Mast stopper coming out

[saltygirl]

The mast stopper that holds up the sail slides in our mast keeps coming out.  We have bought a new one and even tried loctight on it.  It comes out when we lower the main or reef our sail.  Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.  We have a 1998 34 mk

[Noah]

Not sure what kind of "stopper" you have, but IMO ditch it and drill/tap a 3/8 round head SS bolt into the track and use Tefgel or Lanacoat on it so you CAN remove it when you need to remove the slides.

[Ron Hill]

salty : Take your threaded "mast stopper" and get a stainless bolt one size larger and screw it into the stripped threads in that hole!

A thought

[Craig Illman]

or consider making this modification to bring your slides down to the boom:  http://www.mastgates.com/

Craig

[Ted Pounds]

or consider making this modification to bring your slides down to the boom:  http://www.mastgates.com/

Craig

I'll second that.     I got a fixed mastgate for my Gloucester 19 (The slot on a small boat consumes more relative slide space so they're even more important on a smaller boat).  Took a little bit of filing and grinding to get the fit just right, but I couldn't be happier with it.  My mainsail cover fits better and reefing is easier.   

[Stu Jackson]

Unless you have jack lines on the bottom of the luff of your main sail, you will not get a good reef with either a single or double line reefing system unless you use a mast gate.  Best thing developed for those with tracks and slugs.

Even with a rams horn for the luff, the install slot is too high for the single reef luff point unless your first reef is really deep.

Get a mast gate.  You'll love it.  Makes slugs "almost" like having  real track system!!!

[saltygirl]

Thank you for all of the suggestions! I have contacted mastgate.  :-)  hopefully I won't be scrabbling on the deck to retrieve the mast stopper soon!!

[Noah]

Stu alluded to a track system "almost as good as track system". My Tides Strong system works very well and allows slides to come almost all the way down to the boom. However, it is considerably more bucks than a Mast Gate, but also solves the mast groove friction issue--which is a big benefit for me.