the way but instead let a little more sheet out. This allows the lower block to maintain an angle so that I can still easily uncleat/cleat the mainsheet.

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Tim
82' H16
Sail # 88863
Panama City Beach, FL

Marc, thank you for attaching the photo. I see it in the catalog now. Seems to work pretty well does it? May consider....
Also, seems there are varying opinions on the rear vs. front hanger. My gut tells me to use the front, but if I run into issues, will definitely try switching it to the rear. Can also work with the angle at which the line comes out of the lower block I guess. Need to be able to decleat quickly, that's for sure.
Thanks everyone for the replies and thoughts. Good information !!

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KU
'79 H16
#64048
#58757