Mast hoop toggle thingys

[Joe Dupere]

Although I'm pretty sure that's not the technical term! :D

A while back there was a thread about these. They are used instead of mast hoops, and are a short piece of line with a toggle spliced into one end, and an eye splice in the other. You run the eye splice end through the grommet in the sail, around the mast and then put the toggle into the eye splice. I cannot remember what they are called so I can't do a search on it. Does this ring a bell? I'd appreciate any help.

Thanks, Joe.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Toggle and becket?

Well, you can do it that way:

I I I I I I I

But if you do, the loops will jam on the mast when you hoist or lower.

If, on the other hand, you lead the line down to the loop on the next eye down and pass the toggle through that, and so on, so the line is going round and down the mast, it will never jam:

/ / / / / / /

This is the standard method of lacing a trysail to a mast, for that very reason.

An even simpler method, but only for mainsails, not trysails, as it has to be semi-permanent, is to use one continuous lacing, in which case it should lead forward and back on the same side of the mast

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

You can't do this with a trysail, as you don't want to be fussing with a long lacing in a rising gale, of course. But it's the method I've used for my mainsails for thirty years, now, and never a problem with it.

If you expect to remove the sail from the mast regularly, you are better with toggles and beckets.

[J. Dillon]

There called "Robands" and on my 18 footer they work great . Light, never scratch the mast , probably stronger then mast hoops and easy to make by any sailor in less then 5 minutes each. With the toggle and eye, easy to take off the mast at any point. Might be difficult to climb the mast on but on an 18' mast I don't need to.

JD

[Joe Dupere]

Robands, that's what I'm looking for. Thanks JD.
Andrew, the boat I want to use these on is a 16'
gaff rig that I trailer. If I was leaving it in the water for the season, I'd seriously consider lacing the sail. But I have to take the sail on and off every time I use the boat so I'm looking for some quicker way to manage it than the current mast hoop arrangement that my dad worked out.

Joe

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Good use for them. But take them round and down, diagonally, not horizontally, all the same.

I would not have called them robands, I would have called them beckets. I think of a roband as something that will not slide freely on the spar, but I may very well be wrong.