Sailgate (Mastgate)
This has been a project on my list since day one and it has required probably more thinking than doing. My motivation is to eliminate the jack lines on my sail and to make reefing easier. Also, when I put the cover on the sail it goes on easier because the slugs go all the way down.

After searching on the internet and finding a couple of ones you can buy for specific boats and seeing a couple of home built ones I decided to make my own.

Ordinary carpet bar
 It's pretty thick and angled just right for the mast Cut a thin slice off the edge to fit in the cutout of the mast groove After a little filing or grinding it should fit just right Using small screws, attach the small piece to the larger one.
I started with a $5 aluminum carpet bar I got at the hardware store. I cut two pieces that were slightly longer than the groove in the mast track. I then cut two slivers of the rounded edge and filed them down so they fit in the cut out area of the mast track. The next step was to find some very small machine screws to attach the sliver to the main piece of aluminum. The smaller piece fits up against the rounded edge of the larger piece. I then drilled holes in the sliver, slightly smaller than the screws and used the screws to tap the threads. Aluminum is soft enough to do this.

 

The rounded edges align perfectly to match the curve of the slug
 Edge view
 Grind off the bottom of the screw
 I removed some of the bar that would be sticking out
 Drill and tap the holes on the mast, elongate the holes on the sailgate.
After screwing the two pieces together I ground off the bottom part of the screw that was sticking out. I also cut the excess part of the gate to make narrower so that it would hug the mast better. The angle on the carpet bar is perfect for matching the curve of the mast. Next, I drilled and tapped the mast. I used a fine machine thread (32) so the screws would have more grip. The mast is not that thick. Drill the holes in the sailgate slighly larger and elongate them so the gate can slide out of the way when it is open.

 

Use bleeder caps epoxied to hex head machine bolts Attached to mast in closed position
 A large slug is retained with just one side of the gate installed Gate opened
 Gate closed
To make it easier to open and close, I created some thumb screws using a bleeder valve cap and a regular hex head bolt. I put the bolt in the cap with some epoxy. I taped the hole in the bleeder valve cap to prevent the epoxy from dripping out. I the pictures above I only have one side installed because when I tested it I had a large slug and one side kept the slug securely in the track.

 

Both sides installed, only one needs to open.
Here it is on the boat and I added the other side because the slugs in my main are smaller and both sides are needed to hold them in. Only one side needs to open so the other side is just screwed in tight. It works great and the aluminum is thick enough so that even when pulling on the slugs hard it does not budge. It even looks nice too!