Check out this *!

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Rick

I was at the marina a few days ago doing a routine check of the boat, when an older gentleman walked over and struck up a conversation with me. During this conversation, he told me of his sailing experience up north on the great lakes. Well we shared a few sailing stories as I gave the boat the once over. To make a long story short, he told me that I could improve the wind flow over the sails by wiping them down with Armor-all. He said that Armor-all would reduce any resistance to the wind by the sail, which in turn would create a better wind foil effect, which would squeeze a few extra knots out of the sails, because of the improved, more efficient flow of air. Uh-huh. I didn’t know if he was telling the truth or he was going to try to sell me the Brooklyn Bridge next. Anyhow, I thought I would post this little gem of information to see if anyone has heard of this or tried it. I do not think I’m going to rush out and buy a gallon of Armor-all and start swabbing the sails. But I would like to know if I am the first sailor to hear about this or am I the last. What do you guys think of this? Rick 73 #2113
 
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Ben

I never heard of that. . .

but I am relatively new to sailing. Even if we assume that the armor-all wouldn't break down any of the material or stitching, I have to wonder how many times you could could do that before you would start to build up a sticky residue on the sail. Armor all was designed to soak into vinyl and plastic; I doubt it would work into sails.
 
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Bayard Gross

What about McLube Sailcoat?

I do not think Amorall is a good idea to put onto sails as it probably contains petroleum distillitates that may react poorly with the sail's material. However, there is McLube Sailcoat which from what I read in sales material and on the can can be applied to sails to improve their performance. I believe it is synthetic and has no petroleum distillitates. But I have no experience here nor have I heard of anyone using Sailcoat in this fashion.
 
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Rick

I found it

I guess Armor-all is a poor mans Mclube. http://www.888teammclube.com/frames/sailkote/
 
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Ted

Poor man with dirty sails . . .

. . . the McLube stuff says that it is a DRY lubricant, whereas the Armour-all will remain WET like it does on those sinky black tires. I would think that the Armour-all will attract dirt, etc., not that there is a lot of dirt out on the water. Just something to think about. Cheers, Ted
 
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Gallegodude

Grease

WOW, well here's another sure fire thing. Grease the bottom of your hull prior to launching if you race, the grease makes the boat slip through the water faster, hehehe.
 
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