Sail slides for my H30

[malyea]

Great racing today, 12 to 15 gusting to 25+, reefed main and partly furled genny, won all three on uncorrected time....but I digress.... ;-)

I also blew out 4 of the plastic sail slides; one side broke off, 4 in a row...

These very old slides are sewn on with a strap of cloth and my research is showing that West Marine carries a Bainbridge brand slide and plastic shackles. If I use the shackles, does this mean I can pass on a trip to the sail loft and simply shackle the new sail slides to the grommets in the luff of the main without paying for sewing?

And, how are your main sail slides attached to your main - shackles or sewn?

Thanks again guys!

 

[tomgrigsby]

My 79 uses the shackles and grommets (sail is maybe 4 years old). I blow out shackles regularly - usually happens when I've been racing.

 

[rardiH36]

Congrats on your race results. To ensure a repeat, maybe check these folks at this url:

http://search.sailrite.com/?freeText=slugs

In the SF Bay's "the slot", I sail in +25kt winds probably 50% of the time I leave my berth. And that averages two times per week.

When I first bought my boat, I popped numerous slugs just sailing around the bay.

After replacing with new ones, its been several years now since a break.

And yes, you can DIY. I can't right now google or you tube, but from memory, Sailrite.com has an instructional video on line about replacing slugs.

 

[rardiH36]

Re my last, one more consideration. Today's plastics are light years better than something manufactured 10 or 20 years ago. Remember the splits/cracks in the first plastic/foam dashboards put in cars in the mid 70's? Or the case of my favorite ski boots about 1985 that 10 years later during the first run of the season simply shattered apart halfway down the hill?

I think the same issue with older sail slugs/slides.

Today's plastic formulations are much much much better. Door handles on cars in recent years. When's the last time we've seen metal ones? They are all plastic now. That virtually never break. The last time I've had a door handle break was on a now long sold (but fondly remembered) 1989 Jaguar. The door handle was metal.

 

[spiritrunner]

I'm using shackles with my sail slugs, but having them sewn on with a strap would help keep the slugs in line with the track better than shackles. My slugs hang up regularly and need a shot of silicone on a regular basis. I generally have to coax the main down. I'm looking to refit the mast with a friction free slide system next year on my H28.5 when I order a new main.

Jason

 

[Dalliance]

I have sail slugs, sewn on with straps, three years old now. Never had one break, but I'm not racing either. They will hang up, so I use a syringe to put some liquid dish detergent on the slugs and in the track as far up as can reach. I do this about once a week or after a heavy rain. The main goes up easily and it pretty much falls into the lazy jacks on its own when we release the halyard.

 

[malyea]

Great info guys! Thanks as always!

My local West Marine had the right size Bainbridge slugs and shackles in stock so I'll be replacing them all ASAP!

Fair winds!