Cleaning / Lubing Mast Sail Track

[ColourfulOwl]

Raising my main sail is extremely tricky at the moment and there is quite a lot of pressure on the main halyard when doing so. I've also noticed when dropping the sail, it only goes about 2/3 of the way down, leaving 1/3 of the sail up. I've already checked all the deck hardware to make sure everything runs smoothly, and it does.

The next thing I want to do to rule it out is to clean / grease up the Sail Track, but I don't have the time to be able to pull the mast down to do so. Anyone got any tips or tricks for getting the sail track lubed up with the mast up? Any recommendations on what type of lube to use? My sail track is the slug type.

 

[Tranona]

There are various Teflon spray lubricants available, but better to clean the track first. One way is to attach a rope to the main halyard and wrap some cloth round the first foot or so then haul it up to clean the inside of the slot. Then spray the slugs. The problem of slow dropping is though inherent in the design, and although you can reduce it by cleaning and spraying there are better systems available but as ever expensive. Some people use a light downhaul line from the headboard to bring down that last third.

Suggest you post your general "boat" questions like your more recent ones on the PBO section of the forum as that gets far more traffic and you will get a wider range of responses.

 

[Yngmar]

They don't normally need lubrication, but they do definitely need cleaning. Our genoa wouldn't go up after a winter in Sicily with lots of fine red Sahara dust flying around. I got a piece of nice old fluffy rope that fit snugly into the groove, attached some whipping twine loops on both ends and pulled it up and down the foil a few times while being sprinkled from a water hose that I tied to the top swivel. After that, the sail went up very easily, with no lubricants (the water had dried).

Also check the turning block at the top isn't worn or got a wonky axle. Then it'll turn fine without load but bind up under pressure.

 

[wonkywinch]

Very similar recent thread .. Mainsail doesn't come down easily

 

[ColourfulOwl]

They don't normally need lubrication, but they do definitely need cleaning. Our genoa wouldn't go up after a winter in Sicily with lots of fine red Sahara dust flying around. I got a piece of nice old fluffy rope that fit snugly into the groove, attached some whipping twine loops on both ends and pulled it up and down the foil a few times while being sprinkled from a water hose that I tied to the top swivel. After that, the sail went up very easily, with no lubricants (the water had dried).

Also check the turning block at the top isn't worn or got a wonky axle. Then it'll turn fine without load but bind up under pressure.

Unfortunately I can't get up the mast to look at the lines/blocks at the top of the mast. I did ask for a rigging specialists to have come have a look but they haven't had chance to get to the boat yet.

Is there anyway of being able to see if this is the case at deck level without getting up there? Looking at how the line twists / sits?

When I first bought the boat raising the main was not smooth, but was no where near as sticky as it is now. There's so much friction the line 'pangs' on the winch when the sail is about 2/3 of the way up.

 

[wonkywinch]

Is there anyway of being able to see if this is the case at deck level without getting up there? Looking at how the line twists / sits?

When I first bought the boat raising the main was not smooth, but was no where near as sticky as it is now. There's so much friction the line 'pangs' on the winch when the sail is about 2/3 of the way up.

As I suggested on the other thread, use your binos to see if halyard crossed with topping lift.

You should be able to raise by hand, I would be very nervous using a winch in this situation other than to take up slack and pinch the luff tight once the main was raised.

 

[ctva]

Best track is a clean track with no lubricant. Lube attracts and can retein dirt which inturn makes the whole thing 'sticky'.

 

[Yngmar]

Is there anyway of being able to see if this is the case at deck level without getting up there? Looking at how the line twists / sits?

If you've got both ends of the halyard you can test if it lifts a load (e.g. bosuns chair with person) without involving the sail track. If it doesn't do that smoothly, your problem isn't the track but somewhere else, likely a worn sheave or axle. We had this on our outhaul, which ran fine with a light load, but bound up under load due to the sheave having worn oval on the center hole. The problem wasn't visible until removing it for inspection.

 

[wingcommander]

Fleetwood seagulls are renowned for sticky droppings . Its the diet of fish and Fisherman's throat lozengers.
They will happily sit atop your mast and deploy right down the mast track.

 

[Martin_J]

How about another suggestion...

The sheave at the top could have seized, maybe due to the central hole elongating and now preventing it turning.

Try putting a spare rope through a spare pulley/block and hoisting that pulley to the top with the original halyard....

Then use this spare/temporary rope through the now external pulley, as a halyard for the main.

If the main is now easy to hoist then you've found your answer (albeit not as easy to replace the sheave as putting PTFE spray on the slides).

 

[Martin_J]

My second suggestion..

Have you replaced any of the luff sliders (slugs) recently and if so are you sure they are the correct ones for the track?

Check this second suggestion in my reply within this other thread..

Mainsail slide lubrication.

 

[srm]

My topping lifts were always the same spec as the main halyard, including a shackle that would fit the headboard. never needed that spare main halyard but nice to have.
If your topping lift is up to the job try raising the main with it to indicate if the main halyard is the problem. However, I suggest cleaning the mast groove first as the more likely cause.
I would go up the mast at the start of every season taking a spray cleaner/lube with me (WD40 or suchlike). Spray all the head sheaves and the groove on the way down while checking the rig. Its one of the many fun things to enjoy as a boat owner.

 

[Martin_J]

Although, trying the topping lift, you might also find that is stiff and has a worn sheave at the masthead.

For all you know, a previous owner might have found the halyard stiff and already moved over to using the 'other' masthead sheave.

Hence my suggestion of an externally hoisted pulley block just for test.

 

[srm]

Although, trying the topping lift, you might also find that is stiff and has a worn sheave at the masthead.

For all you know, a previous owner might have found the halyard stiff and already moved over to using the 'other' masthead sheave.

Hence my suggestion of an externally hoisted pulley block just for test.

Yes, you could be right and the pulley its a very good idea. (I used to hoist a 4 part tackle to get myself up the mast singlehanded).
I just prefer starting with the simplest test then moving on to more complex ones if necessary.

 

[Martin_J]

Indeed... Although I'd say that a lot of boats have an old halyard in a locker and it only takes two minutes to attach a spare spinnaker sheet block to the 'live' main halyard and hoist the old halyard, pre-fed through the block to the top.