I honestly can’t see a reason for using the strong track. My ‘88 30U has had the standard external track forever (I’ve owned for 14 years) and has never been a problem for me. I do have the bronze slides, which may be necessary to lessen friction. But with these slides and lubing the track at the beginning of each season I have never had a problem raising or dropping the sail (well, maybe if I forgot to release the choker,I did).
Fred Rachwitz
Concerto
Nonsuch 30 U #445
Harbor Springs, Michigan
Northern Lake Michigan
I’ve had sail track with bronze slides, sail track with stainless steel slides, and Tides sail track.
Bronze slides may still be available from Mike Quill at MQYR.com. He was quoting me a price of around $16 USD each, four or five years ago. (Plus shipping.)
The sail track on 26’s is 7/8ths of an inch, and I believe but do not know for sure that this is also the case for 30s. It’s important that slides be the right size and not worn, otherwise they have room to twist slightly sideways. Which is a sure way to add friction and possibly jam up.
I personally like Tides track best, followed by bronze slides, followed by stainless slides. All work better if kept clean. This is easier to do in some climates than others. Tides is self-lubricating, the others benefit from lubrication.
I suspect that full batten sails benefit especially from Tides track, while that vs. bronze may be a closer call with short battens.
I have read on other sailing forums that Tides had a bad batch a number of years ago. Mine is 20 years old and shows signs of cracking so I ordered a replacement. Service was excellent they found my order from 20 years ago! Speak to them , after 6 years the track should not be failing and they may cut you a deal on a replacement.
Slides and metal tracks, for many they work fine, for others not so much. Tides track IMHO is an excellent solution it never hangs when we drop it.
Agreed fully on the tides strong track but must disagree regarding the installation. It is MUCH easier with the mast out and you won’t have to drill out a number of rivets which (unless someone tells me otherwise) is difficult to duplicate in rivet size to replace. Gary/ Aloki
I believe that I was about 79 when I installed mine by myself. The trick is to feed it through the forward porthole on a warm day using silicone or soapy water. It will go on easily using the halyard to pull it up.
PS - Gary – you didn’t tell us what you have or where it is
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
Joe, how many pop rivets did you have to drill away to make the angle required to slide the track upwards through a porthole? I recall installing the track the same way as you did and having to cut away a good 6 to 10 rivets so that I could get the track angled away from the mast and for the track to pass through the forward port hole. Replacing those rivets with an appropriate sized match was very difficult and as a result had to tap and dye for machine screws to secure the track back onto the mast
Fast forward 25+ years and I just replaced the track while the mast was out of the boat last year. It was infinitely easier.
I used the combination of initially soap and then silicone spray lubricant to get the track up the slide. Ultimately a block of wood and a hammer tapping the remaining 4 feet up the track from the bottom.
Gary: I’m not sure of the exact process, but I do know that it wasn’t a big deal. I don’t remember having to release the bottom of the original track, but it’s possible I did.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
I know that I did NOT have to release the bottom of the original track to get it on my former N26C, using the technique Joe described (although without the halyard as a starter). Making sure the Tides track was warm added some flexibility.
That said, I’ll take a split position between Gary and Joe and say that it’s good either way. There’s the effort of taking out and reinstalling the mast vs. the effort of installing with the mast in place. I’d say if the mast was coming out anyway and not just for this job, I’m quite sure installing with the mast out and horizontal is easier.
On the other hand, if the only reason for taking out the mast was to install track, I’d say that the effort of pulling and reinstalling the mast far exceeds the effort saved on track installation.
I agree, no big deal to replace with mast up or down, all by yourself Biggest advantage of doing it with the mast down - much easier to get an accurate measurement for the length of the track needed. Shortly after I installed my track (solo, mast up, no drilling of rivets, messenger line to get the halyard back down), I assisted Ed Botterell from Doyle install one on a 36 at our club (13 years ago), along with a new Stack-pac and main. That owner had measured wrong and we needed to take the Tides track down (feeding it through the front port on the cabin and out the companionway and across the stern and onto the dock) and cut it and drill it and reinstall it. Very botched up. Ed was not pleased, nor those who needed to dodge the track on the dock.
The beauty of helping Ed is that he then checked my installation and went for a test sail on our boat - I still use little things he said every time I sail - primarily, just lock the wheel and let the boat sail itself - it will steer better than most humans.
‘ I still use little things he said every time I sail - primarily, just lock the wheel and let the boat sail itself - it will steer better than most humans.’
Lloyd
Upwind I assume.
Do you have an autopilot or will you go wherever the wind blows?
Nice job on that up and down install on that N36.
Brian
Boat-less in New England
I’m interested in the back end of Thor’s question about: " Please explain what the halyard was used for and how the messenger was attached."
I’d assume that the halyard was used to pull the track up, and the messenger to pull the halyard back down afterwards. I can see how the halyard would help a lot because the pull would be almost exactly aligned and you’d get all the mechanical assistance of the blocks and winch.
What I’m curious about is: how was the halyard connected to the track to allow the messenger to release it when the track reached the top?
There had to be some way to do that without releasing the halyard prematurely, without losing the connection between the halyard and the messenger line, and without leaving any extra items like rings or pins at the top of the track that might later chafe the halyard.