Tide marine strongtrack outside width?

[Vengeful]

Hi all,

I’m having a new mainsail made, and my sailmaker has convinced me to get a Tides Marine Strongtrack System with it.

The sail is many months on backorder and in the meantime I am installing an external track for a trysail (which won’t have a strongtrack on it).

I would very much like to know what the overall width of the installed strongtrack is, though - I’m afraid I’ll install the trysail track too close and the two tracks won’t coexist peacefully.

Can anyone with a strongtrack please measure the outside width of their track? I think there’s some kind of bolt-on bottom cap, too...

Attached a photo of my boat’s existing luff groove and the trysail track and external slide next to it...


Thank you all very much! I’d ask Tides, but they’re closed on weekends.

[model 10]

What a damn rip off that track is, UV kills them. My sail still looks great and the track needs to be replaced. Figure needing to buy a couple tracks over the life of your sail.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by Ecos

What a damn rip off that track is, UV kills them. My sail still looks great and the track needs to be replaced. Figure needing to buy a couple tracks over the life of your sail.

Odd, my track is 17.5 years old and I'm only now considering replacing it. I'm well into my second set of sails.


My track is 1 5/8".

[model 10]

I must be closer to the sun. The guy next to me also replaced his, though he 's not pissed off. Thinks it's well worth it.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by Ecos

I must be closer to the sun. The guy next to me also replaced his, though he 's not pissed off. Thinks it's well worth it.

My boat for the most part has stayed above 30 degrees during the summer so If you have spent most of your time in the Caribbean yours has had more UV exposure than mine, so that may explain our different experiences. The OP might want to consider where he's going to use his boat. Mine has spent only 5 summers in Florida in the 17.5 years.

[cabo_sailor]

My strong track is, I believe, 15 yrs old and still looks and works like new. As does the one installed on the boat next to me. His is a few years younger. Both of us have been in SW Florida (28 deg N) the entire time. Love it.

[model 10]

You guys are brave. Staying out of the hurricane zone has it's costs I guess, but my psyche is intact down here.

[Vengeful]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

My track is 1 5/8".

Thanks! That info will let me continue installing the trysail track this weekend

[skipgundlach]

The folks saying they've replaced their track are correct.

In a tropical environment, you can expect 7-10 years. Ours failed (a slug pulled out) on a relatively small jibe.

Tides will give you special pricing if you go direct to them, for the replacement.

There may be other more robust systems, but for the price and easy sliding of the Tides system, we're happy for a replacement. Just keep an eye on the track from about 5 years out if you're tropical; look for stress cracks...

Pictures: Flying Pig 2015-2018 Shake-and-Break-Down/Strong Track Failure

[toddster8]

LOL. I was in the exact same predicament three weeks ago. Except I didn't think of it until the trysail track was half-way installed. And I don't have a Tide's track on order - just something I've got in mind for the next sail, which is probably years in the future still. So I just guessed. D'Oh!

Maybe worth noting that I installed the trysail track with a couple of bends. Wide at the bottom for a "storage" position, and to get around the flaked main, then moving closer to the main track. But anyway, after installation, as I sight down the mast it looks like the track deviates a bit immediately after these bends and "bulges" a bit closer to the main track, creating possible future pinch-points. I.e. maybe my control points should have been closer together? IDK. I thought it was good at the time.

Anyhow, I have been spending every spare moment for weeks working on the boat, then abandoning any project not required for launch (i.e. not below the waterline or up the mast.) Sadly, all my spare moments were late at night after work. ANYHOW, splashed yesterday! Exhausted. Big debris field in the farmyard, around where the boat sat for 9 months. Heaps of deck hardware to re-install. And already, I see a few things that I'll need to climb the mast to fix. Later.

[stnick]

I installed a strong track 4 years ago on my 38 morgan. That sail falls like a rock now. ! I just love it . easiy to pull up easy to fall ! the morgans came with a old stule screw on track external . The sail cars used to get stuck at every 8 ft of track screwed on . !

[psk125]

On another thread I learned that instead of using track for their storm trysails, many people are opting to run ss wire between two padeyes on the mast. This keeps a line of holes for mounting the track from weakening the mast, and the wire is thinner than the track would be, so takes up less space on the aft side of the mast. Hanks hold the storm trysail to it. Seems like a good option to consider. K.I.S.S.

[jhulmer]

Originally Posted by Vengeful

Hi all,

I’m having a new mainsail made, and my sailmaker has convinced me to get a Tides Marine Strongtrack System with it.

The sail is many months on backorder and in the meantime I am installing an external track for a trysail (which won’t have a strongtrack on it).

I would very much like to know what the overall width of the installed strongtrack is, though - I’m afraid I’ll install the trysail track too close and the two tracks won’t coexist peacefully.

Can anyone with a strongtrack please measure the outside width of their track? I think there’s some kind of bolt-on bottom cap, too...

Attached a photo of my boat’s existing luff groove and the trysail track and external slide next to it...


Thank you all very much! I’d ask Tides, but they’re closed on weekends.

I just installed a Tides Track on a traditional sail track, like you show in your pics, and mine is 1-3/8" wide.

[jhulmer]

Originally Posted by psk125

On another thread I learned that instead of using track for their storm trysails, many people are opting to run ss wire between two padeyes on the mast. This keeps a line of holes for mounting the track from weakening the mast, and the wire is thinner than the track would be, so takes up less space on the aft side of the mast. Hanks hold the storm trysail to it. Seems like a good option to consider. K.I.S.S.

I don't like this idea because it concentrates the load at only two places on the mast. with the track the load is divided over a larger area of the mast. The smaller holes required to mount the track will not significantly weaken the mast as much as four larger holes to mount the cable ends. IMHO



Jim

[Vengeful]

Thanks for all the help and feedback, everyone!