Mainsail track stop

20th-century boat, meet 21st-century 3D printer

On my Tanzer 29, the track for the mainsail sheet is just aft of the companionway. When I bought it, there were no end stops, which made trimming the main a real pain. Previous Owner told me that the original stops were made of wood and in bad shape, so he took them off. Then I bought the boat before he could replace them.

He had trouble replacing them for the same reason I did: Nobody makes parts for a track that over’s 30 years old. If somebody does, I couldn’t find them on the internet. I’m not even sure who made the track.

I told this fascinating story to my friend Steve. He reminded me that he has a few 3D printers. Funny thing about 3D printers, they’re like tattoos, you start with one then end up with several.

So I took some measurements and sketched it out. Here’s the result.

Steve printed them in UV-resistant filament, black with sparkles! Here’s what one of them looks like installed with the original screw and some butyl tape.

Gotta say, for version 1 it’s pretty good. It’s a big improvement over nothing at all. It fits well enough and does the job solidly. But for version 2, I’d round out end of the stop that meets the track. When I took my original measurements, I didn’t notice that the end of the track is slightly rounded.

At your service

Humbly yours,

Marc, Supreme Purser