Yes, it doesn't sound like you have the jib halyard rigged correctly.
On the H18 the jib halyard is a combination of a wire over the top pulley and a two-piece line which is either tied or connected with sister-clips.
When you connect the jib to the halyard, the halyard is placed inside the zippered pocket and runs back down towards the furler, not along the mast.
Once the jib is raised you have a lot of extra halyard, this is untied or unclipped from the short piece of halyard and the short piece is run down to a shackle near the furler, back up through the thimble at the end of the halyard wire, and then down to the plastic cleat on the sail.
Don't fully tighten the jib halyard until the main is up and you can sheet in the main blocks, or you can end up with the jib halyard too tight/loose.
Need some pictures for this, hope this helps.
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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN
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