Hi there - I just bought a 1984 Hobie 16 and I have a few questions
about rigging it.

To date I've been raising the jib before I raise the main. I was told
that the overall rig tension relies heavily on the jib halyard tension
so I've been putting as much force on the jib halyard as I can before
cleating it off.

The main is much easier to raise before the jib is up and tensionsed -
what is the reccomended rigging order? Main or jib first?

I'm missing the teflon washer that sits at the base of the mast - I
read about fabricating a temporary one out of a plastic milk container
- to date I've been sailing without one and have noticed that the mast
very rarely rotates. In addition to the lack of a washer, I think it
may be partially due to my jib-halyard tension. Could I possibly be
putting too much tension on the jib halyard?

My boat is missing the original downhaul and the gooseneck that I have
doesn't make it any easier to apply downhaul with a 1:1 line setup.
Reccomendations? Eventually I'd like to buy a better gooseneck and a
downhaul system.

My 16 has no boom vang - should it?

I've read about people sheeting the main "block-to-block." I'm unable
to do this - I can't come closer than 3-5 inches between the main
sheet blocks. Possibly due to too much jib halyard tension?

Lastly, I've read that a common problem with the 16 jib is the battens
getting caught on the halyards when the sail tries to switch sides -
I'm having this same problem. - (I've read about the hinging battens
that Hobie sells - I have more pressing expenses on this 16 to worry
about so I'll have to make due with what I have for now) - Is there
anything wrong with using a saw to shorten the actual battens?
Clearly they can't be so short that they can't be tensioned, but if
other people are doing it and having even slight improvement, then I'm
going to as well.

Thanks for your help,

Gabe Silverman