Close off mast slot opening

[rsims111]

There's a cheap aftermarket solution available

There's a product readily available called MastGate that solves exactly the problem you are describing plus many others. It's a spring loaded plate that seals up the the slot but still enables you to easily put sail slugs into or take them out of the track. Reefing is easy, your sail packs lower onto the boom when the sail is down for less windage and you don't have to reach as high to put a sail tie on, you can easily insert a sail slug you missed or put in upside down without taking all of the sail slugs out of the mast track, you won't have to worry about loosing your sail track stop or pin overboard, and it can prevent the need for a trip to the mast when conditions are rough and you need to reef.

MastGate, which is made in the US, is available for around $50 from www.mastgates.com. The web site also shows a few small videos of the mast gate in action. There are both internal and external mastgates available depending on your mast.

It's a great product that will solve your problem and be way more versatile than the "fixed" methods suggested so far.

Happy Sailing
RDS
s/v Linda Kae

 

[Bud22569]

The Mastgate will work on my mast after I modify the length of the gooseneck downhaul track. Thanks for the information. A picture & video make it all very clear.

 

[David W]

It might work for me as well

There's a product readily available called MastGate that solves exactly the problem you are describing plus many others. It's a spring loaded plate that seals up the the slot but still enables you to easily put sail slugs into or take them out of the track. Reefing is easy, your sail packs lower onto the boom when the sail is down for less windage and you don't have to reach as high to put a sail tie on, you can easily insert a sail slug you missed or put in upside down without taking all of the sail slugs out of the mast track, you won't have to worry about loosing your sail track stop or pin overboard, and it can prevent the need for a trip to the mast when conditions are rough and you need to reef.

MastGate, which is made in the US, is available for around $50 from www.mastgates.com. The web site also shows a few small videos of the mast gate in action. There are both internal and external mastgates available depending on your mast.

It's a great product that will solve your problem and be way more versatile than the "fixed" methods suggested so far.

Happy Sailing
RDS
s/v Linda Kae

I'll have a look the next time I'm on the boat, hopefully this weekend.

Thanks to all who chimed in, I love the web!

 

[mitiempo]

David

The Mastgate is a cool idea, especially for those that remove the mainsail on smaller boats which it appears it was designed for. But in your case, trying to reef from the cockpit, the slugs will still pile up above the gooseneck.

I think a small modification to the sail would be a better choice in your case. The jackline idea from Allan above is a much better one as there will not be a row of slugs piled up on top of the gooseneck.

Failing that try calling or visiting Leitch McBride in Sidney and ask them what you should do. They should have a good solution - you're not the first with this problem.

 

[David W]

Rick made my sails so he's my next call

David

The Mastgate is a cool idea, especially for those that remove the mainsail on smaller boats which it appears it was designed for. But in your case, trying to reef from the cockpit, the slugs will still pile up above the gooseneck.

I think a small modification to the sail would be a better choice in your case. The jackline idea from Allan above is a much better one as there will not be a row of slugs piled up on top of the gooseneck.

Failing that try calling or visiting Leitch McBride in Sidney and ask them what you should do. They should have a good solution - you're not the first with this problem.

If I understand the jackline as described, the first two slides are attached to the sail by the jackline and nothing else. Mine are currently sewn on and I'm more than reluctant to cut them off. I see that Catalina Direct sells their sails pre-equiped with a jackline: http://www.catalinadirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=feature.display&feature_ID=34

As I said tho, Rick McBride made the sails so he's the next option. Thanks again!

 

[Allan12210]

David

Don't cut your sail slides off. They can just hang free. The jackline just gives a way to bridge the upper and lower sail slides on either side of the ones left hanging when the sail is fully hoisted. As yours are sewn on, maybe there is a bolt rope on the luff of the sail that will allow the tension to pass by the slides that will be left out of the track? My sail has little grommets at each slide position and the plastic slides use a little shackle to hold them on. If you don't have a bolt rope with your sewn on slides (with a piece of webbing wrapped around them?) maybe you can fish the jackline through the two free hanging ones vertically and still tie it off on each end to the slides still in the track. The objective is to reduce the stacked height of slides when the main is down at its reef points by leaving a couple of slides out just making the difference where it can be hooked to the cringle without having to fiddle with the track gate. When at full hoist the tension on the luff goes through the jackline so the main doesn't blow off away from the mast in the middle.

Allan

 

[David W]

I've a pretty substantial bolt rope

David

Don't cut your sail slides off. They can just hang free. The jackline just gives a way to bridge the upper and lower sail slides on either side of the ones left hanging when the sail is fully hoisted. As yours are sewn on, maybe there is a bolt rope on the luff of the sail that will allow the tension to pass by the slides that will be left out of the track? My sail has little grommets at each slide position and the plastic slides use a little shackle to hold them on. If you don't have a bolt rope with your sewn on slides (with a piece of webbing wrapped around them?) maybe you can fish the jackline through the two free hanging ones vertically and still tie it off on each end to the slides still in the track. The objective is to reduce the stacked height of slides when the main is down at its reef points by leaving a couple of slides out just making the difference where it can be hooked to the cringle without having to fiddle with the track gate. When at full hoist the tension on the luff goes through the jackline so the main doesn't blow off away from the mast in the middle.

Allan

The luff of my main is nearly 40 ft long. The slides are sewn onto a substantial bolt rope using webbing. The bolt rope itself is more substantial than any line I can imagine running between the slides. The second slide is also a batten slide so it carries the load from the first batten to the mast.

In the Catalina Direct photo, the slides are not attached to the sail by anything other than the jackline. When the halyard is slacked the jackline is also slacked allowing the excess sail to fall out of the way while leaving the slides in the track. When the halyard is raised again,the jackline is tensioned and the luff and slides are brought back together again.

I must be completely missing the point as I don't see how a jackline woven between two slides that are hanging loose (not in the mast track) would create a tighter luff than occurs when the halyard is brought to a full raise. If the slides are not in the track, the points of contact between the luff and the mast don't change; they will be the slide at the reef point and the tack attachment regardless if a jackline is there or not.

Or am I completely obtuse?

 

[Allan12210]

Re: I've a pretty substantial bolt rope

David,

Now that I am home from vacation and not squinting at that phone I see that I must be suffering from memory loss about the jackline issue. Thanks for finding that Catalina Direct reference. That jogged my memory. Now to backtrack on my original postings...apparently I did not remove the slides from the mast. Instead I separated them from the sail. Mine were easy to do as they were held with a screw through the grommet and a metal strap (flat shackle) around the slide. Then I tied the line to the first slide and fed it through its respective grommet. Continue the line down and through the next grommet first and tie it off to the respective slide. With a little experimentation of the knot placement the line will go tight when the sail is fully hoisted and the two loose slides willl pull up to the sail and it will be held right to the mast. These two slides are the ones on either side of the reef cringle.

See what happens to your memory after a long time? Sorry about the confusion on this one. I still liked using a jackline (as apparently so does Catalina) because it is a relatively easy and cheap solution. Plus, cockpit controls can be made to work with it.

In regards to your sewn in slides, that is now a tougher one than I thought. Are the two slides on each side of the cringle just regular sewn in ones or are they batten slides too? Maybe remove them from the track and replace in the track with two plain slides. Then see if you can do the jackline thing between those added slides feeding through the webbing or even the existing slide hoops? I don't know if that would give enough extra sail to pull your cringle down lower to acheive the proper reef oriention of the sail, but I guess its worth experimenting with. At least nothing irreversable has been done and you are only out the cost of a couple of slides and a piece of line.

Allan

 

[David W]

David,

Now that I am home from vacation and not squinting at that phone I see that I must be suffering from memory loss about the jackline issue. Thanks for finding that Catalina Direct reference. That jogged my memory. Now to backtrack on my original postings...apparently I did not remove the slides from the mast. Instead I separated them from the sail. Mine were easy to do as they were held with a screw through the grommet and a metal strap (flat shackle) around the slide. Then I tied the line to the first slide and fed it through its respective grommet. Continue the line down and through the next grommet first and tie it off to the respective slide. With a little experimentation of the knot placement the line will go tight when the sail is fully hoisted and the two loose slides willl pull up to the sail and it will be held right to the mast. These two slides are the ones on either side of the reef cringle.

See what happens to your memory after a long time? Sorry about the confusion on this one. I still liked using a jackline (as apparently so does Catalina) because it is a relatively easy and cheap solution. Plus, cockpit controls can be made to work with it.

In regards to your sewn in slides, that is now a tougher one than I thought. Are the two slides on each side of the cringle just regular sewn in ones or are they batten slides too? Maybe remove them from the track and replace in the track with two plain slides. Then see if you can do the jackline thing between those added slides feeding through the webbing or even the existing slide hoops? I don't know if that would give enough extra sail to pull your cringle down lower to acheive the proper reef oriention of the sail, but I guess its worth experimenting with. At least nothing irreversable has been done and you are only out the cost of a couple of slides and a piece of line.

Allan

Good thinking on the plain slides. I have a box of spares. If it proves to work, I just realized than I can always cut the slide itself and not the sail. Doh!!!!

 

[Allan12210]

Ah redemption. I hope it works out for you. Let us know.