Tide Marine Sail Track

[Redwing]

Hi all.   Was curious if anyone has experience with the Tides Marine sail track system?    I'm considering installing one along with a Doyle Stack Pack Cradle Cover.

https://www.tidesmarine.com/shaftseals/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzdDGhaXc4QIV2P7jBx2ndgWhEAAYASABEgIFXfD_BwE

[jmcdonald]

I installed the Tide sail track with my stack pack a little over a year ago. Very happy with it.
Like they say; sail zips up & zips down with ease. Only problem I ever had was drag on the
line running though the turning blocks running the line back to the cockpit.

[Noah]

I have the Tides Strong sail track system and it works great! Got mine 3+ years ago from Catalina Direct. Self installed, but paid a $100 to sailmaker to install the slides on my sail.

[Brad Young]

Got ours in 2012. Well worth the money. We do not have a stack pack. We use lazy jacks.

[Redwing]

Thanks is everyone.    Did anyone need to grind out the opening where the sail glides slide in?   Tides marine told me that this opening must be symmetrical, meaning the same on both sides of the mast.   

My boat is currently in storage up north and I truly cannot recall whether the sail slide opening is on both sides of the mast.

My boat is a 1996 C34 MKIi.

[Noah]

The "gate" hole in my 1990 was symmetrical on both sides of mast slot. You will have to remove your boom to install track. Attached is a pic of my mast/slot BEFORE Tides Strong track was installed.

[Redwing]

Thank you for sending the picture!  Did you have any trouble removing the gooseneck?   Removing it was my first thought, but Tide Marine and the sail maker said to dermal tool another symmetrical opening 10 inches above.  I really don't want to grind out another opening and any negative effect that would have on the finish of the mast.

[Noah]

You will need to remove the boom, but not the fitting on the mast (just pull the vertical bolt/pin) in order to flex the Tides Strong track into the mast slot and feed it up the mast. It will just flex/bend so much. A bit more difficult with a ridged boom vang, too,  as you will need to remove that from the boom as well.

[Redwing]

Thank you so much!  That is good news to me!  Didn't want to risk breaking a screw tryin to get that gooseneck off.  The mast is currently down and boom off so hopefully the track will go up smoothly. 

Thank you so much for sharing your experience!

[Noah]

I did mine with mast stepped in boat so yours should be easier as you can nudged it along. The Tides Strong track system much improved my "main sail experience." However, even with ball bearing sheaves on the halyards and deck organizers, there is a lot of induced friction in our boat's design. When dousing sail it falls like a rock with the new track, but when raising it, I still would recommend someone assisting by manually "jumping" the main halyard at the mast if you want it up very quickly.