Genoa track on toe rail.

[Jeff PT403]

Is there anything wrong with putting the genoa track on top of the toe rail on my Triton?
And is the original 30" track ok or go with a new 4' or 5' track?

Thanks for your help.
Jeff

[Paulus]

My tracks (three of them) are all mounted on the toe rail.



The toerail is tall enough to acomodate 2.5" brass screws and is connected with through-bolts to the plywood decking and deck-hull connection. I just moved one of the tracks a few feet aft to better position it for the current genoa configuration (from 100% to 135%) and I felt very comfortable screwing the track onto the solid teak toerail.

YMMV

[Figment]

I have 30" tracks on my toerail. Yes, getting nuts and washers behind those screws is significantly difficult. Those tracks are the ONLY thing that did not get removed from the boat during the deck recore and paintjob. The need to remove and reinstall those tracks persuaded me away from doing a nice wooden toerail when I had the opportunity.

Having said that, I do love having one less thing cluttering/obstructing the side deck.

I originally planned to extend these tracks for ease of use across a range of sail sizes as you suggest, but in actual practice this hasn't been necessary, or even (I think) desireable.
I normally fly a 160 from these tracks, but I could easily fly a 135 from the same tracks, it would just have a higher clew, which makes sense in a 135 anyway.
Anything smaller than that really wants to be sheeted to a track farther inboard anyway, because you're no longer constrained by the shrouds and spreaders, so I have secondary tracks mounted on the side deck, up against the cabin, farther forward.

In all of this, bear in mind that the foretriangle of the (fractional rig) Triton sail plan is rather small. Huge efforts and much devotion to fine-tuning the trim of the jib really don't impact the boat very much at all. The much larger mainsail pays better dividends.

[CharlieJ]

Yah!! I can login again!!

Tehani's tracks are screwed onto her toerails, where they've been for 50 years now.

[Rachel]

Welcome back, Charlie :)

[CharlieJ]

Thanks Rachel. May not be a frequent poster anymore, but I still read the site now and again.

See you in a bit-May 1 is coming at us like a freight train!!

[ILikeRust]

The tracks on my 1968 Pearson Wanderer are on top of the toe rail - I believe they are through-bolted, as is the entire toe rail.

[earlylight]

Paulus,

I hope you meant bronze screws and not brass. Brass will not last long in salt water.

[Paulus]

Paulus,

I hope you meant bronze screws and not brass. Brass will not last long in salt water.

Errrr.... bronze - you are correct - they are bronze, of course. Thanks for the correction.

[Jeff PT403]

How far back should it be? The old 30" one started about a foot back
from the cabin.

Jeff

[Quetzalsailor]

I think the sail tracks on Quetzal are bolted through the toe rails. I think the toe rails were bolted more sparingly for assembly where the tracks were to go and then tracks were bolted at closer spacing.

[Figment]

How far back should it be? The old 30" one started about a foot back
from the cabin.

Jeff

This is properly determined by finding the best sheeting angle for your particular sail, but just as a guide, my deck-sweeping 160 sheets to a point about even with the middle of the aft deadlight.