Over the winter we thought we had lost the sliding device which allows the slugs from the main sail to be removed from the mast. Fortunately we found it nearby but the bolt which holds it to the mast was missing. As well as struggling to find the right sized bolt I am unsure which way round the sliding device should be mounted on the mast. If anyone can send me a photo or describe how it should look and operate I would be most grateful.

Dear Keith

I don't have a photo, and we shan't be on Delphine to take one until next weekend at the earliest - but I thought I'd try a description. Our device is a rectangular plate with one of the shorter edges rounded to form a short section at right angles to the main plate. There's a slot in the main plate and a threaded hole in the mast. From memory, I guess the hole is M6 - but this could be wrong!

The plate sits on the mast with the short edge in the groove in the mast, and the slot in the main plate lined up over the threaded hole in the mast. You need a bolt through the slot in the plate into the threaded hole (ours has an Allen key head but a pan or rounded screw head would do just as well). The slot allows the plate to slide a little bit from one side to the other, and the bolt should be tightened so that the plate is as far across the groove in the mast as possible, this reducing its width so that sail slugs can't fall out. We had an early problem on Delphine that one of the sail slugs came out easily, and we solved this by releasing the bolt, sliding the plate as far as it would go across the groove in the mast, and then re-tightening it.

Your experience has made me think that it would be a good idea to identify a spare bolt, as it would be very easy to drop and lose the one in the mast!

Best wishes

Gilliane

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Dear Gilliane

Thanks for such a detailed reply. A photo next week would be most kind. I think the thread on our hole in the mast has enlarged and so we need to rethread it. While it is not secure we have had to tape the plate in place. We have also tied some thin line to the plate and to the mast so that if it comes away we don't lose it over the side.

Thanks once again.

Kind regards

Keith

Dear Keith

I took a couple of photos yesterday of the mast fitting and attach them herewith. One is taken looking slightly from the starboard side and the other (with the bottom accidentally chopped off - the light was too bright to see what I was taking!) dead behind. I think they're self-explanatory, but do say if anything's not clear...

Best wishes

Gilliane

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Hi Gilliane

Thank you for taking the time to photograph your slider - ours is quite different and I shall post a photo of it in due course. One of the main differences appears to be the way the device is held to the mast, ours has simply been bolted in whereas yours seems to be a kind of thumbscrew with allen key tightener which looks much better than ours. Thanks again for your help.

Best Wishes

Keith

Dear Keith

I realise that the description of the mast fitting in my first post was a bit inadequate, in that I didn't explain that the main part of the plate was shaped to fit the profile of the mast. Looking at the photo, the curve in the plate is obvious, and the position of the fitting has some lateral tolerance because it can be moved sideways underneath the bolt prior to tightening the bolt. As I mentioned, we've found it important to locate it as far across the mast groove as possible, so that it reduces the width of the groove at this wide point (ie the point at which the sliders can be introduced when the fitting isn't in place). The top of this wide groove is visible just above the fitting in each photo, and it can seen that the effect of the fitting is to reduce the wide groove to be the same width as the groove in the rest of the mast. The sliders can therefore move up and down past the fitting with the same constraint as they experience elsewhere on the mast, and are no more likely to pull out here than elsewhere.

Best wishes

Gilliane

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