# Sticky Mainsail Slides/Slugs



## backcreeksailor (Mar 9, 2009)

I've got injection molded nylon 66 Bainbridge (read: plastic) slides/slugs on my mainsail. And currently they're making the last foot of raising the sail a major pain in the @ss because they're sticking. So I have two questions:


In the short term - Is there anything that can be used to lubricate this type of slide/slug to make it a little easier to get up and down? (something that won't damage the sail if any gets on it)
After this season is over - Without going to a track system... What is the "best" type of slide/slug for easy(er) raising and lowering of the sail


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## brak (Jan 5, 2007)

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance/54302-what-use-sail-sliders.html


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## backcreeksailor (Mar 9, 2009)

Sweet !!! I'm on my way to West Marine now to give McLube Sailkote Dry Lubricant a try. So that answers the short term question.

But if I want to upgrade over the winter to a better type of slide/slug for minimal resistance without the need for an external lubricant. What type(s) are universally thought of as the best?


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## brak (Jan 5, 2007)

I think regardless of what track and sliders you use, some form of lubrication is a must. In fact, I dare say lubrication is what makes any track work/nowork.


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

*Lube the mast track*

Lube the mast track with McLube SailKote and a shot gun cleaning kit the difference will be AMAZING. I do it every season..


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## soulfinger (Aug 21, 2008)

We always used Dawn dish detergent. Seriously. Palmolive will probably work, too!

Just have someone stand at the mast as your raising the main, and squirt the stuff into the track and onto the slugs as they go up.


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

soulfinger said:


> We always used Dawn dish detergent. Seriously. Palmolive will probably work, too!
> 
> Just have someone stand at the mast as your raising the main, and squirt the stuff into the track and onto the slugs as they go up.


But Sailkote lasts a whole season and won't "rinse out"..


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## roline (Apr 7, 2000)

I have used Sailkote for years, appling to the slugs and pulling a wad through the slot saturated with the stuff. Krytox is another name for the stuff, DuPonts creation. Its a saturated perflorinated ester, like teflon, inert. It is available as an oil, grease or dryfilm.


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## backcreeksailor (Mar 9, 2009)

Does anyone make a cleaning brush that can be tied to the main halyard on the top and a messenger on the bottom to pull it up and down through the track (without jamming) instead of having to go aloft to clean and Sailkote the entire track?


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## dsmauney (Feb 29, 2000)

*Terry cloth and old slide*

I take an old slide and cover it with a small piece of terry cloth. The slide has two small rope loops through the plastic slide loop. One loop attaches to the halyard and the other to a line for a down hauler. I saturate the terry cloth with Sailkote and insert it in the track and slide it up and down the main track. Since most of the Sailkote tends to be on the lower part of the track I saturate the terry cloth again and slide it up and down the track doing this over and over again. When it feels pretty free up and down the whole track I find that the main goes up and down easily.

Good Winds
DaveM


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## backcreeksailor (Mar 9, 2009)

It's too bad there isn't something out there similar to a cylindrical shotgun wire brush (like was suggested by "Main Sail" earlier), but that would have a steel loop on both ends instead of just one. It seems like this would give you a much cleaner starting surface for the Sailkote to adhere using a follow up wool pad with the same setup.

I'm actually kinda amazed no one has ever marketed a kit for doing this...


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## GaryHLucas (Mar 24, 2008)

Have you looked closely at how the halyard pulls on the headboard of the sail as it gets to the top? The previous owner of my boat did all this lubricating crap, and showed me how to do it. It was still very dificult to get the last two feet or so all the way up.

When I looked closely at the halyard as it approached the top (binoculars from down the dock) I could see that the halyard was very close to the mast while the shackle hole in the headboard was some 2" out. As the headboard gets close to the top it bends over the slugs on the sail and binds everything. I have seen this problem on many boats.

I welded a stainless ring to a stainless strap and drilled out two of the headboard rivets. I then bolted the strap through the rivet holes so that the ring was close to the mast. The halyard shackle hooks into that now, and the pull on the sail is now straight in line with the bolt rope, so it pulls the slugs up nice and straight.

I still have a small problem with the top batten driving into the mast, but I believe the previous owner put the wrong batten in there, and it needs to be changed.

Gary H. Lucas


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