A sail stop you can make

[Joe11688]

I just came up with another "brain child" for keeping your sail slides in your mast track. It involves using a short piece of 3/16" braid just long enough to go around the mast and have enough slack to tie a "reef knot", and a plastic wire clip. What could be simpler? Of course you are going to need to drill a small hole through the side of the mast and tap it for threads for a small machine screw to hold the plastic wire clip in place. I've been using a small braid line tied around my mast under my sail slides, for many years. Fortunately, I have a winch on the Port side of my mast which supports this braid line, and I recently decided to tie the line off to my winch bracket with a thin twine just to hold it in place. So this is for the benefit of those who do not have a mast winch to support a rope sail stop. This will work on any mast and once you get used to it you'll love it. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Ahoy!
Joe

 

[Joe11688]

Don't everybody speak up all at once. If you're leery about drilling a small hole in the side of your mast for a screw to hold the rope in place, try this: Take a small piece of automotive store Velcro and stick it to your mast where you want the rope placed. Then wrap the other half of the Velcro around the center of the rope and press it into place. If you tie the rope around the mast snug enough with a reef knot, the weight of the sail slides shouldn't cause the rope to slip down. The Velcro should offer enough resistance to hold it in place. If this works for you and you find that you favor it more than that "knob thingy" that you can buy at "Worst Marine", then you may want to take the plunge and drill the small hole for the plastic wire clip. On the other hand, "four thumbs and a finger", you may be fortunate enough to have a mast winch in the right place to tie the rope to. :dance: