The Barton 32mm Stainless Steel Sliding Cleat is designed to be fitted to 32mm genoa T-track to provide a temporary or emergency cleat amidships.

Barton explains that you “simply” remove the genoa track end stop and slide on the cleat, then lock it into place in the desired position.

A plunger fitted between the feet of the cleat does the job of locking it to the track, and it is quick to raise if you need to move the block along the track.

The unit is fitted with a spring to keep the block standing up and clear of any lines on the genoa track.

Barton already has a 32mm sliding cleat, but it used to be made from cast aluminium.

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The stainless-steel version that replaces it is stronger and has a lower, sleeker profile. And being stainless, it should keep that premium gleam for a good long time.

The new design has a safe working load of 1,490kg and measures 152mm.

It is a good-looking piece of design and should offer all the same benefits that made the previous generation successful.

The target market is boats from around 32-40ft LOA, whose sheet loads match those of Barton’s 32mm T-track. Older boats in particular may lack a dedicated midships cleat to make fast the springs.

The advantage of this system is that it requires no painful drilling into the deck or tapping bulwarks to fit.

Due to the height of the cleat above the track, it will clearly resist fore-and-aft forces better than lateral ones.

At £140.66 RRP, the price of the Barton 32mm stainless steel sliding cleat is a fraction higher than the old aluminium version.

But it doesn’t look like bad value for adding an extra capability to the boat.

A smaller version designed for 25mm T-track is available in moulded nylon with two different sizes: 165mm or 200mm.

Buy the Barton 32mm stainless steel sliding cleat from Jimmy Green Marine

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