My trailer sailer has a bolt rope on the main and the main is a bit difficult to get up and down probably due to the full batens and the curvature in the mast which create a mismatch between the shape of the luff and the shape of the mast which is only relieved by the battens bending to give sail shape as they are intended to do.
Anyway my sailmaker recommends Team Mclube which is a Harken product and $45 at Whitworths.
Has anyone used a substitute with success?
Obviously I don't want to use anything with silicone in it as it will eventually wash down the mast onto the deck and other fittings becoming permanently embedded in the gel coat rendering it useless for bonding to anything else if a repair is needed.
Naturally the product doesn't give any hints as to its ingredients apart from a trade name but surely it is just PTFE one of the trade names of which is Teflon.
These products seem to go for a third of the cost of Mclube or about $15 or less.
Reading some blurbs about some PTFE products it seems that some work by going on wet but drying to a waxy product which doesn't sound too good for future clogging. Obviously whatever the product and carrier it also needs to be compatible with sail cloth including Mylar and it's layer bonding adhesives.
Anyone used anything else with success or do I have to take it up the ar.e at Whitworths?
Hi Jules
I have never used mclube so can't compare but I had great results using selleys ezy glide in the past when I had a mainsail with plastic slides
I had tried other bands but found they left a geasey coating
At least you can use the mclube to ease the pain while accepting the pinapple at whitties.
I have posted this before.
But for those how missed it.
There is lube and there is a clean track.
The best situation is both.
For lube I use cheap PTFE spray.
However to to deal with salt, sand or some other build up and clean an internal track I highly recommend the
AMAZING DOCTOR GARY'S FREE TRACK CLEANER.
You need about a foot of rough cleaning rope that fits the track pretty snugly.
Parallel to the rope you whip on a piece of lighter line that is 100 mm longer at each end (See Pic 1).
There should be an eye in each end of the lighter line.
The whipping will make the diameter of the rough cleaning rope even snugger in the track.
Connect the main halyard to one eye and feed cleaning rope into track. (See Pic 2)
Connect a light down haul line to the bottom eye.(See Pic 3)
Haul up a metre or so and haul down a few times then repeat as you raise the line up the track.
Pay attention to the spot where you think the sail is binding.
When you have cleaned the whole track haul the cleaning rope down , spray it with track lubricant and repeat the haul up/down to lube the complete track.
Will take 30 minutes to make the cleaner and 30 minutes to clean and lube the track. I do it once a year as a part of maintenance.
Good luck
Gary
