Mastgates vs Slug Stopper

[CaptGregg]

I've carried my Catalina 22 out twice this month and had a blast each time but I don't know if I am rigging my mast and boom incorrectly but the sail slugs for the mailsail go both above and beyond the cut out with at least one slug of the sail free of the mast if not two. My mast sits on one of the three cleats mounted on my mast. It's like the mailsail is too big for the mast but my mainsail has my hull number on it and the C22 logo. Anybody want to share some thoughts?

 

[caguy]

I made some ss mast gates because I did not like having to remove the stop and two slugs when I wanted to reef, especially when it gets snotty out there.
Other than reefing the slug stops were not an issue.

 

[centerline]

I think I understand your problem... if so, here is what I did...
my mast had about an 8 inch slot to feed the sail slugs into... and it was above the boom gooseneck about 18 inches..... I have 16 sail slugs and whan the sail was down it would bot all fit in the lower portion of the track below the feed slot, and i had to manually pass the slugs to keep them in the track, both up and down.... it was a pain!
so i took a leather mallot and closed the entire feed slot (the aluminum is soft and closes easily..... i then took a plastic wedge and opened another feed slot about 6inches above the gooseneck, that is only 4 inches long. then I made a slug stopper and installed it after feeding the slugs in the track...... now my mainsail goes up and down without coming out of the mast.... and I can get the sail cover to fit it better when its down...

 

[caguy]

I think I understand your problem... if so, here is what I did...
my mast had about an 8 inch slot to feed the sail slugs into... and it was above the boom gooseneck about 18 inches..... I have 16 sail slugs and whan the sail was down it would bot all fit in the lower portion of the track below the feed slot, and i had to manually pass the slugs to keep them in the track, both up and down.... it was a pain!
so i took a leather mallot and closed the entire feed slot (the aluminum is soft and closes easily..... i then took a plastic wedge and opened another feed slot about 6inches above the gooseneck, that is only 4 inches long. then I made a slug stopper and installed it after feeding the slugs in the track...... now my mainsail goes up and down without coming out of the mast.... and I can get the sail cover to fit it better when its down...

That works on the Mac but Catalina cut away, a big ass slot that may be fine for a bolt rope but way to big for slugs.

 

[Bilbo]

I've carried my Catalina 22 out twice this month and had a blast each time but I don't know if I am rigging my mast and boom incorrectly but the sail slugs for the mailsail go both above and beyond the cut out with at least one slug of the sail free of the mast if not two. My mast sits on one of the three cleats mounted on my mast. It's like the mailsail is too big for the mast but my mainsail has my hull number on it and the C22 logo. Anybody want to share some thoughts?

The "Official" way is to raise the mainsail completely to the top of the mast and then fasten down the downhaul. I don't do this. My Downhaul is fixed regularly and then the main is about 5 or 6" below the top of the mast. In this position the leech of the main doesn't touch the backstay. When I fasten the sail to the boom and mast all of my sail slugs are above the slot opening. I insert a sail slug about 2" above the slot. My slug has a thin line attached to it so that IF it slips, it won't go overboard. With this setup I can put my mainsail cover over the sail and I can do a single line reef but my sail slug must be tightened down well or the slug will give way. We don't reef often around here.
~bilbo
N.E. Ohio

 

[GorillaToast]

I prefer the mastgate. But then, I keep my boat in a slip and don't have to remove the sail each time I go sailing. It's the only way to go if you want to do single-line reefing from the cockpit.

 

[Bilbo]

I prefer the mastgate. But then, I keep my boat in a slip and don't have to remove the sail each time I go sailing. It's the only way to go if you want to do single-line reefing from the cockpit.

I'm not against the idea of the mastgate one bit but I'd say that the sail slug works just fine on mine as I described in the post above. My biggest issue with single line reefing is that the draft of the sail is loose because it needs to be fastened to the boom at the other reefing cringles. This is done pretty easily if one has a few thinner lines for this purpose at the ready. Luckily, when I put my main on the boom at the end of a day's sail, I have a few of them to organize the main before I cover it with the sail cover.


In one of the above posts, a person mentions taking a rubber mallet and a plastic wedge to a mast. Now that, I don't recommend.:naughty: Aluminum may bend fairly easily but the fatigue that this bending and banging causes is really pretty bad for the mast.

 

[Chris Patterson]

if u start banging shut the slot on a Catalina mast, you will be buying another mast...

 

[CaptGregg]

Well I am headed out again Thursday, more of the same ole grind, I'll see how high my mainsail is going up the mast, I pull it up till it stops and tie it off... it's gotta be going all the way up I'm sure. But I'm finding too much of the sail below the cut out along with the boom. Being as there is a cleat in the way, I don't see how my mainhaul is doing any good.

 

[Bilbo]

Well I am headed out again Thursday, more of the same ole grind, I'll see how high my mainsail is going up the mast, I pull it up till it stops and tie it off... it's gotta be going all the way up I'm sure. But I'm finding too much of the sail below the cut out along with the boom. Being as there is a cleat in the way, I don't see how my mainhaul is doing any good.

I'd be curious if the roach of your main is contacting the backstay when the sail is up all the way. Some have this problem.

With my setup, all of the main sail slugs are above the cut-out. The sail is attached at the boom tack fitting. Below that, there is a stopper (Screw with slug) in the mast slot and my boom rests above that with the downhaul fastened at a cleat below that screw stopper. In the slot below that is my pop-top lock and then the boomkicker fitting.

 

[watercolors II]

Cleat is adjustable

The mast cleats on your mast, the two on the sides are attached to the mast with screws or fine threaded bolts permanently. The third cleat, the one in the sail slot that will not let your boom down lower for the sail to fit the mast is attached to a round rod that will slide up and down in the this sail slot. Just loosen the two attachment bolts and the cleat can be lowered to whatever area below the sail slot you desire. I would put it high enough so that it doesn’t come in contact with the cabin top when the mast is lowered to your mast crutch.

A sail stop above the mast sail slot will only cause you problems when reefing as so described by others, with mast gates this problem is solved. With mast gates and this adjustable sail slot cleat set as low as suggested allows me to lower the mainsail about another foot when the wind picks up. Now this lowers the boom in the cockpit a foot but, this lower sail setting also lowers the center of gravity on the whole boat without having to reef so early, gives me another option. Light winds set your mainsail as high as possible and high winds as low as possible.

 

[CaptDon01]

Mast Gates

Here is a link to the best and easiest solution for mast gates:

http://mastgates.com/

Tom is a trailer-sailor from Vancouver Washington. Great guy to do business with.

Don

 

[Chris Patterson]

Yeah Gregg, both of these guys are right. If you lower all the stuff,(cleats, pop top latch,etc.), down the mast, the boom will almost touch the cabin top. I'm constantly adjusting mine to find the "sweet spot". All of that stuff is infinitely adjustable. Lay your sail out, and measure the luff. If it's longer than, say about 24' 6", somethings screwballed. On this one, the mast measures 24' 11". (just the aluminum part, minus masthead).

 

[Bilbo]

The Luff of the standard factory C22 main should be no longer than 21'.

Mast extrusion only for the first generation Catalina 22. Its 25' length matches masts used on boats built until late 1985 (through hull #13142).

Mast extrusion only for the second and third generation Catalina 22 and the Catalina 22 Sport. Its 24' 9" length corresponds to the slightly higher deck introduced on boats built in late 1985 (hull #13143) and later.

Then the C22 organization site mentions banding the mast :
(1) Mast - the lower band on the mast must be placed so the top edge of the band is at least 3 feet 6 inches above the mast step.(Old style boats)

This band is the lowest point where the top edge of the boom is allowed to be set to be "legal" for racing....not that I care about racing.

 

[Sea22]

Here is a link to the best and easiest solution for mast gates:

http://mastgates.com/

Tom is a trailer-sailor from Vancouver Washington. Great guy to do business with.

Don

Don, the removable external gate with the shock cord looks slick! I have mine in a marina and got the CD mast gates, but every time I trailer I am afraid I am going to loose drop one of the screws or the screwdriver etc. I wish I had found these first.

Being able to reef means I can sail at least 4-5 more weekends a year. I have done it both ways with sail track stops and mast gates, and I prefer the gates because the last thing I need is a reason to have to leave the cockpit. Maybe after I get an auto pilot that will change.

 

[allen-deckard]

http://www.catalinadirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=167&ParentCat=148

This is what I use just above the gate one slug goes below the gate the stopper just above the gate then the rest of the slugs above.

The stopper stays in all the time and my sail cover its over my sail flaking without any issue.


Disregard everything that i just wrote if i got what your problem is wrong and this isnt what your trying to fix.

 

[ShotgunSlim]

I've had the same problems trying to adjust the boom height to keep the sail slugs from falling out of the slot so I bought the mast gates from CD but haven't installed them yet. I was thinking about mounting one side with the stainless steel screws to the mast and then machining the screw holes on the other one into slots and using knurled thumb screws. Getting the adjustable gate properly aligned and then making some reference marks would allow me to move one side without any tools to take the mast down but give me repeatable accuracy when putting everything back together the next time. I haven't made any metal shavings yet but does this sound like something to be tried or avoided?

 

[Bilbo]

I've had the same problems trying to adjust the boom height to keep the sail slugs from falling out of the slot so I bought the mast gates from CD but haven't installed them yet. I was thinking about mounting one side with the stainless steel screws to the mast and then machining the screw holes on the other one into slots and using knurled thumb screws. Getting the adjustable gate properly aligned and then making some reference marks would allow me to move one side without any tools to take the mast down but give me repeatable accuracy when putting everything back together the next time. I haven't made any metal shavings yet but does this sound like something to be tried or avoided?

It sounds like a good idea if the knurled thumb screws would hold. One issue though is that I think that the gates are designed to extend above and below the cut-out so that they would have no way of opening any further. I'd check on that before cutting any slot opening..

 

[ShotgunSlim]

According to the instructions, the gates are made "long" to accomodate the different lengths of sail slots since they were machined pretty much by hand. They give you good details on how to grind the ends of the rod part to where they fit tightly top to bottom in the sides of the sail track. My thought was to hand fit both sides, attach one side with the enclosed screws and use thumb screws on the other side. That would allow one gate to be loosened enough for sails and hardware to pass through without having to take it completely off. The idea of milling slots in the gate was my second idea if the first one didn't work too well. Since all I do is trailer sail, any step toward a speedy set up and take down would be most welcome.