Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
Boomkicker should be at the very bottom, while pop top will be higher once stepped. We also had a sliding boom, so the cleat for downhaul was between vang and pop top bracket.
before I step the mast, what do I insert into the mast channel?
Nothing, it seems to me. All of those things can be inserted after the mast is up, so you can see how they should be arranged. You might also want to add a few "sail stops" (pictured on left below)--one below the boom to hold it above the other things when you drop the sail, another just below the slot opening to make sure the boom gooseneck isn't pulled up and out of the opening as you raise the sail, and another above the opening to keep the slugs from falling out (assuming your sail has slugs).
The cleat for the downhaul is positioned in the track far enough below the opening, and above the boomkicker, so that the downhaul can tension the sail after it is hoisted to the top.
Then, if you expect to reef your main, you should look into "mast gates" from Catalina Direct... but we can get into that later.
Some fittings won't fit into the mast slot after the mast is up. I bought one similar to #2350 in Dave's post, and it wouldn't fit into the slot, so I ground the sides off it with a bench grinder until it fit. It was aluminum, and easy to grind. I think it is unacceptable to have a fitting that you can only insert in the mast slot before the mast is raised. It's better to either buy a fitting that will work, or modify it. Then, if you ever want to change it, you can do it without lowering the mast.
I noticed you mentioned a downhaul cleat is positioned in the track. there's a cleat that fits in the slot??
Thanks Steve for mentioning that some of the sail stops will not fit into the upper slot in mast, that is what I gathered from readin how others did it.
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.