Salty - yet again re sailtrack system
 

I've got a couple of additional questions if you don't mind...

You were talking about your boat having the SailTrack (tidesmarine) system?
I was chatting with them about what it would take for my boat. I asked them
the approximate cost and it came back as something just shy of $1K. I have
13 intermediate slots that go into the track plus the head and tack
connections. I have 1/2 battens, so no batten cars are needed, just the
regular cars. Of course, I also need the track material, but the cost seems
high. They go by the mast height from the boom, so I guestimated 36', and
thus the $1K quote.

Did you investigate other alternatives? Is that on the order of what you
paid? I'd like to get something sooner vs. later at this point.

I was sailing her last Saturday (two instructors, me, and an advanced
student). We had sustained wind of over 30 kts with higher gusts. She
handled it beautifully, even though we had chop that was nearly as high as
the dodger...almost 10'. The choplets were coming pretty quickly.. every few
seconds. We didn't have a drop of water get below, but everyone got a
shower. We were single reefed both on the main and the jib was reduced. I
would have gone to a second reef, but the wind came on with no notice and it
was too dangerous to send someone up there. In the process, we snapped five
of the mainsail slots, but there was no sail damage.

Here are some pics...
http://picasaweb.google.com/SailNOW....eat=directlink

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Salty - yet again re sailtrack system
 

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
easolutions...
I've got a couple of additional questions if you don't mind...

You were talking about your boat having the SailTrack (tidesmarine)
system? I was chatting with them about what it would take for my boat. I
asked them the approximate cost and it came back as something just shy of
$1K. I have 13 intermediate slots that go into the track plus the head and
tack connections. I have 1/2 battens, so no batten cars are needed, just
the regular cars. Of course, I also need the track material, but the cost
seems high. They go by the mast height from the boom, so I guestimated
36', and thus the $1K quote.

Did you investigate other alternatives? Is that on the order of what you
paid? I'd like to get something sooner vs. later at this point.

I was sailing her last Saturday (two instructors, me, and an advanced
student). We had sustained wind of over 30 kts with higher gusts. She
handled it beautifully, even though we had chop that was nearly as high as
the dodger...almost 10'. The choplets were coming pretty quickly.. every
few seconds. We didn't have a drop of water get below, but everyone got a
shower. We were single reefed both on the main and the jib was reduced. I
would have gone to a second reef, but the wind came on with no notice and
it was too dangerous to send someone up there. In the process, we snapped
five of the mainsail slots, but there was no sail damage.

Here are some pics...
http://picasaweb.google.com/SailNOW....eat=directlink


Ummm... slugs not slots... not sure why I typed slots.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Salty - yet again re sailtrack system
 

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
easolutions...
"Capt. JG" wrote in message
easolutions...
I've got a couple of additional questions if you don't mind...


Ummm... slugs not slots... not sure why I typed slots.


Drugs? Flashbacks from all that LSD?

Salty - yet again re sailtrack system
 

Capt. JG wrote:
"Capt. JG" wrote in message
easolutions...
I've got a couple of additional questions if you don't mind...

You were talking about your boat having the SailTrack (tidesmarine)
system? I was chatting with them about what it would take for my boat. I
asked them the approximate cost and it came back as something just shy of
$1K. I have 13 intermediate slots that go into the track plus the head and
tack connections. I have 1/2 battens, so no batten cars are needed, just
the regular cars. Of course, I also need the track material, but the cost
seems high. They go by the mast height from the boom, so I guestimated
36', and thus the $1K quote.

Did you investigate other alternatives? Is that on the order of what you
paid? I'd like to get something sooner vs. later at this point.

I was sailing her last Saturday (two instructors, me, and an advanced
student). We had sustained wind of over 30 kts with higher gusts. She
handled it beautifully, even though we had chop that was nearly as high as
the dodger...almost 10'. The choplets were coming pretty quickly.. every
few seconds. We didn't have a drop of water get below, but everyone got a
shower. We were single reefed both on the main and the jib was reduced. I
would have gone to a second reef, but the wind came on with no notice and
it was too dangerous to send someone up there. In the process, we snapped
five of the mainsail slots, but there was no sail damage.

Here are some pics...
http://picasaweb.google.com/SailNOW....eat=directlink


Ummm... slugs not slots... not sure why I typed slots.

Replace *all* the slugs if they are more than two years old They are
almost certainly suffering from UV degradation and should *NOT* be
snapping. I've been caught out in worse conditions with too much sail
up before and had no failures at all. I'm not going to lecture you
about reefing, that's Wilma's job . . . ;-)

--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & 32K emails -- NUL:

Salty - yet again re sailtrack system
 

On Mon, 5 Oct 2009 16:46:58 -0700, "Capt. JG"
wrote:

I've got a couple of additional questions if you don't mind...

You were talking about your boat having the SailTrack (tidesmarine) system?
I was chatting with them about what it would take for my boat. I asked them
the approximate cost and it came back as something just shy of $1K. I have
13 intermediate slots that go into the track plus the head and tack
connections. I have 1/2 battens, so no batten cars are needed, just the
regular cars. Of course, I also need the track material, but the cost seems
high. They go by the mast height from the boom, so I guestimated 36', and
thus the $1K quote.

Did you investigate other alternatives? Is that on the order of what you
paid? I'd like to get something sooner vs. later at this point.


I think I paid right around $25 a foot. That was a few years ago. They
include all the slugs, etc in the price. You might try negotiating a
little on the lack of batten cars, as those are obviously more
expensive then the 1 inch slugs. I had looked at the other systems,
such as Harken's, but they all cost a LOT more, and didn't seem to
have much advantage, if any. On a 70 foot boat, the Harken roller cars
might be worthwhile if you were raising the sail manually, but these
days, 70 foot boats have power furling mainsails, so even there, the
Tides would be great. The Harken may be 'slightly' better, but the
Tides is a mile better than stock, and very close to the Harken at
half the price.

I am completely happy with the strong track and have no regrets. It
was money well spent.

Salty - yet again re sailtrack system
 

wrote in message
...
On Mon, 5 Oct 2009 16:46:58 -0700, "Capt. JG"
wrote:


I am completely happy with the strong track and have no regrets. It
was money well spent.


Amen. I'm really ****ed at the guy who worked on our sail, but that's an
old story, and I've learned to live with his stuff.

If we need a quick lowering, pop the clutch and it's down in literally a
second or two (44' hoist, ~725sf 24% roached main)...

L8R

Skip

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog
and/or http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in
its hand
(Richard Bach)

Salty - yet again re sailtrack system
 

On Tue, 6 Oct 2009 06:42:50 -0400, "Flying Pig"
wrote:

wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 5 Oct 2009 16:46:58 -0700, "Capt. JG"
wrote:


I am completely happy with the strong track and have no regrets. It
was money well spent.


Amen. I'm really ****ed at the guy who worked on our sail, but that's an
old story, and I've learned to live with his stuff.

If we need a quick lowering, pop the clutch and it's down in literally a
second or two (44' hoist, ~725sf 24% roached main)...

L8R

Skip

It's really almost as if the sail isn't physically attached to the
mast. It just drops like it is in free fall.

Salty - yet again re sailtrack system
 

"IanM" wrote in message
...
Capt. JG wrote:
"Capt. JG" wrote in message
easolutions...
I've got a couple of additional questions if you don't mind...

You were talking about your boat having the SailTrack (tidesmarine)
system? I was chatting with them about what it would take for my boat. I
asked them the approximate cost and it came back as something just shy
of $1K. I have 13 intermediate slots that go into the track plus the
head and tack connections. I have 1/2 battens, so no batten cars are
needed, just the regular cars. Of course, I also need the track
material, but the cost seems high. They go by the mast height from the
boom, so I guestimated 36', and thus the $1K quote.

Did you investigate other alternatives? Is that on the order of what you
paid? I'd like to get something sooner vs. later at this point.

I was sailing her last Saturday (two instructors, me, and an advanced
student). We had sustained wind of over 30 kts with higher gusts. She
handled it beautifully, even though we had chop that was nearly as high
as the dodger...almost 10'. The choplets were coming pretty quickly..
every few seconds. We didn't have a drop of water get below, but
everyone got a shower. We were single reefed both on the main and the
jib was reduced. I would have gone to a second reef, but the wind came
on with no notice and it was too dangerous to send someone up there. In
the process, we snapped five of the mainsail slots, but there was no
sail damage.

Here are some pics...
http://picasaweb.google.com/SailNOW....eat=directlink


Ummm... slugs not slots... not sure why I typed slots.

Replace *all* the slugs if they are more than two years old They are
almost certainly suffering from UV degradation and should *NOT* be
snapping. I've been caught out in worse conditions with too much sail up
before and had no failures at all. I'm not going to lecture you about
reefing, that's Wilma's job . . . ;-)

--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & 32K emails -- NUL:


Yeah... if I decided to replace, I will certainly replace them all. The diff
in work is minimal.

It was a strange day as far as reefing goes. We started reefed at the dock
(single/full jib). There was decent wind to Angel Island, but certainly not
enough to even consider reefing. We sailed directly through Raccoon which
isn't typical (usually you have to tack at least a few times). There was
_nothing_ near Sausalito or the Golden Gate. We had to turn on the engine to
keep from getting sucked out the Gate. Finally about 1/2 way through the
slot, we got about 10 kts, which built to about 15. We were much more
concerned with the ebb heading back to Richmond, so we elected (foolishly)
to cross the channel and make a left down by Bezerkely. We should have
hugged the lee of Angel. Anyway, as soon as we crossed the line from the
slot (the typical high wind area) to the end of the shadow of Angel
(typically not much wind), we were hit with well over 30 kts. It was like
someone turned on a high speed fan. We didn't see any chop except perhaps a
couple of miles ahead after we turned, so we didn't figure we'd need to
reef, as that part would be a downwind run (given the way the wind was
running). The chop built within a couple of minutes, and at that point I
elected not to reef and just push through it. It was way too dangerous to
put someone up there. If we had hugged Angel, we would have had a wild,
mostly downwind ride to Richmond, but I guess hindsight is 20/20.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Salty - yet again re sailtrack system
 

wrote in message
...
On Mon, 5 Oct 2009 16:46:58 -0700, "Capt. JG"
wrote:

I've got a couple of additional questions if you don't mind...

You were talking about your boat having the SailTrack (tidesmarine)
system?
I was chatting with them about what it would take for my boat. I asked
them
the approximate cost and it came back as something just shy of $1K. I have
13 intermediate slots that go into the track plus the head and tack
connections. I have 1/2 battens, so no batten cars are needed, just the
regular cars. Of course, I also need the track material, but the cost
seems
high. They go by the mast height from the boom, so I guestimated 36', and
thus the $1K quote.

Did you investigate other alternatives? Is that on the order of what you
paid? I'd like to get something sooner vs. later at this point.


I think I paid right around $25 a foot. That was a few years ago. They
include all the slugs, etc in the price. You might try negotiating a
little on the lack of batten cars, as those are obviously more
expensive then the 1 inch slugs. I had looked at the other systems,
such as Harken's, but they all cost a LOT more, and didn't seem to
have much advantage, if any. On a 70 foot boat, the Harken roller cars
might be worthwhile if you were raising the sail manually, but these
days, 70 foot boats have power furling mainsails, so even there, the
Tides would be great. The Harken may be 'slightly' better, but the
Tides is a mile better than stock, and very close to the Harken at
half the price.

I am completely happy with the strong track and have no regrets. It
was money well spent.



Thanks! They're quoting $27.50/foot. I'm going to call them to see if
they're up for some negotiation. I'd prefer to do this vs. replace the
slugs, but we'll see. The latter would get me through the "winter" here.


--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Salty - yet again re sailtrack system
 

On Oct 6, 12:59*pm, "Capt. JG" wrote:

I'd prefer to do this vs. replace the
slugs, but we'll see. The latter would get me through the "winter" here.


I had a lot of trouble with the slides at the ends of my two full
length battens sticking last year. This prompted the invention of my
in mast track lubricator:

http://www.rogerlongboats.com/TrackLube.htm

This worked great but I was lubing every couple of weeks and
experiencing frustrating sail lowering when it lube time came close
again. I thought I would have to go with a plastic track system.

My sailmaker replaced the slides at the batten ends with the very
highly polished S.S. slides intended for the track system he sells
(I've forgotten which). I lube once this summer. The sail doesn't
fall down but it goes up and down well enough that I couldn't justify
the cost of a Tides or Harken system. I was lucky that the stock 7/8"
track on my mast is a good fit for the S.S. slides. You might want to
see if this is an option for your and try it first if your mast track
is the right size.

--
Roger Long