All- I have the "old" style shroud adjusters on my T- they are like the front forestay adjuster- tubes w/ holes, w/ cleats attached to SS plates welded to the sides. I use the "stock AHPC" little SS plates that have 2 holes- one for the bolt at the bottom of the shroud adjuster and the other to attach the blocks to (has the line running through in the photo). Hopefully I can attach a picture of this. Much of the "side" load on the block from the spi is countered by the opposite "side" load from the sheet. The comment about the loads not being all that high is accurate- in Ocean Springs I was hand-holding the clew of the big (21 sq m) spi (it wasn't blowing all that hard but still..).
As for the skunk- I really like it versus the pole end snuffer in terms of windage and weight, but it's more expensive, more complicated to rig (with bag extending over or under tramp) and takes up most of the sailbox. Unfortunately, due to the size and stiffness of my original snuffer patches, neither the pole end snuffer nor the skunk have reliably "snuffed" either of my spis (although the skunk is easier to crawl forward and stuff the spi into if necessary!!)- Both are obviously able to snuff properly "patched" spis as witnessed by the Tornados (for the skunk) and Inters-
