Track and slide assembly for sailboats

A track and slide assembly for a sailboat provided with a mast, a boom and a sail whose luff is coupled to the slides, whereby when the sail is raised on the mast, the slides ride up the track;

• and when the sail is lowered, the slides then ride down the mast;
• said assembly comprising:
• (a) a track attachable to the mast so that its outer face is exposed, said track having formed along its full length a slideway slot having a cruciform cross section to define a major channel of substantially uniform width that extends into the track below its face and a minor channel that is spaced from the face and intersects the major channel at right angles thereto;
• and
• (b) a set of slides riding on the track, each slide having a cylindrical post having a diameter substantially equal to the width of the major channel that slides within the major channel, and a disc-shaped runner integral with the post and intersecting the post at right angles thereto at a position corresponding to that of the minor channel, so that the runner slides within the minor channel, said slide also being rotatable 360 degrees within the slideway slot, whereby the slide does not bind to the track when a torque force is applied to the slide by the sail, each slide post terminating in a head that projects above the face of the track to which is hinged a link that is connectable to the luff of the sail, the link being rotatable 180 degrees relative to the head.