Rutgerson batcar slides?

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by Kestrahl

I've seen Beneteau use them on a 523 main we replaced which was 680sqft and the old ones were still okay ( they weren't the high load version ).
The batten sliders can break if people screw them into the box to far and it levers on the boltrope of the sail. They need to unscrewed far enough that the slide can rotate fully and the wheels miss the front of the sail. Normally there is about 10mm of thread showing. The intermediates need to be spaced away from the luff to match the batten sliders.
The flat sliders are stronger than the round sliders which have a much smaller neck.

That sounds like good advice and logical reasoning for the issue our friend is having with his. Thanks for posting this!

Matt

[Caribsailors]

I've have them on my 38' Beneteau. Been in the tropics for 6 year.
No issues, have worked flawlessly with my Dutchman reefing.
Cheers.

[Snowpetrel]

Originally Posted by Kestrahl

I've seen Beneteau use them on a 523 main we replaced which was 680sqft and the old ones were still okay ( they weren't the high load version ).
The batten sliders can break if people screw them into the box to far and it levers on the boltrope of the sail. They need to unscrewed far enough that the slide can rotate fully and the wheels miss the front of the sail. Normally there is about 10mm of thread showing. The intermediates need to be spaced away from the luff to match the batten sliders.
The flat sliders are stronger than the round sliders which have a much smaller neck.

That makes a lot of sense, and may explain a fair portion of the issues people have, thanks Kestrahl. Especially the lower battens that can bend much more, and during downwind reefing when the reef clew is slack.

I talked to a friend who was a sailmaker the other day. He had issues with batten cars breaking, but admited the wide spacing may be a factor, and it was the lower cars during reefing, so it sounds like a common theme. He has some 23mm flat track that I could retrofit. Reckons its far better than the 12mm round luff groove type I currently have. Might do some tests.

[Snowpetrel]

Originally Posted by Caribsailors

I've have them on my 38' Beneteau. Been in the tropics for 6 year.
No issues, have worked flawlessly with my Dutchman reefing.
Cheers.

Thanks, thats very useful info. Cheers

[Jim Cate]

Ben, one thing not mentioned so far is the importance of the shape of your mast section just forward of the groove area. Ours bends away from the groove pretty quickly, and the rollers on our cars barely engage the mast, and hence don't help much with friction reduction. Don't remember offhand which brand they are (supplied by Steve Walker Sails), but could be Rutgerson.

Jim

[Snowpetrel]

^^Thanks Jim, a very good point. My mast is reasonably flat, but it does have a small lip each side of the luff groove whick could cause some issues. Got to get measuring. I take it you have something similar on I2 using an internal track rather than an external track. Does it work Ok? Your main is much bigger than mine, so anything that works ok for you should be fine on SP2.

[Kestrahl]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Ben, one thing not mentioned so far is the importance of the shape of your mast section just forward of the groove area. Ours bends away from the groove pretty quickly, and the rollers on our cars barely engage the mast, and hence don't help much with friction reduction. Don't remember offhand which brand they are (supplied by Steve Walker Sails), but could be Rutgerson.

Jim

Rutgerson also make sliders with slightly bigger wheels than the normal model which solves the issue if they are barely touching. The tolerances are quite fine so the only way to know is to try a sample.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Snowpetrel

^^Thanks Jim, a very good point. My mast is reasonably flat, but it does have a small lip each side of the luff groove whick could cause some issues. Got to get measuring. I take it you have something similar on I2 using an internal track rather than an external track. Does it work Ok? Your main is much bigger than mine, so anything that works ok for you should be fine on SP2.

Yep, it is an internal groove for flat sliders, and it is ok, but down wind reefing is not easy. I had intended to fit a Strong track system when I bought the new main a couple of years ago, but spent the money on Hydranet instead! If I apply Maclube frequently it helps a lot!

So, not an enthusiastic endorsement, but we've lived with it for a long time and it does work. But I think highly dependent upon the shape of the mast... the larger wheels that Kelstrahl mentions might be a help... or I may already have them, for Steve did a lot of trials to find what worked best.

Jim

[andreas.mehlin]

I try to decide to either go with Tides marine sail track....or with Rutgersons batcars...

Which one of these would work best to reef without going upwind?

If you have any of these two systems....tell me how you experience reefing without going into wind.

How much is a Rutgerson system for a 45 ft boat? more or less....Tides marine seem to be around 1500 usd.

[Franziska]

We have the Rutgerson cars. They are a great solution for the budget conscious but require luffing for reefing.
We had no failure of the cars and use them now for several years.

I have not tried the other system, but doubt that it is really easy to reef with that one either when you have full pressure on the main.