The right sail slides?

[Simon F]

Hello fellow sailors.

How can I determine which sail slides are right for my mast?

I have a 1986 Beneteau 24 which the previous owner had bought with no sails and set up with a nice set of new ones and then more or less immediately sold to me. Not wishing to impune the chap, but it's possible that he might have just bought a set of whatever sail slides the chandler happened to have on the rack. Possibly they're right, but there's a lot of scope for improvement in how they run in the luff groove even with a fair bit of ptfe lube therein. Is there a way to determine the right slides for a mast? The ones fitted are the slug type with the cylindrical part running in the groove.

I just thought it was the obvious possibility to eliminate before investigating other ways to get the system running more freely.

Thanks

Simon.

 

[Boathook]

Need to know the make of mast and the size of the slot (width and depth). You then should be able to obtain the correct slides, either from the mast manufacture, sailmaker or chandlery.

 

[Birdseye]

Hello fellow sailors.

How can I determine which sail slides are right for my mast?

I have a 1986 Beneteau 24 which the previous owner had bought with no sails and set up with a nice set of new ones and then more or less immediately sold to me. Not wishing to impune the chap, but it's possible that he might have just bought a set of whatever sail slides the chandler happened to have on the rack. Possibly they're right, but there's a lot of scope for improvement in how they run in the luff groove even with a fair bit of ptfe lube therein. Is there a way to determine the right slides for a mast? The ones fitted are the slug type with the cylindrical part running in the groove.

I just thought it was the obvious possibility to eliminate before investigating other ways to get the system running more freely.

Thanks

Simon.

After years of messing with lubricants that work for a while but not long term, my conclusion is that its worth coughing up for the ball bearing ones even if your rig isnt FB. Then you'll only have issues with the cheepo pulleys / blocks with bush bearings.

Having said that Simon, there is something badly wrong if the sail on a 24 footer is an issue to raise. Have you checked the pulleys? Is there a possibility that the halyard inside the mast has got wrapped round one of the other bits of running rigging? Do you have to use a winch to get the sail up?

 

[thinwater]

Clean the luff groove. Either mud daubers, road dirt, or wax build-up. This should be an annual cleaning item. Easy.

The best way is to get a section (2 feet) of luff tape. Perhaps glue some toweling onto it, and haul it up and down soaked in cleaner. A halyard and its tail make fast work of it.

 

[Simon F]

Having said that Simon, there is something badly wrong if the sail on a 24 footer is an issue to raise. Have you checked the pulleys? Is there a possibility that the halyard inside the mast has got wrapped round one of the other bits of running rigging? Do you have to use a winch to get the sail up?
[/QUOTE]

No, Birdseye, I can raise the sail by hand, it just doesn't come down smoothly (or at all) when I release the halyard.

 

[Minerva]

The best way is to get a section (2 feet) of luff tape. Perhaps glue some toweling onto it, and haul it up and down soaked in cleaner. A halyard and its tail make fast work of it.

I’m going to steal that idea! Thanks!

 

[justanothersailboat]

Hi, just adding another anecdote here for the benefits of cleaning the groove. I couldn't get my mainsail all the way to the top at one point last year. Made up a plug that was a close fit in the groove, hauled it up and down a few times, all good again. Seemed like a seagull had been an astonishingly good shot ? That had dried hard enough to turn a slide sideways and make it tend to jam. ugh ?

 

[Simon F]

I've also got an astonishingly accurate seagull anecdote to rival that one. Certainly I would not be prepared to believe had it not happened to me. A poor seagull neatly decapitated itself flying into my backstay at great speed. It's head improbably tumbled through the open porthole in the cockpit into the aft berth. See attached picture.

 

[justanothersailboat]

How odd. Poor thing! Looks like a grim cleanup too.

 

[Minerva]

I've also got an astonishingly accurate seagull anecdote to rival that one. Certainly I would not be prepared to believe had it not happened to me. A poor seagull neatly decapitated itself flying into my backstay at great speed. It's head improbably tumbled through the open porthole in the cockpit into the aft berth. See attached picture.

Small mercy it happened during the day and not when you were sleeping.

imagine waking up to a severed birds head on your pillow!

 

[Daydream believer]

Why not just go to a chandler & buy a sligtly smaller slide & see if it fits OK with no fear of it pulling out. One will not cost a fortune. If it is Ok then get as many as you need & spend a pleasant afternoon sewing them on. Do not do them too tight so that the sail can twist as it drops, otherwise that will jam the slider in the track on the way down.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

After years of messing with lubricants that work for a while but not long term, my conclusion is that its worth coughing up for the ball bearing ones even if your rig isnt FB. Then you'll only have issues with the cheepo pulleys / blocks with bush bearings.

Having said that Simon, there is something badly wrong if the sail on a 24 footer is an issue to raise. Have you checked the pulleys? Is there a possibility that the halyard inside the mast has got wrapped round one of the other bits of running rigging? Do you have to use a winch to get the sail up?

There’s more than a bit of dirt involved if the sail won’t go to the top, I agree. I have 2 boats, one regulated by class rules to use plastic slugs, and, whilst it's not that easy, you can tell if it's just stiff, or something is jammed, like the halyard jumping off the top sheave. The other boat, as in avatar, has very expensive Fredriksson ball race cars. The fully battened main weighs Christ knows what, but goes up by hand to the top, winch only to tension, and comes down with a crash if you don’t slow it with the halyard. I am a major fan of quality sail cars.

 

[Daydream believer]

The ball race on the cars only works on the outside of the mast & the inside is still the same shape as a normal slider. If one does not have full length battens, there is no need for ball race cars. In fact they would just add to friction. I cannot see how they are any use for soft sails.
That being said the sliders can tilt in the track. My top one did just that & caused a nick in the track a metre down from the top. The more it did it the more it damaged the inside of the groove.This jammed the sail solid. I had the mast removed & spent a long time trying to smooth out the inside of the luff groove. Longer sliders tend to prevent this as they cannot rotate so much. Also plastic ones do not have a sharp edge. The headsail one is usually metal as it carries greater load.
Hyde sent me a couple of "banana" shaped metal sliders to try on the top slider of my last new mainsail. The idea being that as the sail moved up & down in the track, if they tilted they would not jam, due to the curved shape. They were also longer than a standard sail slider.

 

[DownWest]

Friend's new main was sticky near the top. Figured it was the slide on the headboard that was lashed on with webbing and sewn, very rigid. Cut it free and used a plastic clip. Worked fine after that.