Hi!
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to go out sailing much these last few weeks, so I decided to work on a small improvement for my clever23 in the meantime.
I learned the first few times how annoying is when the slugs come out of the mast when lowering the mainsail or reefing. I used a bungee cord to prevent this, and I learned about mast stoppers in other post.
However, this would leave the slugs too high for me, so that the first reef cringle would not reach the hook. I had to remove the coord to put the first reef.
There are some mast gate designs online. Those are a way to close the mast entry so the slugs can go fully down without leaving the mast. But most of them require drilling the mast.
I recently got a 3d printer so, I decided to make my own. And here is the result!
Two 80mm tall C-shape clips that can be inserted into the mast. Pressing laterally a bit they pop up.
I tried lot of small variations to adjust the flexibility. It’s quite sensitive. I don’t know if all clever 23 are identical. My mast feeders also do not interfere with it.
I haven’t tested yet outside of the harbour. So consider it a prototype. I will probably update it a bit after I find some crew and the time to go sailing again.
If you have access to a 3D printer, you can download the model yourself at
https://www.printables.com/model/1824367-mast-gate-for-sailboat-sportina-680-clever-23
Or if you sail near Amsterdam, invite for a drink or a sail. I can print a few spare ones if I have filament left.
Enjoy!