(nautical) a
track on a
mast, used to attach a
sail. The
sail has
clips or slides on one
edge which move up and down the
track when the
sail is raised and lowered. This
type of
track is used on sailboats with a
Marconi rig, an arrangement of sails which uses a very tall
mast. (The
term Marconi rig comes from the
fact that tall masts originally required a considerable number of
cables to support and brace them, resembling the early antennae used by Guglielmo
Marconi [1874--1937], Italian
physicist and inventor of the first
practical radio transmitter and
receiver.) Prior to the invention of the Marconi
track, sails were attached to the masts with ropes, hoops, etc. But you
read all about how the tracks to the front of the
sail as they attach it to the
mast-not to go
technical on you-how these little
gimmicks that they put on the
sail to go up the Marconi
track, how they tear
loose in storms and
jam sideways and make it necessary for people to get up and climb up masts, which is impossible.
a metal
track on a boat
mast by which the
sail is attached to the
mast. Metal fasteners are attached to the
sail, and slide in the
track when the
sail is raised or lowered. ...how these little
gimmicks that they put on the
sail to go up the Marconi
track...
- Study and Intention (18 Aug. 66) a
reference to a strong strip of metal
fixed to the
mast of a sailboat and to which the
sail is attached. Attached to the
edge of the
sail are small metal
clips or connectors which are designed to slide up and down the
track, supposedly making it easier to raise and lower a
sail.
Marconi is the name of the system or arrangement of masts and sails on a
ship, of which this
track is a part. The name comes from the similarity of the tall, slender
mast in the system to a radio antenna designed by Italian inventor Guglielmo
Marconi (1874-1937).