Bending T track

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Peter2B

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I'm sailing solo a lot these days and am getting tired of running up to move the genoa cars, so want to fit towable cars which will necessitate replacing the tired old T track. The boat's an old IOR warhorse and has curved sheet tracks. Has anyone had experience with bending Lewmar's sliding bolt track? Is it even possible? Lewmar says "officially, no." I'd post a pic of my kinky track, but dunno how...
 
Re: Bending ain sheet track

I got some main sheet track from Bartons that was curved in 2 directions to fit my cockpit. Unfortunately due to my measurements or a problem with Bartons ( I did not check the track with the measurements so the problem may well have been me) it did not fit.
In the boat shed in my yard was a small hydraulic press and I just used this on a small section of the track at a time.
1.Make a series of bends all the way along
2.Try the track out on the boat
3. Return to 1
The track springs back quite a lot so its very much an experimental approach.
The curvature in the end got quite acceptabl and the track was installed easily and works well.
I was at the time in Sweden 1000 miles from home so there was little to lose.
 
I asked this very question at the Barton stand at this year Excel boat show and they said it was ok to bend it. I would think that, because of the shape of the cross section) it would definitely need a jig of some sort to make sure it bent in the right plane, and you'd probably need to take care not to scratch the anodising off.
 
Yes it can be done and easily.

I have done it with Barton 1 1/4 track.

It was on a Contention 33 which is a 3/4 ton IOR design.

It requires quite a curve.

The fixings were at 4" centres and the deck fortunately has an aluminium plate bonded under it along the full length of the tracks. It was necessary for me to drill and tap M4 holes in the deck at 4" spacing all along the length of the track position.

I drilled and tapped the first two pairs of holes in the deck at the front end of both track positions and fixed the front of the tracks.

I then fitted a strop across the rear end between each track and pulled it together until the track was in position to drill the third pair of holes in the deck and inserted the next pair of screws.

I just continued working my way along pulling the aft ends together to align the next fixing hole.

It just pulled itself into a very fair curve.

It was necessary to start with a track that was about a couple of feet longer than actually required to pull it enough to get the last pair of screws in.

I can post some photo's of the track in position and measure the length and curvature I actually required if you wish.

The photo's will be a bit messy as I am in the middle of spraying the topsides (undercoats on ready for top coats)

Give me a shout if you want some measurements and photo's

Cheers

Iain
 
I wonder why you need to replace the old track if you want to make the cars towable. I can't imagine the difference between pulling the car forward by hand than by using a small tackle.

If you are going solo you might consider using 2 pairs of jib sheets one normally through the cars for large jib and another pair sheeted forward and possibly outboard for smaller jib size. You can if you want juggle the 2 sheets to get the right pull angle.
Just a thought olewill
 
One of the tracks is broken, and both of them are very battlescarred. I wanted to use the Lewmar sliding bolt track - which is taller than normal 30mm T track - in order to avoid filling old holes and drilling new ones. It will I think be harder to bend than normal T track. Getting from behind the wheel, across the traveller, and along a heeling side deck to move a sheet lead is getting very tedious. I've always been a tweaker and a poorly trimmed headsail drives me nuts, so I can't just not bother.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Wow, human ingenuity never ceases to amaze me...

[/ QUOTE ]

What I can't understand, is given his obvious engineering talents, why he didn't machine it himself from bar-stock in the first place, and save all the agro.......

Nice story though /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Vic
 
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