Boats hardware system

Claim 1

A hardware system for boats which resists torque tending to rotate said hardware around a rail comprising a hinged pair of opposing massive plastic discrete unitary members, said opposing members including mounting means distributed around the periphery thereof, whereby a device may be mounted on one of said opposing members, each of said discrete members having a single straight semi-circular cove consisting of a single smooth internal bore with no branching channels formed across a width of said plastic unit, said straight cove being shaped and dimensioned to fit over a correspondingly shaped exclusively straight section of a boat's rail, friction means comprising a rubber-like plug embedded in a hole located at substantially the central point of the bottom of said cove for creating torque-resisting friction between said massive plastic members and said boat's rail, and clamping means comprising a bolt with a large diameter head which can be tightened by hand without requiring tools for clamping said rail in said cove with a force which compresses said plug between said members and said rail, said bolt extending through both of said members, thereby securing said members on said rail wherein at least one smooth longitudinal rib means is formed in said cove to more precisely fit the cove to a rail, said rib means forming a section which gives a customized fit for said cove if the rail has a cross section that does not exactly match the cross section of the cove, whereby the rib means fill the space between said cove and said rail but do not bite into or mar the rail.