We have 2 issues with our mast:
1) the triangular pivot on the mast that the boom attaches to appears to be a cast aluminum part ... at the top and bottom of the triangle is a pin shape with nylon or Teflon sleeves … these are then attached to the mast with riveted U shaped clamps. At issue is the bottom pin has worn to the point it looks like a half moon. I am concerned that this is going to fail at some point. Would anyone know what this part is called and what can be done to fix it?
2) Halfway through the summer we start having trouble raising our mainsail … when the sail is halfway up the mast we have to use the winch to muscle the sail up the rest of the way … we think it’s a combination of the track getting dirty over the summer plus some of the slugs that are tied (where the batten’s are located in the sail) have a tendency to be misaligned to the track. After we have cleaned the track and all the slugs and applied some silicon, the sail can be raised by hand at least for a couple months … since we have moorage we now only step our mast once at the end of the season. Is there something we could use to clean the track with the mast up … or … perhaps there is some way to better secure the batten slugs so they won’t bind?
1) the triangular pivot on the mast that the boom attaches to appears to be a cast aluminum part ... at the top and bottom of the triangle is a pin shape with nylon or Teflon sleeves … these are then attached to the mast with riveted U shaped clamps. At issue is the bottom pin has worn to the point it looks like a half moon. I am concerned that this is going to fail at some point. Would anyone know what this part is called and what can be done to fix it?
2) Halfway through the summer we start having trouble raising our mainsail … when the sail is halfway up the mast we have to use the winch to muscle the sail up the rest of the way … we think it’s a combination of the track getting dirty over the summer plus some of the slugs that are tied (where the batten’s are located in the sail) have a tendency to be misaligned to the track. After we have cleaned the track and all the slugs and applied some silicon, the sail can be raised by hand at least for a couple months … since we have moorage we now only step our mast once at the end of the season. Is there something we could use to clean the track with the mast up … or … perhaps there is some way to better secure the batten slugs so they won’t bind?