Mailport: July 2012

Reducing Friction

Regarding the PS blog post on small boats with full-batten mainsails and friction: The friction problem with many small boat mainsails is greatly aggravated by the track style on the mast. Tracks that take a barrel-shaped slide are the worst for jamming! These are actually designed to take a bolt rope, not slides, but they have become ubiquitous on smaller spars. I find that the best, and least expensive, solution is to use all plastic slides and plenty of dry Teflon lubricant.

Bainbridge sells a very strong, slippery slide called an Allslip slide (No. A118 for ½-inch groove). We use these at the front of the full battens. Between the battens, on mainsails 150 square feet or less, we use the Bainbridge No. A018 slides. In any case, plenty of dry Teflon lube will help.

Aaron Jasper

Jasper & Bailey Sailmakers

www.jasperandbailey.com

• Table of Contents:
• previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• 12
• next

Read More on These Topics

• Boat Maintenance