jib track placement

[Dan Maliszewski]

Just removed my old bronze jib tracks and will replace them with Schaeffer racing tracks at 4" centers. They are mounted on the toerail, but the 1/4-20 FH mounting screws are THREADED into the toerail and a bent washer/nut is used as a backer. Slick, strong and no leaks in 40 years. Someone had their thinking cap on! Also, the first foot or so of the tracks are straight on both ends. Like steam bending wood, the ends are impossible to bend in situ. With longer bolts, the old track might even make a nice backer plate, full length. Nah, on second thought......

[Dan Maliszewski]

Just now today we finished fitting the Schaeffer racing tracks onto the toerails of Adele M. We used the old threaded holes in the toerail, sort of , as not all of them lined up, and put washers and nuts up under. For the ones that did not line up, I redrilled them with a #7 drill bit and threaded them for 1/4-20 threads. I coated the threads with polysulphide caulk.

Bending was easier than I thought it would be. Started at the forward end, put in one bolt at a time gently bending the track to stay centered above the rail, drilling and tapping as necessary, and secured the end caps with 12-24 FH screws. The track is surprisingly flexible. Also put in a harken traveler, set on varying height pvc tubing stubs, which worked great.

[Theis]

You might want to consider more than just washers under the track. With the original Pearson issue track, I have had both pulled through the deck,taking the deck with them. Today I have a stainless plate, about an inch wide, extending beyond the length of the track.

The principal problem occurs when the car is at either end of the track. The strain can pop the first through hole, then the second - right down the line.

My tracks are on the deck, so the problem may be worse than on the toe rail, but it is still something to think about. Particularly, with the minimal width of the toe rail, the washers can't be that big, I would imagine.

[Dan Maliszewski]

The crazy thing is, the original track used the same bolts, and about half of them had NO nuts or washers on them. None had popped through or were even loose, but the rail is 1/4" thick and sometimes more at the crown. I put 3/4" washers, bent into a curve, on each one, except those too near bulkheads or hull sections. The track is eight feet long, and the way my sails are cut I will be not using the end positions, so it should be ok.
For deck mounts, that s/s backer plate sounds like a good fix.

[commanderpete]

Had the same problem as Dan. The holes in my old Schaefer track didn't quite line up with the holes in my new Schaefer track. Both were supposedly 4" on center. Strange.

My track was deck mounted, not on the toerail. I don't think the boat came from the factory with genoa tracks, or maybe it was optional equiptment