Main Sail Down Haul

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by jjt5795

I have a Columbia 45 and a downhaul was mandatory with my old mainsail. I had the arrangement mentioned above with a 1/4" line attached to the headboard and halyard shackle.

I replaced my sails and added the Tide Marine track system. I don't need a downhaul any more. When i release the halyard, the sail comes down, even if i am not quite into the wind. I cannot say the Tides Marine track system will work on all boats but it works like a dream on mine. It is easy to install too.

Yes the Tides track is the way to go. Since installing this on top of my old style track when I got a new main with full battens, the sail drops so fast I have to keep some tension on the halyard if I want a nice fold onto the boom (Dutchman system). Installation was easy. The slides are strong and haven't failed in 3 years and being plastic there is no wear on the boltrope.

[NorthCoastJoe]

Have you cleaned the track? When we had a mast down, I ran a pressure washer down the track and was amazed by the amount of crud that flew out.

[KP44]

I installed a teflon sail track called a "strong track" and my full-battened sail just drops easily. Reef lines should do the rest,

[jjt5795]

My boat had the same metal track system, you will live the Tides Track!

Originally Posted by Bellinghamster

I'm sure glad to hear 3 positive comments about Tides Track! I just ordered it to upgrade the finicky/often sticking external 7/8 track system on my main an mizzen along new full batten sails. Cost is very reasonable compared to any of the other bat-car or track systems I looked into, and certainly cheaper than new spars!

[sinnerman]

I have sailed on boats with the Tides Marine sail track and it works VERY well. It costs about $30 per foot of mast track for the kit, including the slides but not counting the cost to have a sailmaker attach the new slides to your sail.

You can install the track from the deck without removing the mast. Their full batten cars are the best part since they "swivel" to prevent binding...

I am looking at reefing options for my boat since I single hand, and with my age the hopping back & forth between the cabin rooftop and cockpit kills my knees.

I plan to install two separate lines for each reef: one for the clew, one for the tack and bringing the lines all back to the cockpit.

The "tack line" would also perform the function of a "downhaul".

Christian Williams who at 70+ sails single hand between Los Angeles and Hawaii has a similar setup two line reef system on his 38 ft Erickson:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyDF2aUhuD0

cheers