[C38] Mast gate

[Tom T.]

Hello Max,

I did exactly what you are describing.  I fabricated two gates to fill the sides of the slot.  The gates were made from aluminum hammered round and a filler piece was pop riveted to make the inside of the slot flush with the mast.

The two gates were held by stainless #10 hex head screws, one on each filler gate. 

When I lowered my mainsail, about half of the sail lugs were below the gate.

The trick to fabricating the gates is to make the inside piece absolutely flush with the slot so the lugs don't bind.  Properly fabricated,  the lugs don't even notice the gate.

With the gate fillers, the mainsail will stow very tightly and lower on the boom. 

We also often had a tarp over the boom for shade when not sailing and by making the sail tighter and lower on the boom it kept the sun tarp more horizontal and closer to the cabin top for a neater appearance and less windage.

Tom Troncalli



----- Original Message ----- 
From: Max Soto 
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Sent: 1/12/2011 12:31:17 PM 
Subject: [C38] Mast gate


Hi there,


Have anyone installed a mast gate on the track  instead of the small square aluminum block and bolt???


I want to get rid of this in order to take the slides on the track as down as possible to the goosenek area and  lower the stack height.  I'm going to start the sail-pack mainsail cover project, and I'll save a few inches on the cover by doing this, so It won't work as the "fourth reef", as some have stated!!

Catalina direct has some for other catalinas, but of course, not for the 38...
Regards,

Max Soto
C38 #198 ESTANCIA
Puntarenas, Costa Rica
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