How does the gooseneck attach to the mast?

alpinista · **Posted:** 09 Feb 2012 20:30

I've always called the ones that drive with a screwdriver a screw, and the ones that drive with a wrench a bolt. But then there are lag bolts and lag screws, both driven with a wrench. Hmmmm

As for the Tides Track, I haven't been able to use it yet. It's installed, but when I removed the gooseneck fitting I found a bit of corrosion, so I sanded down the mast to bare metal. Now I'm waiting for warmer weather so I can prime and repaint before reinstalling the boom.

One issue with the track: they send you a three-inch piece of extrusion cut from the end of your track to test that the extrusion will fit your groove. You are supposed to pull the short piece up the groove to the masthead before attempting to install the track. The first problem is that you have to lengthen the keyway to at least three inches so the the test piece can slide into the groove. That was easy to do with an angle grinder and files. But when I tried to get the test piece of extrusion to slide into the groove there was no way. It was just not the right shape to fit.

My sailmaker had measured the groove with the supplied set of gauges and placed the order, so I was a bit puzzled about how we managed to get the wrong fit. We tried the actual track, but it would also not start into the groove. Finally, just before we started to box up the track to send back, we compared the test piece to the full track, and discovered that they were two different extrusions. The actual track was just slightly smaller. I decided to grind out another inch of the keyway and try the track again. That was the ticket, and it slid in and up to the masthead easily.

So here I sit, with a nice new fully battened loose-footed main, a new 135, a new spinny and sock, and lots of cold strong wind, but the boom is sitting on the side deck and the mast is waiting for 60 degree weather. =(

solen · **Joined:** 17 Sep 2009 00:00 **Posts:** 34

I removed a cleat on the mast that was snagging too much. The screws were "machine screws" intended to mate with a tapped hole - this would be stronger than self-cutting screws because there is limited stress in the metal.

I once had a Fiat 500 "Cinquecento" (the real thing not the modern one and w/o the beautiful woman with hats http://static.guim.co.uk/Guardian/arts/ ... tur-68.jpg)

The 500cc aluminum engine was bolted to the aluminum transmission and the bolts were worn out - less than 20HP was enough to get the thread to self destruct. That's less power than you get from your mainsail on a stormy day.

If you remove your boom consider re-tapping and resizing the bolts if there is ANY indication they are not tight.

Tartan37.com

How does the gooseneck attach to the mast?

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