Tides Marine mainsail track

My mate ordered one from Dolphin Sails to go with his new sail (Bene Oceanis 31). To feed the sailtrack in place the mast slot needs to be widened below the sail gate. The sailmaker was unable to get the specification of this work from Tides and so they gave up and my mate just got a new fully battened instead. Disappointed.
 
westhinder said:
Anyone direct experience with an aftermarket Tides Marine sailtrack added to an existing mast? Pro’s -cons?
Click to expand...

I know of 2 boats that have retrofitted the Tides Marine track; one boat was 36ft light to medium displacement and the other a medium to heavy displacement cutter. Both owners rated it very highly indeed. Raising and lowering the sail was so much easier apparently, and I haven’t heard of any cons.
 
Not really a concern in UK but over on Sailing Anarchy there is often chat of the track failing due to UV in warmer climates. Wouldn’t put me off fitting it but if OP’s is a Med boat might be worth investigating.
 
westhinder said:
Anyone direct experience with an aftermarket Tides Marine sailtrack added to an existing mast? Pro’s -cons?
Click to expand...
I fitted one to my Malo 36 with a Selden mast in 2012. Huge improvement on original plastic slides. Smooth hoist, and I can still let the main halyard go and the sail drops neatly into the stackpack. It was fitted in conjunction with a new mainsail and has worked perfectly ever since.
No mods to the mast were required and the track slid up the mast easily.
 
No direct experience. A sailing friend fitted one to his mast a few years ago. I was around when he did it, on the hard, mast horizontal. There didn’t seem to be any issues and it was a straightforward job. On his boat it is very easy to use, no drama hoisting or lowering. He races successfully with it, so if it was an issue, I am sure he would have said.
 
Yes, fitted one to a Hustler 35 (originally bolt rope main) - easy to use. works very well - a huge improvement. (Previously we had to be almost exactly upwind for the mainsail to go up or down, so big safety improvement, as well as ease of use.)

It has been there about 8-10 years now. No issues.

Longerterm i can see that the plastic may become brittle. I would replace it with the same. And it may never happen.
 
westhinder said:
Anyone direct experience with an aftermarket Tides Marine sailtrack added to an existing mast? Pro’s -cons?
Click to expand...
Fitted one 2 years ago. Does everything claimed. Easy to fit, although when you first unpack the track it looks like a bit of a monster. My mast is short around 10m and I was able to do it single handed but would imagine a taller mast might need a second person to control the tail as you push it up the slot. Not sure that UV is a problem now. The reports on this are about tracks 15-20 years old, but I understand from the guys at Tides (their European office is local to me) the material used now is different and more UV stable.
 
I am looking at getting one on my contessa. A contessa specialist showed me one he installed on a customers boat. It does seem to take all, or nearly all, the friction out of it.
 
Had one fitted to my Victoria 34 10 years ago. It has been a great improvement enabling a fully battened mainsail to be fitted. Easy to use and continues to work the same as the day it was installed. Would highly recommend.
 
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