Sail Track

Newsgroups Archive Prior to 2025
1

I have what appears to be aTides sail track on my Nonsuch 30c. I purchased the boat 6 years ago and have no idea how old the sail track is. It is failing from age, dryness caused by weather and age. It is literally parting at the stress points and the slides break free of the track. Obviously, this puts additional pressure on the remaining slides which will cause further damage. I fabricated a patch for the first parting now I have other failures. I will be pulling the boat and unstepping the mast within the next six weeks and I am debating replacing the sail track or changing over to slugs fitted on the internal mast track during the off-season. Does anyone have experience with using slugs? Will raising the sail be more difficult? I know it would be less expensive but that would not be an issue if I had to work harder to raise the sail. Thank you.

Tom B.
Crackl’n Rose 30c #318
Olcott, NY. Lake Ontario

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Tom: You can’t go wrong keeping the Tides Strong Track. It’s not a big deal to replace it whether the mast is up or down.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA

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Bronze slides work better than stainless steel but bronze is very expensive and I don’t know if you can even find the correct size anymore. I suspect you will be better off simply replacing the track.

Mark Powers