Puget sailor
Member II
In processing of considering Tides track vs Allslip slides in my current track, I've been racking my brain trying to figure out why the track has a stopper 10" above the boom, requiring a good back-stretch to reach the headboard when the sail is down. (I like to loop the halyard end over it to keep the sail down when stowed) - It also makes the sail cover quite tall on the mast. Suddenly this morning while shaving I had the thought that it must be so one can remove the track stopper, drop the slugs down to the boom, and then set a storm trisail above the now lowered main. But that still leaves me wondering why not just have a removeable gate closer up there so the main is always dropped to the boom when stowed, and then just open the gate to set a storm tri? Is there some other reason for this apparently typical mast track arrangement? If there is no good reason to keep the slugs elevated by that 10 inches, I'd love to get them down to the boom and make the new sail cover less tall too. What's the deal?