Stainless Steel Halyard ring kit that will hook and unhook when you want it to every time!
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<br>EasyHook.00go.com <br><br>

Hey, Rick!
<br>Now that you've gone to all the trouble to put up this new forumn, (thank you a thousand times) howzabout banning the Advertisers, or at least you should make some money, huh?
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<br>Unless this post is just a test... hm....
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<br>For all the rest of us... if this person is really selling something to hold your main up, would you do business with someone who introduces themself to you by trying to cheat your good ol' friend Rick White?
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<br>Something to think about....<br><br>

Who's trying to cheat somebody? So what if I am promoting my website? Is that your PROBLEM? If you don't have any issues with your halyard ring, then why did you bother to even look at this post? You really need to get over it and find someone else to bother.<br><br>

The good part is that I have siced my ad manager on him.
<br>On the other hand, any thing that helps hook or unhook a halyard could be helpful to a lot of folks, if it works! So, maybe it has value here and I won't delete it.
<br><br><br>Rick White
<br>Catamaran Sailor Magazine
<br>email: rick@catsailor.com

Thanks Rick. If you want to delete the message, I understand completely. I recently bought a H17 and had nothing but trouble from the halyard ring. I eventually came up with a design that works. I have sold about 10 or so from my website in the last week. I'm not some huge corporation making hundreds of thousands of dollars at your expense. I was only trying to help fellow cat sailors fix a problem while making a few bucks on the side so I can upgrade my H17. I split the sail at the top batten this weekend, and I definitely could use the extra $$ to try to have it fixed.<br><br>

Okay, Fella, easy there! I came on a little strong, and in the calm light of day, I regret it, and therefor apologize.
<br>My point is, Rick seems like a kind, easy going, tolerant person. Being in publishing myself, as an owner, I can imagine only too well the tribulations a small operation faces. In fact, I don't have to imagine. My publications are also 'niche' pubs, and like Rick, I enjoy, value and must work assiduously to preserve a long-term relationship with a low-turnover readership to which I am known by name. One difficult situation is when a reader, who by definition is a treasured one, forgets or fails to understand that a publication costs money to produce, and that, even when the pub is practically non-profit, such costs must still be covered by the paying ads of for-profit businesses that wish to sell their wares to the pub's readers.
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<br>I'm a little protective of Rick, even though I don't know him personally, because I believe you have put him in an awkward position - - albeit accidentally... no publisher/editor wants to 'take issue' head-to-head with a reader, yet for ineluctable business reasons, a line must be drawn *somewhere* or eventually the suppliers will padlock the press for unpaid bills.
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<br>Certainly, that line is Rick's to draw and to gently or firmly defend, but, wouldn't you agree, a pretty handy place to put that line is between "for profit" and "not-for-profit" concerns?
<br>By 'graduating' to a for-profit business plan, you have moved up into the world where one of your costs should properly be the 'cost of marketing'
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<br>Even where the advertised product is known to be one that is desirable (it is to be hoped that most advertised products are desirable) and even where the seller's profit is expected to be small, business is still business. If a product can't be sold for enough money to make it commercially feasible to produce *and promote* then it should and ultimately will join the thousands of potentially 'cool' products which go un-produced for the simple reason that today's marketplace won't support them.
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<br>The sole exception to this rule is and should be products of such great benefit to the pub's readership that the editor deems them worthy of subsidy, for the good of the readership. Rick seems to feel this way about your halyard ring. But it would be more polite to ask him first. The proper way to do this, and we receive such letters and emails daily, begins "Dear Editor, I believe I have a product which will be of interest to your readership…"
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<br>For the record, I once came awfully close to having to tip my cat over on the beach, after a first sail with a new main, which jammed up in the slot and wouldn't permit me to lift the ring even so much as a millimeter or two to unhook. Eventually it slipped upwards just enough, but, ya know what? I could have tipped her over, unhooked, and righted her in less time than I spend tugging away. Would I like an extra line flapping away up my mast just in case this happened again? I’m sure somebody would, out there - - I hope you find them and make each other happy - - just don't forget Rick in all your success!
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<br>And please, don't confuse how badly you *want* a new sail with how you believe you *deserve* free advertising. The one doesn't follow on the other.
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<br>Rick's decision was predicated on the probability his readers might benefit, and I admire his selflessness.
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<br>Sail Fast!<br><br>

Mr Norris:
<br>Thanks for the apology - warmly accepted. I admire you for your humility. I also apologize to Rick for putting him in this situation. I agree that I should have asked if he minded. Unfortunately, hind sight is 20/20, and I didn't think of these things before I posted. Thanks you so much for bringing them to my attention. I have sold a couple, but the main drawback like you said is the extra line that is involved. Unlike most others, I tried unsuccessfully the other techniques for the halyard hook/ring, and they just didn't work on my boat. Maybe something's wrong and I don't know it. I just bought it back on June 8th, and it's my first one. I have sailed a few others in the past, but they were 14's and 16's and didn't have this halyard arrangement. Basically, the ring I developed isn't for everyone, and I know that. It will never have a large following, and I accept this. However, if an owner has tried all the tricks and the Aussie(TM) ring and some of the others out there, and still has trouble, I offer them one last solution before selling their cat. That's all.
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<br>Mr White: I sincerely apologize for putting you in such a situation, and I ask that you harbor no hard feelings. I simply didn't think before i posted. If you want to remove it now, please do so. I completely understand. Thank you for your publication and best of luck in the future.
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<br>Sail Safe, Sail Fun,
<br>Andy Pipkin<br><br>

Actually, I am so impressed with both of you there is no way I could in all fairness delete this thread.
<br>Good luck with the ring, although I am one that would not have an extra release halyard flopping around on my mast. I can certainly understand your concerns about masthead locks - few work properly.
<br>The only boat I ever had that worked was the Nacra 6.0 -- everytime it went up it hooked, and with a slight pull and twist it was down. Not so the Hobies I have had, or any other design.
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<br>By the way! I would recommend running an adv. in our classifieds, if nothing else -- Cost is only $10. Just skip a MacDonalds lunch one day a month.
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<br>The other is our Auction Page. Seems strange to me that it has not yet caught on. The cost is minimal and it is great way to get things off the shelf, out of the shed, or whatever.
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<br>Good luck with your Hook.
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<br>Rick
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<br>PS: Maybe masthead locks were the reason ladders were invented. <br><br>Rick White
<br>Catamaran Sailor Magazine
<br>email: rick@catsailor.com

What's so wrong with the ball and fork design used on the Nacra 5.2 (maybe because it requires a wire for the upper portion of the halyard)? I'm surprised this isn't used more often. MAN!, it's a piece of cake compared to my TheMightyHobie18 halyard ring.
<br><br><br>[color:blue][b]Jake
<br>[color:blue][b]Nacra 5.2 (2112)
<br>[color:blue][b]Hobie 18 (???)

Mr. Norris:
<br>
<br>Upon reading what I posted earlier this morning, I came upon the realization that I had not apologized for my rude response to your initial post. Therefore, I now offer my apologies, and I sincerely hope that they are sufficient, even though offered late.
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<br>Andy Pipkin
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<br>

Aw, quit it... now you're embarrassing me.....<br><br>

i gotta say, i really like the way you handled this rick. by the way, did you see the same ad for the halyard ring posted on pretty much every forum at sailingproshop.com.
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<br>keep up the good work. the site is great.
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<br>dave taylor<br><br>

wiping the tears off of my swollen eyes with a softissue, i would like to remind you of a phrase i really like from Pulp Fiction, where the character played by Harvey Caitell (spelling?) says to the couple dudes who are happy that he is gonna take care of their little problem (cleaning some brain cells off of the rear seat of their car): "let's not suck each other's c...s just yet" - because the car is still a mess and they have the work cut out for them.
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<br>we all like to help the sport, rick cerainly included. however, the timing of this post "accidentally" coincided with bamachem posting messages about his halyard ring device on virtually every forum, every classifieds site, or any other site related to beach cat sailing, as well as the boards dedicated to monohulls that use mast locks for their halyards. so, let's not play the innocent bystander here, bamachem. the eloquence of your language suggests that you are not a dumbass, and it would probably be only fair that you sat quiet and just enjoyed rick's generocity. to make it even more so fair, you should spend the miserable amount of money rick charges for classifeds ads and thus support the beach cat sailors who share this site. tell uncle sam it was cost of doing *business.*
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<br>s.<br><br>

Please allow me to retort:
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<br>First of all, there is no coincidence for me posting ads on numerous pages at around the same time. I am not trying to play the innocent bystander, and I am not trying to take advantage of anyone at my gain. Yes, I posted a bunch on his (SailingProShop) website because I gave him a free plug on my website AT HIS REQUEST (Please see http://easyhook.00go.com/fsguestbook.html at the bottom of the page), and I sold him 4 of the rings at wholesale to offer for resale on the west coast. I also have sold some to another dealer in New York. Besides, Mark (M. Michaelsen of SailingProShop) doesn't seem to mind. (By the way, Rick, if you check the Favorite Links page of my site, you will see that Catamaran Sailor Magazine is and always has been listed on there.) As for the other websites I posted on, they are there for a reason, to offer free postings and free classifieds. Don't blame me for using every available resource to promote my website. That's one reason why I am using a free web hosting service for my page. I am trying to cut a few corners here in the beginning to at least determine if there will be enough of a market for them to begin with a paid website and paid advertising. I don't remember posting anything on any monohull sites ( I may have though), but I have posted stuff on hobie's homepage, along with the beachcats forum on yahoo and of course this page just to name a few. Some other websites "pick up" the forum topics of these, so maybe that's how it happened. Who knows?!?
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<br>In response to your quite colorful quote of the day, I was merely being humble, sucking up my pride, and being courteous as I very well should be after I was so rude to Mr. Norris after his first post. No hard feelings from me, and I sincerely hope that he harbors none. Just bing nice and getting shot down for it. My mistake.
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<br>Andy Pipkin
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Hio Jake
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<br>The ball and fork is nice but the wire will breake over time. I just replaced mine this year and it was already broken once before.
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<br>On my Naqcra 5.7, the steel wire goes trought two pulleys and the turning radius is quite small. The wire will then wear very quickly... over a few years When I recieved my used boat a few years back, I was under the impression that the wire was already about two feet shorter. Over time, I broke it again while rigging the boat, no harm done
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<br>I was forced to shorten the wire of another two feet or so and then, I had to step on the trampoline to put the halyard shackle on the main.
<br>I changed the wire this year and installed it to the proper lenght
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<br>I am only using the stock 4:1 downhaul system on my Nacra 5.7. Many boats are running with a more efficient setup for their downhaul and they can put way more tension on the main and on the halyard.
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<br>The system will one big halyard pulley like the Hobie16 is better but then again, it seems that it is using a stiffer 7X7 wire instead of a more flexible 7X19 wire (the stiffest common wire is 1X19)
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<br>Overall, I do not mind the halyard wire breaking from time to times but with the new much higher tension on the downhaul and on the halyard, I can understand the new design change
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<br>Hope this helps<br><br>Charles Leblanc [color:blue] Nacra 5.7 #123 </font color=blue>

Wouter<br><br>

Doesn't the Tiger have a hook on the halayrd that catches on the mast???
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<br>Andy<br><br>

Andy's not some bulk corporation trying to profiteer off Rick's website. I know Andy from the beachcats group(and Rick W. too, BTW). Andy's a decent guy who figured out a better way to deal with that darn PIA halyard hook. He's not making a killing, just trying to share his creation with the rest of us. By the time ya spent gas money down to West Marine and about three hours of head scratching only to get it wrong and have to go back cause you bought the wrong stuff despite your best laid plans, Andy's hook is a great deal.
<br>As for Rick, he's just wise enough to see to the truth of this without getting bent out of shape about a URL where ya can buy something much needed.
<br>Would we all protest if someone posted the URL for Hobie or Performance Cats, or a local dealer's address who had the part one of us needed? I don't think so! The principle is the same. Whatever happened to helping out another catsailor and being glad to know that there's only so many of us and as such we lend a willing hand whenever possible?
<br>Cary
<br>(shameless plug below)
<br>www.thebeachcats.com
<br>NonProfit online beachcat community: Join Us!
<br><br><br>Hobie 17
<br>"MISTER LUCKY"

But the way they implemented it works well.
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<br>Wouter<br><br>

Hi, Cary,
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<br>I'm sure Andy's a nice guy - you sound nice, and your word's good enough for me.
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<br>Lots of nice people run "for profit" businesses everyday. Whether they are nice or even Ghandi-esque isn't the point.
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<br>They are in busines; to make a profit. Their only relationship with a publisher should be to buy an ad or to *ask* for publicity, citing the interest that publsher's readers might have in their product.
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<br>Andy is, admitedly, making these rings for profit. God bless him; the profit motive is the incentive for everything that is innovative, fun, marvelous or in any way worth having in our economy/culture/marketplace.
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<br>There's nothing in the world wrong with having a for profit product. I buy 'em all the time, and I hope the guys who invented my boat/car/sail lube/etc all make a million dollars; I'm that glad they make the products they do, at the prices I've paid.
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<br>But Rick and other publishers have to eat, too, and pay their suppliers! Therefor, they charge money for a subscription, for a classified, and for a display ad, too.
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<br>If Andy wanted a free ride from Rick, on the grounds his invention would be of value to all of us, the polite thing, I maintain, would be to ask. I draw no conclusions about why he did not, and I appologized already for my initial rather strong castigation of him for the brevity and commercial nature of his original post.
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<br>As to your point re:posting adresses/phone num's etc of manufacturers and dealers where a person could find his answer or buy some needed product. I agree, it sounds so reasonable. The difference is, IMHO, when "John" asks a question, and "Bob" directs him to "Janes" company, that's one thing. But let "Jane" start spamming her own praises up here, and a line has been crossed. Nevermind good netiquette, which demands active spam control, simply to avoid attracting miore, like graffiti.
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<br>But, just for the heck of it, why don't you ask the sailors who paid to advertise their boats for sail on this site's classified page, if it's okay for anyone to post the name of somebody else selling a boat here??? I'd like a new mylar main for a N5.0, would it be okay for me to ask on this forum, seeing as how neither buyer or seller is "out to make a killing"?
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<br>Rick is, as we all point out, extremely cool, and warmly interested in sailing as a sport, and possibly, too mellow to get all excersised about this. He's chosen to view Andy's post as a valuable contribution to our collective world. That's his call to make, and for the record, if Andy had sent Rick a letter and Rick had chosen to allow Andy to compose a few paragraphs on his product for inclusion in the magazine, I'd be the last reader to complain. New aproaches for old problems are exactly what this "place" is for!!!
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<br>My point remains, for the record, that IMHO, people outta ask first. Clearly, Rick isn't some profit-driven grinch, I think people coming here with a genuine contribution can expect fair consideration.
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<br>Absent this simple convention, how would you crreate a rule to keep your favorite sailing publication funded, while treating all comers with impartial fairnes? Where, in short, would you draw the line?
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<br>Sail fast,
<br>Ed Norris<br><br>