Does anyone have any good ideas for a mast gate on the 216? My sail has the "tabs" that slide into the track so its tough to quickly raise the sail especially single handed.
Mast Gate
- Thread starter Paul Wash
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B
Benny
Contact your mast manufacturer. They may have
a left over plate cover or tell you where you may be able to find one. They are not easy to find and a lot of sailors manufacture their own. If your problem is that some of the slides fall out when you drop your main you can use a "sail track stop" which is nothing more than a slide with a thumb screw to be placed on the track above the gate to prevent the slides from coming down and out. The downside is that when you go to reef you will need to remove the stop.
a left over plate cover or tell you where you may be able to find one. They are not easy to find and a lot of sailors manufacture their own. If your problem is that some of the slides fall out when you drop your main you can use a "sail track stop" which is nothing more than a slide with a thumb screw to be placed on the track above the gate to prevent the slides from coming down and out. The downside is that when you go to reef you will need to remove the stop.
Mast Gate Clarification
My sail has slugs that are fed into the mast track. When not sailing everything is folded and out of the track. When going out - I will preload the slugs into the track and put a tie beneath them to prevent them from falling out. This is a hack and not always effective. This allows me to raise the main in seconds once I clear the channel as opposed to fighting the slugs to load them. I suppose a thumbscrew would be relatively effective. I am sure I will lose it eventually if it isn't part of the mast but probably a better option than a bungee or a tie that slips when you need it the most. As far as reefing - yeah that could be inconvenient...But more often than not I'm not reefed anyway... Let me know if anyone has any other recommendations too! Thanks!
My sail has slugs that are fed into the mast track. When not sailing everything is folded and out of the track. When going out - I will preload the slugs into the track and put a tie beneath them to prevent them from falling out. This is a hack and not always effective. This allows me to raise the main in seconds once I clear the channel as opposed to fighting the slugs to load them. I suppose a thumbscrew would be relatively effective. I am sure I will lose it eventually if it isn't part of the mast but probably a better option than a bungee or a tie that slips when you need it the most. As far as reefing - yeah that could be inconvenient...But more often than not I'm not reefed anyway... Let me know if anyone has any other recommendations too! Thanks!
Nice Gate
Hey thats pretty cool. I just got a hex bolt, washer, and a wing nut and then using the bungee approach for the time being until I get some time to knock it out. It worked today - but...I still know this is a hack until I put the real solution in...Thx!
Hey thats pretty cool. I just got a hex bolt, washer, and a wing nut and then using the bungee approach for the time being until I get some time to knock it out. It worked today - but...I still know this is a hack until I put the real solution in...Thx!
Alternative to Mast Gate or Sail Stop
I have not tried this on my 216 as yet but used it for years on my Catalina 27s and it worked great. I'm a lousy artist so bear with me as I try to describe it. Remove all the sail slugs from the sail below the reefing grommet plus one or two above it leaving the slugs attached to the mast. The necessary number is the same as the number that you currently remove from the mast when reefed. I took a piece of small diameter Spectra, anchored it to one side of the boom adjacent to the gooseneck and then ran it through the grommet that the first sail slug was attached to, through the slug and back through the same grommet. Up to the next grommet and repeat the above. After looping on the last sail slug, raise the sail all the way up and bring the bitter end of the line down and anchor it back onto side of the boom. Now when you pull the reef into the sail, this line provides enough slack to pull the reefing grommet all the way down to the boom without removing the slugs. I know it is no big deal to drop the slugs out when you decide to reef but it's a real pain when trying to shake out the reef after rounding the windward mark. I'll attempt to do this in a couple of weeks on my 216 as now I'm using a SS screw like so many of you who have also lost a couple of those not-so-cheap sail stops.
I have not tried this on my 216 as yet but used it for years on my Catalina 27s and it worked great. I'm a lousy artist so bear with me as I try to describe it. Remove all the sail slugs from the sail below the reefing grommet plus one or two above it leaving the slugs attached to the mast. The necessary number is the same as the number that you currently remove from the mast when reefed. I took a piece of small diameter Spectra, anchored it to one side of the boom adjacent to the gooseneck and then ran it through the grommet that the first sail slug was attached to, through the slug and back through the same grommet. Up to the next grommet and repeat the above. After looping on the last sail slug, raise the sail all the way up and bring the bitter end of the line down and anchor it back onto side of the boom. Now when you pull the reef into the sail, this line provides enough slack to pull the reefing grommet all the way down to the boom without removing the slugs. I know it is no big deal to drop the slugs out when you decide to reef but it's a real pain when trying to shake out the reef after rounding the windward mark. I'll attempt to do this in a couple of weeks on my 216 as now I'm using a SS screw like so many of you who have also lost a couple of those not-so-cheap sail stops.
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