I’m building a skerry with the gunter sloop rig (same as passage maker). I am confused about the mast cap. I can’t quite make out the orientation in the photos in the manual. Is the large hole oriented fore-aft or athwartship? I don’t see anything that is supposed to go through that hole. Am I missing something?
Thanks, Mike
To answer your question about the hole it is for the halyard. In the case of the Gunter sloop it should be fore and aft and you can see that in the photo. For the lug rig it’s a port starboard since the lug yard is alongside the mast.
Of course with the lug like mine it’s a hole bored in the rectangular section wood mast so you do want to make sure before firing up the drill. 
I leaned toward the lug, but my high school grandson (part time assistant) insisted he needed the sloop rig so he could practice at home for the team.
Given how slippery the skerry hull is and the size of the sloop rig, he’d better be ready to hike vigorously in gusty weather. It’s not a planing hull so once there’s enough breeze, it’s likely faster to reef the main than try to hike hard. You just start digging a bigger hole in the water, not go much faster. I reef the lug in more than 10 knots true most of the time.
