Queries to the collective mind:
I got a 7/8 flat slide track on my mast and l am planning to order a full batten cruising main sail.
Did any of you had any problems with similar mast tracks and full battens?
Did any similar system needed batten cars to make it operate smoothly instead of just simple slides?
Also, are there any track gates which are simple and do not require drilling the mast? Even if they are just temporary ones, while you are reefing.
I read all the correspondence of DrRog's 2013 discussion on the subject so l am after some new ideas, solutions.
The fork-like s/s insert will not work for me as my track gate is much higher on the mast. When l reef l have to drop 6+1 slides out of the track to have my reef cringle reach the horn and l do not want to use long cringle extensions. The +1 l can put back after hooking in.
Any clip on solutions? 
I've got a fully battened cruising main with slides. No problems.
Also the sail has been made so that there are no slides near the 3 reefing points so that they can reach all the way to the horns without opening a track gate. This came standard from Hyde Sails. 
On my S&S34, I had a full-batten main with flat slides and it was very low friction - no problems at all. But on my 12m Beneteau, with full battens and bullet slides, the friction is a problem. I don't know whether it's the bigger and heavier sail, or that the bullet slides have higher friction than the flat slides - but I was quite surprised at the difference between the two boats.
I replaced the four batten slides with these:http://www.allmarine.com.au/shop/sail-handling-systems/mainsail-cars-and-lazy-jacks/rutgerson-batten-car/
They have helped a lot, but I still need to use MacLube on the track as well.
I have full batten mains with slugs, no problem. The occasional spray with silicon helps.
Thanks sofar...
Mine is a 28 so l got less sail to wrestle smaller battens too. A 12metre yacht mast track and sail is huge compared to the 28's. I see your problem there.
My present main with leech battens raises easily and drops in a second with regular lubing which is a must on any track.
Any opinion on the mast track-gate?
What do you do when you reef? First reef is ok, even if you have to let a few slides out but second reef could be a real hassle for a single hander.
My new full batten main with slugs is a bit sticky but a squirt of silicon spray should fix it.
sirgallivant,,
I need to make an insert that seats in the sail track gate. Its a pain when slugs drop out of the gate when reefing and you end up with funnels of out of control sail. I could add reefing spectacles to the sail but the sail rides high on the track stop and looks uglier than a bucket full of bums. I will make an insert and take some photos. I'm thinking down the lines of a cam locking fitting that requires no screws.
Why not simply order a normal main without full battens and avoid a needless problem for no gain? After all, a full batten main on a main without a large roach doesn't provide any advantage other than the pointless satisfaction of keeping up with fashion. Your main will work just as well if not better and be a lot easier to handle with much less friction.
Yeah, jolene, l was thinking about it myself. May be an insert aluminum or plastic with a thin flexible plate on the outside and a strip of the same on the inside riveted together to hold it in. Spring type material or so?
I am going to make a drawing of it soon and publish it but now l am going racing.
Claverton, l am not trying to be trendy, l am trying to find the best solution for my new main. It is only planning, finding out what works and what does not. My yacht's designer Graham Radford suggested it, he knows what l am planning.
I am single handing most of the time. I had a full batten main which was not working well but it was badly designed for my yacht. I think it was modified for my boat well before l bought it. I was glad when it died.
I think having full battens makes the sail set better with less trimming and easier to drop and reef without a lazy jack. I got a leech batten main which I sail with, no problems there but l think the full batten main has some advantages when you are sailing alone and only cruising.
Please do not be so harsh on some suggestions or ideas. They are only that. Ideas.
SirGallivant, if Graham suggested it then his advice is worth following. Decent cars are pretty expensive but I'm not a big fan of full batten mains without them, especially on a fractional rig and short handed.
It is a mast head rig, double spreaders, cutter stay, adjustable back stay and running back stays. So it is pretty substantial for a 28 footer. The mast has 7/8 flat slides.
I talked to Graham about it, he warned me of the possibility of problems with the battens.
I talked to quite a few sail makers and some of them said l should have no problem some was not so sure.
The sail makers are a funny lot, l really do not know which one to engage.
That is why l am searching the collective mind but not with great success yet.
Select to expand quotesirgallivant said..
It is a mast head rig, double spreaders, cutter stay, adjustable back stay and running back stays. So it is pretty substantial for a 28 footer.
That is typical for an Adams design yacht. I remember reading about one of the Sydney to Hobart disaster years long time ago when many yachts had to pull out because of rig failures and other factors.
There were quite a few Adams yachts in the race and several pulled out but not one of them due to rig failure.
I think full battens are a good idea on most any modern yacht but probably not a good idea for an old and stretched sail. If the sail is in good nick, go ahead.
I had them added to the main on a yacht I had many years ago. It was originally set up with a bolt rope luff being a racer. As I recall, where the full battens were, long slugs about 100mm long were fitted and I had little trouble with jamming. I did give them a regular spray with silicon.
Cars are an expensive way to go so I would be enquiring about extra long slides first.
a 28 foot masthead rig? Build a bridge, there is no advantage on a boat like this having a full batten main without expensive cars. None. Zero. Zilch
We are talking about a brand spanking new sail to be made here Cisco.
The old one l was writing about has died, only the leech line kept. It was - most probably a badly re-cut sail with a huge roach where the top batten kept interfering with the back stay. It was a pain to tack or gybe. I never had problem raising or dropping it, though.
Naturally, the lubrication of the sail track is paramount on any type of sail track - slugs or slides or bolt rope - but my limited experience says slugs are more troublesome than flat slides.
On my furler l got twin foils and if l do not use sailcote or silicon it is very hard to raise a sail on my own. Lubricated, it is easy but l still have to have extra long halyard to be able to feed the sail and raise it from the fore deck turning the halyard on the mast winch. When well lubricated, it is no problem.
Claverton, the yacht is 28 feet (8.76m), the mast is 11 metres.
Thanks for the recommendation, I have just installed the Rutgerson Battcars to my mainsail, to say it is life altering would not be an overstatement, 41' Beneteau, we had to winch the main up before(with difficulty) the friction was astounding even lubed up! The main now goes up so smoothly, easily handled by one, and when released gravity takes it back into its lazy jacks, I used to have to swing off the luff full body weight to get it down, not good. Great product and although expensive, thousands cheaper than going with a Harken or Ronstan track system.
Donk put a lonk up a while ago round about wooden boat festval in tassy
About a track you feed up the mast groove and it has some sort of track system
I have a feeling it was around $35 a foot or a meter
My memory tells ne it was around
$1000 for 11 meter mast
Donk put a link up a while ago round about wooden boat festival in Tassy
About a track you feed up the mast groove and it has some sort of track system
I have a feeling it was around $35 a foot or a meter
My memory tells me it was around
$1000 for 11 meter mast
Found it
www.tidesmarine.com/sailtrack
$28.25 a foot 11 meters approx 36 foot =$1044 US dollars
https://www.tidesmarine.com/sailtrack-video
www.tidesmarine.com.au/product.php?id=sail
Yes I priced that, worked out around $2500 for my boat, the Harken system was $4000, with the Rutgerson battcars I have come in under $500, and a great result.
Select to expand quotepumpnjump said..
Yes I priced that, worked out around $2500 for my boat, the Harken system was $4000, with the Rutgerson battcars I have come in under $500, and a great result.
certainly is
