an axis substantially parallel to the mast 20 because the headboard car 28 travels smoothly along the bearings between the channels 460 and 310 the sail 30 can be raised and lowered with a halyard not shown attached to the headboard car 28 in contrast to conventional sails which are raised with halyards attached directly to the head 38 or the headboard 29 sails 30 coupled to headboard cars 28 in embodiments of the present invention do not need sail slides to ensure smooth travel of the sail up and down the mast as a result sails 30 raised with headboard cars 28 configured with luff extrusions 300 of the present invention do not suffer from the compression and torque induced friction that locks sail slides into place in a preferred embodiment the headboard car 28 is made of aluminum or any other suitably strong light and corrosion resistant material the guide 452 is wide enough and long enough to substantially accommodate the luff extrusion 300 for example the arms 454 may be about five inches long and spaced about two inches apart the edges of the headboard car 28 may be beveled chamfered and or radiused as appropriate fig7 is a plan view of an alternative mast track cross section 500.