Strong Track Problem |
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The new mainsail I purchased from Quantum Sails in 2003 included a Strong Track insert for the existing external track on the main mast. The purpose of the track is provide reduced friction on the sail slides when raising and lowering the sail and also to provide a broader distribution of the load from a fully-battened mainsail. Up until now there had been no problems with this system |
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There is a second plate at the bottom of the Strong Track that also pulled out of the mast track. |
One possible cause of the problem is the system I used to secure the reef tacks on the mainsail. |
The new mainsail proved to be difficult to secure to these hooks when reefing. The sail is much heavier and stiffer than the previous mainsail. My first solution was to place a short piece of nylon webbing through each reef tack ring with stainless steel coits sewn into each end. With the mainsail lowered the coits could be slipped over the tack hooks and then the halyard tensioned. This worked OK, but it still was tricky to accomplish as one or both of the coits liked to slip off the hooks before the halyard could be tensioned. |
The problem may be that this system secured the reef tack vertically, but not fore and aft or side to side. The many miles I sailed Sarah under reefed mainsail may finally caused the mechanical fasteners at the bottom of the track to fail.
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Either the plates rotated over time and came loose from the track or when the strong track was installed these plates never locked into the track. Because the plates are now tight against the Strong Track I don't believe they came loose over time, but were never secured to the mast track. |
The reason this screw is tapped into the mast wall instead of secured with a threaded plate is that there is a second slide gate on the mast track shown in the picture on the left. This undoubtedly was the original gate for the main sail slides when Sarah was first commissioned. The Previous Owner (PO) purchased a fully-battened mainsail sometime in the 1980s and that sail required a different type of track gate which was installed several feet above this gate and is shown in the picture above. |
It appears that the track would have likely held if the two
plates were secured into the mast track. There are a couple
more threaded plates above the point where the track came loose and
they are still secure. So my first action will be to secure
the two plates that came loose into the mast track. Then I
will either drill out screw remnant in the mast and re-tap the whole
for a replacement screw or drill and tape a new hole several inches
from the one that failed. In order to accomplish those actions I need a relatively calm day to raise the mainsail and possibly drop it on deck. Since Steve and I returned to Marsh Harbor the winds have been blowing 15-20kts. The other task will be to find a better way to secure the reef tacks. I hate to give up on the Cunningham system because it is so easy and quick. If the Strong Track is properly secured, the small amount of play in the reef tack allowed by the Cunningham tackle may not be important. I'll have to think on this some more after the Strong Track is secured. |
Re-Attaching the Strong Track |
Saturday morning the winds were still light, about 8-10 kts, so I hoisted the mainsail and started work. I decided I would not attempt to replace the broken screw until I dropped the mainsail out of the track, but I could lock the plates into the track with the mainsail fully hoisted. This moved all of the mainsail slides well above the portion of the Strong Track that had come loose. |
I pulled and pried on the Strong Track and it did not budge, so it is attached for now. I still need to replace the broken screw and possibly come up with a different system for reefing the mainsail. |
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