Mast Gates, Sail stops and Cunninghams?

[bellsailing]

As a recent owner of a Catalina 22 I have learned a lot already but obviously need to learn much more. I don't quite understand the placement of the sail stops and cunningham in reference to the mast gates. There is also a stop with a hook (?) in the track that is located at the very foot of the mast. Should the sail stops be above/below the mast gate. Currently, as I raise the mainsail the slides move thru the mast gates and more often than not escape!If there is someone who can direct me to a picture, explanation or online explanation it would be greatly appreciated.

Bellsail
Marblehead

 

[Stu Jackson]

Hi, glad you asked, and welcome

The hook is to hold the pop top up and should be below the sail stop. It's great that you have mast gates because they keep the slugs from falling out. The sail stop should be below the mast gates.

To get the most information you possibly can for your C22, I suggest going to the Catalina 22 Association website: www.catalina22.org

We had a C22 and loved her very much, sailed all over the SF Bay and Delta and Clear Lake for many seasons. Great boat.

 

[jviss]

Terminology

This post was originally confusing to me. To every other sailor in the world, a sail stop is a rope or pice of fabric that is used to tie a furled sail to the boom.

I think what you need is a gate for the opening in the mast where the slugs enter the groove. You can make one out of a piece of aluminum or stainless (aluminum is better, no electrolytic corrosion - use aluminum screws, too).

I don't know why you'd have a Cunningham on a non-racing boat, you can just use the halyard to adjust luff tension.

 

[Stu Jackson]

It appears that the boat already HAS

mast gates, the sail slug stop and the pop top hook. Having the mast gates already is great! You're right that sail stops are usually for what you describe, but in this case it's almost the same terminology used for a different application for a trailer sailor. For small boat, you're right again by using the halyard, but if the cunningham cringle is there, it could be rigged, because if the halyard is non-stretch, them the cunningham has its advantages.

 

[bellsailing]

sail stop or sail tie?

Thanks for the reply!

I was curious as to your inquiry concerning sail stop vs. sail tie.
At the following link http://catalinadirect.com/index.cfm? under sail stop (or google sail stop) you see a picture of a mast sail stop. I always believed a "sail tie" was the correct terminology for the ties that lash the mainsail to the boom.

The boat already had a set of mast gates installed. I don't think they were installed properly for the slugs pop out as the sail passes through. Is this normal?

The boat came with the hardware for a cunningham. I will not race the boat but the previous owner obviously did.

thanks

 

[jviss]

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Bellsail, thanks, but I hardly consider Catalina Direct an authorative source on nautical terminology. "Sail ties" is a common, but traditionally incorrect term for a sail stop.

The gates aren't working, obviously. The slugs popping out is not normal.

A Cunningham is used to tighten the luff without exceeding the maximum luff length dictated by the class rules. It's also handy on small boats. Perhaps you could use the tackle as a boom vang, if you don't have one, which would be much more useful.

 

[j]

Sail ties/stops

If you go to WM, Defender, or I imagine anywhere else in this country and ask for "sail stops", you are not going to get something to tie your sail to the boom. You are going to get a piece of hardware designed to stop the slugs from falling out the bottom of the mast slot or track. Look it up under "sail track stop" in the WM catalog, or the same at Defender. While you're at it you may take a look at the North Sails website, where I bought my present set of "sail ties", you know, those webbing things you tie down the main with.

 

[jviss]

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Well, if you care to participate in, or contribute to the complete demise of our nautical historical culture, go right ahead! I suppose you also call your deck the topsides of your boat? And what do you call those small lines attached to the sail that you use to neaten up a reefed sail? Sail ties?

I, for one, am not going to join the McDonalds of boating in attempting to redefine centuries of English language traditional nautical terminology in their effort to reach the unwashed masses' money.

As far as North Sails goes, shame on them! Gee, that's quite a deal, $24. for about 40' of North Sails advertising on your boat! (Consider that you can buy 100 yards of 1" white UV-resistant heavy duty nylon webbing for $18., and make you own, in any length you need (which is what I did). Did North at least put a twist in the loop so you can easily thread the other end in?)

 

[j]

Sail ties etc.

I,ve been sailing for over fifty years, and I know the difference between the deck and the topsides. But if it will make you happy I will agree that you are right. The marine hardware manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, as well as sailmakers are wrong, and you are right.

 

[jviss]

Thanks

J, you are correct, I am right, and the others you cited are not.

Another name for a sail stop, by the way, is gasket. Now I suppose you will tell me that a gasket is a flat piece of paper or cork or other such material used for sealing up mating surfaces in engines and pumps and such.