Hi Stillsailing, 1. Where on the boat are you looking? At the mast? In the mast track I have two blocks, one for the downhaul and one for the spinnaker halyard. 2. Again, not sure what you are looking at, the only tracks on my boat are for the jib sheet block. 3. the only twist shackle I can think of is the downhaul. It has a double block, and it attaches to the tack of the main sail and runs through the preventer to the two little cheek blocks on the mast. 4. Yeah, that can happen when the mast doesn't stay turned 90deg while raising or lowering the mast. As Tom says, you MUST have the ball pinned when you raise or lower the mast. I leave mine in with no ill effects. I rather like the idea that the mast can't dislocate in case of a turtle. Which happened this last weekend.
Todd
_________________ Todd Hobie 21SE Bellingham, WA
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