Sail Slugs to be or not to be?

I'm also looking at one of these... http://www.snap-gate.com/

Snap gates look really reasonably priced.

have you tried spray silicone in the mast track?...mine goes up and down effortlessly. i took the straw attachment and juiced the track and shives...i have to be careful not to raise the sail too fast and get it snagged on something.

I looked into that but what about reefing? I'd be nice to snap in slugs and have them lock so you can reef without having to pull the bolt-rope out of the mast.

I'll give it a shot first though. Spray Silicone? I thought you were only supposed to used something like Sail-kote on that stuff?

Oh yeah, can you pull it up now while it's attached to the boom? My main issue was single handing. The only way I could get the sail raised was to prop the boom up on something. Otherwise I'd have to detach it from the boom first then try to re-attach it after it was raised. Was a pain in the neck!

Edited by attrezzop on Mar 29, 2011 - 02:31 PM.

attrezzop wrote: I'm thinking about installing sail slugs on my P16. The bolt rope is a real jerk.

I assuming you are looking at slugs because you are having trouble raising or lowering your main sail.

If that is the case then my advise would be to solve the problem rather than trying to unnecessarily "reinvent the wheel". Thousands of Prindle 16's have no trouble raising/lowering their sails.

You didn't mention how old your sail is, old sails tend to get stretched out and the bolt rope can become frayed or swollen. If the sail is old but in good shape otherwise, you can probably get the bolt replaced for what the slugs would cost.

Tell us the actual problem you are trying to solve and you'll get some good info.

attrezzop wrote: I looked into that but what about reefing?

Forget about it. The early Hobie and Prindle 16's had reef points in their sails but that went away a long time ago.

Maybe I am wrong but isn't the P16 loose footed like he P18? Why would you ever raise it with the boom attached. I use a quick-pin through the end of the boom and the main cringle. The Quick-pin has a small leash tied to the boom so I don't loose it. Mainsheets are all rigged and ready to go with out-haul loose. I raise the sail and lock it in then lift the boom and pop in the quick-pin easy peazy. The P18 is rigged for reefing though.

I had problems with the main in the track when first got in mainly because there is a small pinch in the track. Now I clean it and apply sailkote to the track and the bolt rope every season and it works great. I used to need help getting it up because the way the main halyard works on the P18 gives you little leverage to really tug on it while at the mast base feeding the bolt rope but I have been able to raise it alone since I started doing this.

Even with the boom attached if your outhaul and mainsheet is loose it should go up ok. Do you have any pinched track from a dropped mast?

my p-16 has reefing points...still haven't used them. if i did, i would do it on the beach and would only attempt to reef on the go if i absolutely had to. i attach the boom to the sail after i have raised it like quarath(attach boom to mast,mainsheet to boom, then boom to sail,now tension the downhaul,then outhaul tension).

spray silicone works great...one good blast in spring will go all season. doesn't leave any residue on mast or sail(invisible). i had my sails restored this winter and some boltrope sewing was done at the head as well as batten ends, made it even easier. i did take some time to sand all the track and what little nicks would interfear with the sail's path.

slugs and snaps are not needed

I'm reasonably sure the track isn't pinched but I'll check next chance I get.
Silicone spray or sail-kote sounds like the way to go.

Two most important tips I got as a newbie that really helped were:

1) make sure you are pointed into the wind.
2) don't use the halyard to haul the main up. Feed several feet into the sail track and pull up the slack with the halyard. Repeat until sail is all the way up.