Mast Gate

[Sabre27Admin]

Wingsofdawn
10 Posts

Posted - 02/07/2008 : 09:08:02
Good Morning,

Following a fortnight's sailing I now have several repairs / mods to make life a little easier. I would be grateful if anyone can offer advice on the following.

The mainsail has sliders which follow a track up the mast. I believe there should be a gate at the bottom of the mast to stop the sliders and sail popping out once on the track. This is missing on Wings of Dawn with just a mounting hole in its place. I have no idea what this looks like or where I can purchase one. As you can imagine it’s near impossible to hoist the sail without it. Could anyone send me a photo of there’s so I can have one made or advise where one could be purchased? Thanks in advance for any comments.
n/a
38 Posts

Posted - 08/07/2008 : 11:46:00
Hi Andrew,

Like most boats of this age, 1974, Sabres may have one of a number of makes and kinds of masts and in order to offer any solution we would need to know exactly what you have. If you mail a picture of the existing exit point including the gooseneck and boom to us via the website contact address we should be able to help.

I will e-mail you a non scale drawing of a typical entry/exit inc gate found on the Kemp mast of this period. It should be about 600mm above the boom.

Might I suggest that as you appear to be going to use Wings of Dawn regularly for a while, despite not being the owner, it would be in your interest to join our Association. It costs little as we are all unpaid volenteers that run it, but there are unavoidable expenses that are funded from members subscriptions. I will include my contact details in my e-mail should you wish to talk with us.

All the best and enjoy Wings of Dawn.

Paul Howard. Tech Officer S27OA
Edited by - n/a on 08/07/2008 11:48:56

NPMR
United Kingdom
59 Posts

Posted - 11/07/2008 : 16:04:18
'Huzzah' simply has a split pin through the track, below the bottom slider, to stop the sail falling out of the bottom of the track - the sail stays in the track but under the sail cover when 'parked'.
To reef, we simply pull out the split pin and allow some of the sail to drop out of the track.

Would this be feasible? Deadly simple!

joeschofield
19 Posts

Posted - 22/07/2008 : 20:40:50
I've been struggling with this one too. The pin through the track is so high that you can't get a good sail stow. What I'd like to do is get hold of the sail track section and extend it right down to the boom. Easier reefing and a tidier stow on the boom.

Does anyone know of a supplier that deals in these old mast track sections?

Paul: I'll try and take a picture this weekend.

Regards, Joe schofield

NPMR
United Kingdom
59 Posts

Posted - 23/07/2008 : 17:32:35
quote:
Originally posted by joeschofield
[br]I've been struggling with this one too. The pin through the track is so high that you can't get a good sail stow. What I'd like to do is get hold of the sail track section and extend it right down to the boom. Easier reefing and a tidier stow on the boom.

Does anyone know of a supplier that deals in these old mast track sections?

Paul: I'll try and take a picture this weekend.

Regards, Joe schofield

If all else fails you could get a bigger sailcover? It would certainly be more guaranteed.

Cheers

Nigel Ross
Huzzah

sabre27
178 Posts

Posted - 18/08/2008 : 08:57:54
Hi Joe, (and Nigel)

Our new member Andrew's gate problem is now solved, his section was a Kemp original with integral luff groove same as mine, so I sent him pics and drawings and a new gate was successfully made and fitted.

Yours and Nigels arrangement is quite common as will be it's shortcomings, so if you send your pics and any other info pertinent to this problem I will e-mail the entire membership and ask about the track section availability etc. This may bring some joy, we can but try!

All the best,

Paul Howard. Tech Officer


mturvey
United Kingdom
10 Posts

Posted - 19/09/2008 : 17:31:58
On Sabreon I had a gate in the integral track in the mast which was below the gooseneck. To take the sail off, I first dropped the gooseneck to this gate (which was itself just a widening of the track slot)and then, once the gooseneck was eased clear, the sail followed.

I say "had a gate" because I have just had to replace the boom (see other post on that adventure) and fit a modern gooseneck. The modern gooseneck does not unscrew and drop to the gate, so neither can the sail. Fortunately, Sabreon's mast track has a stainless cover over a small gate (formed by a widening to stbd of the track slot) about a foot above the boom. The un-fastening of the long-neglected small gate took some doing, but it's freed up now.

Mark


Mark Turvey
Sabreon; Fareham