Sail cars

[mick]

I have a fully battened main with Selden batten cars and intermediate slugs. I am thinking of replacing the slugs with Selden intermediate cars. Anyone used them and are they worth the considerable expense?

 

[sailorman]

I have a fully battened main with Selden batten cars and intermediate slugs. I am thinking of replacing the slugs with Selden intermediate cars. Anyone used them and are they worth the considerable expense?

will you reach to put the sail coat on

 

[mick]

will you reach to put the sail coat on

?

 

[sailorman]

?

all those cars stacked up the mast instead of slugs

 

[mick]

all those cars stacked up the mast instead of slugs

I see. Never heard of a sail coat, though.

 

[sailorman]

I see. Never heard of a sail coat, though.

sail cover then

 

[Twister_Ken]

I have a fully battened main with Selden batten cars and intermediate slugs. I am thinking of replacing the slugs with Selden intermediate cars. Anyone used them and are they worth the considerable expense?

I have a Selden mast with Selden MDS cars. Very slidey, but still have to use the winch for the last 6 feet or so of the hoist - sheer weight of Dacron, I suspect.

 

[aluijten]

I have on a 37ft boat all mainsail cars from Ronstan Series 6 ball bearing).
These are a clever crossbreed between a standard slug and a ball bearing car. The main advantage is they can be retro-fitted to most masts.
The Selden system is very nice but requires a modern extrusion profile for your mast.

I've very happy with the Ronstan system on my (full batten) sail. The sail goes up a down very easy. The total height of the stack when the sail is down is not too bad. I can still reach the top-plate when the sail is down.

 

[mick]

Thanks, all.

 

[Quandary]

I have a fully battened main with Selden batten cars and intermediate slugs. I am thinking of replacing the slugs with Selden intermediate cars. Anyone used them and are they worth the considerable expense?

As Sailorman says, your sail will not come down too far with a dozen or so eight wheeled cars stacked above the boom. There must be something wrong with your set up if the slides between the cars do not fall easily but it is not too difficult to lubricate the track if you need to. I use a can of 3 in I Teflon spray which is clear and non sticky but you can get much pricier versions with pictures of boats on them in the chandlers.

 

[Martin_J]

Mick

Are you 100% sure that you have exactly the right slides/slugs for the mast...

The Selden sailmakers guide shows at least half a dozen different ones some of which differ by only half a millimetre. Chandleries only seem to stock 2 different sizes and they may have been replaced by the wrong size in the past. The correct size made a big difference to hoisting my main on a 38' boat.

http://www.seldenmast.com/download.cfm?download=7795&webnode_id=2099&filename=595-542-E.pdf

 

[lydiamight]

3 in 1 teflon spray is indeed a good solution, but I find a spray can of "Pledge" furniture polish or something similar just as good.

 

[mick]

As Sailorman says, your sail will not come down too far with a dozen or so eight wheeled cars stacked above the boom. There must be something wrong with your set up if the slides between the cars do not fall easily but it is not too difficult to lubricate the track if you need to. I use a can of 3 in I Teflon spray which is clear and non sticky but you can get much pricier versions with pictures of boats on them in the chandlers.

The cars (Selden cat. no. 511-702-02) are actually not that much longer than the slugs, so I wouldn't see that as a problem. However, thanks again to all who replied.