Do you lube your mast track?

Mostly advised not too spray any thing,as all will eventually gather dirt and crud,best i have come accross to make for what is prob best discribed as a large pipe cleaner.i use a short length of braid,say 300mm ,with whipping form a strong eye in both ends,pick away at outer core to fluff it up,the braid wants to be a snug fit in track,atach halyard to one end dont forget to put on down haull on other soak braid in soapy warm water pull up and down mast track a few times cleans **** out easy to do when ever
 
I use Tesco's furniture polish (cheaper than Mr. Sheen!) to soak a small piece of sponge wormed through a 3 strand line. This is clipped to the halyard and acts as a down haul. Three or four passes up and down the groove at the start of each season does the trick.
 
Martin_J said:
BarryH... Do you have plastic slides in a groove or a bolt rope?

If plastic slides then are you sure they are the correct ones for the mast section? They may have been replaced in the past with something that looks the same or someone thinking that slightly smaller slides will slide easier (but then you find they twist a little and then jam more easily).

Slightly worn slides can also twist downwards a little (caused by drag during the hoist) and then become more difficult to hoist.
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I had that problem with the wrong slides - I asked Parker & Kay at Suffolk Yacht Harbour and they fitted larger black sliders which worked perfectly - as soon as you released the halyard when head to wing the sail just dropped, it was a fully battened mainsail on a Jaguar 27. My current boat had siezed pulleys at the mast head, both main & genoa but once fixed last year the sail raises and drops easily.
 
Carl s said:
Mostly advised not too spray any thing,as all will eventually gather dirt and crud,best i have come accross to make for what is prob best discribed as a large pipe cleaner.i use a short length of braid,say 300mm ,with whipping form a strong eye in both ends,pick away at outer core to fluff it up,the braid wants to be a snug fit in track,atach halyard to one end dont forget to put on down haull on other soak braid in soapy warm water pull up and down mast track a few times cleans **** out easy to do when ever
Click to expand...

As an alternative to this cleaner I have stripped the core from about 30 ccm either end of about 1m of braid-on-braid then secured the remaining centre core, tied a bowline in the empty outer and used this to clean out the track with an uphaul & downhaul. Varying the size of the rope enables this to be used for the genoa luff groove too.
 
I bought a can of Holt's pro lube when I first got my mirage 28 in 2008. It made a tremendous difference when hoisting the genoa. I've used it sparingly ever since and it's only just run out. I've replaced it with the equivalent from Screwfix.
 
At the risk of resurrecting the whole thread, I use candlewax on genoa tracks and mast slides a couple of times a year. Do the bottom few feet and run the slides across it. Also drying silicone sprays for blocks etc with hidden parts.
 
More important that the lubricant is cleaning the track. Salt. Dust and dirt. Spiders and mud daubers. Clean is the most important thing.

Get a 2-foot length of luff tape, either from a dead sail or a Sailrite. Put a grommet in each end. Soak it in the cleaner of your choice (xylene is a good choice for wax build-up) and haul it up and down fast 10 times withe the halyard and tail. Soap and water is good for ordinary grime, but you will need to rinse with a hose and they wait for it to dry before lubing. Lube with another length of luff tape, soaked in your favorite lube--Sailkote is probably best, since it is durable, slippery, and does not build up. But clean is the main thing.

No Vaseline or wax. They attract dirt and build up. Been there, done that, don't need to make the mistake again. It will seem to work for a few years....
 
Daydream believer said:
Luff of a sail- Candle wax ....
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Really... no. That is what I did on my first boat, 40 years ago, when I didn't know any better. Then I was educated. I have owned many luff-in-groove sails, over 40 years, and candlewax will just build up over time, making it worse. My most resent boat came with a nice laminate sail, with the luff tape nearly ruined with candle wax. I cleaned off the wax with solvent, removed and cleaned up some poor repairs, lubed it with Sailkote, and now it hoises without difficulty. Candlewax seems good at first, but then it gets worse., sometimes much worse. You can get away with it on a dinghy, but anything larger it is asking for trouble. And once it builds up in the tape, it's hell to get it out. It atracts grime. Just ask your sail maker.

Silicon spray, or better yet, Sailkote. Spend the few bucks for the correct product and your sails will last longer and work better.
 
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