new mast track questions

litlgull's mast is now stripped of ALL hardware. On its way to a complete rebuild.
Holes, corrosion, and scars are now filled with LabMetal. All 200 holes except for four 1/2" and the sheavebox have been disappeared and the final sanding before alumiprep/alodine is about to commence.

The original rolled stainless T-track that came off can't go back on - it's rather deminished - the wings seem thin from wear and the width is 13/16" rather than a full 7/8. I could be convinced to use it again if one you sailors say so.

Schaefer has the replacement, but instead of a single length it comes in 12' pieces, which would mean two pesky joints
- and would cost in the neighborhood of $250.
Took 6' of fairly large aluminum T-track off the FRONT of the mast, not sure what that was for.
And I want to add a separate tri-sail track to the left side of the main track. But it doesn't seem possible on this mast.
The surface upon which the main track is mounted is only 5/8" wide.
And interesting - because now the original track screw holes are filled and needed sanding - found that the 5/8" wide strip is slightly CONCAVE along its length. Not flat as might be expected.
But slightly dished, as it is, might actually be the expected!

There are aluminum T-tracks available, of unfamiliar sizes. So the question is:

So what are my options???
What track should I put back on the mast? Or have I only one choice?
What slides are best?
What system is easiest to use? Easiest to maintain? Least amount of tugging.

Would like to hear (see?) any TIPS you have, even if it's not on your boat.
There won't be another time than this for an upgrade on this gal, this is it! THANKS!

Ebb

sounds like you are getting closer to the water!:)

the track on the front of your mast was likely to handle a car for the spinnaker pole (that s where i mounted mine).

as for the old main sail track, I am still using mine but i added an additional 6 inches to the bottom to make reefing easier. The new section of track is mounted with machine screws to match the original. At the joint of old and new, i just used a butt joint and rounded the corners over with a 1/16th radius to make sure the track slides did not bind on the joint. I think 13/16th sounds about right for the old track, it is spot on to the dimensions of the track i am still using with no issues with both my old and new main sails.

Ebb

I agree with Bill about the track on the forward edge of the mast. I had done the same thing for my wisker and spinnaker poles on my previous boat. It allowed me to adjust the ring up and down to fit differant head sails.

The concensus here seems to be to stay with the old sail track. But like you I am wrestling with the same notion about upgrading it. I have mentioned previously that I was leaning towards the Tides Marine track but I have to admit that was totally driven by the cost. If money was no object I would go with Harken's batt car system AA. I doubt I would ever have to replace any portion of it and I really like the system. In the end it may actually be a cheaper option than the Tides Marine version and certainly smaller profile.

Here is the link.

http://www.harken.com/charts/mainsailusechart.php

Bill, that's great. You just saved me $250!

I'll jog the track a little (1/2"?) so new tapped holes go thru good metal.
and I'll get one new piece, which sounds like a match rather than wear to extend the track down to the boom fitting. And for the tri-sail. Thanks for the 'no-bind' tip, I'll do that where track meets track!

Should I add back that spinnaker car track to the mast front?
What do I put back? Traveler track? What do you suggest? Harken? Schaefer? The old aluminum T-track is pretty sad..... But if you insist.:eek:

Had to get a new masthead fitting made and had a spinnaker bail added.
But I seriously doubt I will ever use it. Asymetric yes.


Spun out the phillips (using the 12v Hitatchi hammerdrill) on most of the 17 old track screws that screwed up. Most of them had to be drilled out. The thread on those old screws is more like 8-10 or something like a panhead sheetmetal screw would have.
Looking into McMcarr found some criminally expensive 316 HEXHEAD 8-32 MS. Want to keep a future owner from having a fit over the track. Will use a hand nut driver to put these delicate babies in the track. Looking forward to tapping all those holes! The 1/4" hexhead fits the bottom of the trackgroove. The wider diameter barrel of the driver seems OK there.
Sound OK to you? I think hexheads will backout easier in year 2057!

Found 'crevis corrosion' in nearly every hole under the track. Every hole produced white powder when the screw backed out. The isolation tape was paper thin and incredibly decrepid. So despite experts like BrionToss who prescribe double-sided black polyethylene tape between track and mast, I think I'll use 3M Weatherban Sealant Tape 5354. It's 3/8" wide 1/8" thick and is compressible. 50' cost $30 at Jametown. Twice as much would cost $3 at www.bestmaterials.com.
"Synthetic rubber, non-curing, aggressively tacky, low moisture vapor transmission, glass to metal mounting." That there is butyl being described - so it's probably a soak-the-boaty black butyl, without actually saying "butyl" - even in the product's MSDS!!!
As you may know, I'm a fan of cheap butyl for bedding compound. But the tape seems convenient for this app. And if it is a butyl an awl can open holes from the top to insert screws with Lanocote on the threads. Black butyl should last forever. Also advertised as a "solid extrusion with exceptional coldflow rersistance..." (would think we'd rather want HOT flow resistance! What are they talking about?) It could end up a decent watertite installation.
The whole surface of the mast will be painted, which I assume will also add another corrosion barrier for the old mast where stuff is attached.

The mast HAS to be painted because of the curdled appearance of the aluminum and numerous corrosion repairs.
LabMetal is an inexpensive aluminum filled paste. Thus I have not used a glob of epoxy to plug holes. And instead of a toxic sprayed LPU color, decided to use Aluthane as the final roll coat on the mast - an aluminum filled urethane with a long track record of dolling up steel barges. Supposedly it'll make the mast look like it's galvanized. Which is OK with me.

Didn't plan it, but turns out that the refurbish is an ALL aluminum goop-n-coat effort, including using aluminum windowscreen in the backing when filling and spanning 1/2" holes with the metal filler. And a bigger hole where a steaming light or foredeck light must have been.
Chromated epoxy primer is 'traditionally' ALWAYS used after the nasty hexvalent alodine film treatment. But I want to avoid that poison primer which could get sanded someday and produce lethal dust - and go straight on to the Aluthane.
Will the mast KNOW?

Hey Jerry, you got in while I was yackin at Bill.
Recently got on the TidesMarine site and discovered you can attach their system to CLIPS of the same proportions as 7/8" T- track. So if renovation was needed on the mast, that could be done, and instead of reinstalling old track, TidesMarine clips made for their poly track can be used.

I'm aesthetically challenged with that lump of plastic on our airfoil mast. If you have a modern squarish mast, I might go for it. It's also TOO EXPENSIVE, including the special slides needed. And that may be the real reason I find it excessive. Also there are rumblings of the material getting UVed. Since I'm still fooling myself that sailing off into the sunset will be into the South Seas and hotter more direct sun, I can see problems with the plastic. That may be good reason to install it on a full run of stainless sail track. Is there a weight issue?

How high up does the car track go to be optimal for the spnnaker whisker detail?
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WAY LATER EDIT: Sailmaker wants at least one full batten on offshore mainsl. Got StrongTrack samples from TidesMarine...by itself doesn't look all that important, really. It's 15/16" tall... way wider (1 3/8") than the flat (11/16") on the tear-drop mast. The overhang, causes a distinct 'V' on both sides, has to be caulked with something to provide some support and continuity. Epoxy, 5200, silicone are the candidates.
Have some good experience with ChemLink 10oz gun-grade polyethers. Reasonably priced from roofer's supply. They are adhesive caulks of varying firms. M-1 is structural and very stiff. Duralink is flexible metal to metal caulk, not as hard, many colors. Carefully taped black polyether will disappear with the black polyethylene of the StrongTrack. But it'll be a really noticable black streak between sail and mast...

Ebb

That depends on the sails you are using. When I did mine I had the boat on the trailor, I put some blue tape on the front of the mast and I ran each of the head sails up that the pole would work for. Then I hooked up the pole to the sail and marked the blue tape where the car should be for each sail. Then it was just a matter of placing the track where the car could go to the correct level for all of the sails.