Traditional Slide Solutions

If your mainsail has traditional slides and it balks at hoisting or dropping, the fault probably lies with the attachment to the luff of the sail. Sailmakers commonly attach sail slides or slugs to the mainsail by sewing them on with webbing. Other attachment methods include metal or plastic shackles or numerous wraps of tough lacing line. All of these methods hold the slides tightly to the sail's luff, making a relatively rigid joint between the cloth and slide that allows very little movement. When combined with stiff mainsail cloth, these inflexible attachments at the sail's luff are a common source of jamming.

The reason is clear. When hoisting a stiff mainsail, the cloth pulls upward on the bail of the slide, trying to tilt its upper end into the mast. When lowering, a heavy sail will weigh downward on the slides, forcing the bottom edge of the slide into the mast track. In addition, sailcloth often attempts to flake itself when halyard tension is released. As the sail twists from side to side, the stiff webbing or shackles transfer this rotary motion to the slides. The resulting side loads and unfair strains wedge the slide into the mast track, making the sail difficult to raise or lower smoothly. Even slides or slugs made of slippery plastic are not immune to this binding.

To prevent the motion in the mainsail cloth from transferring loads into the slide, the joint between sail and slide must allow movement in any direction. Metal shackles, tightly knotted lacing lines and heavy Nylon webbing cannot be arranged to accomplish this de-coupling.

Battslide intermediate fittings can attach to the mast with conventional slides or Battslide Slides

The intermediates from Battslide solve all these problems and provide a mechanical joint between the luff of the sail and the slide, allowing proper three-dimensional movement. Each fitting has a miniature gooseneck allowing up-and-down, side-to-side and rotational movement in the sail without transferring the motion to the slide itself. They were engineered with adjustment threads so that the installation can accommodate minor differences in mast and sail.

No modifications are necessary to the mast or boom and any sailmaker can install the entire system in just a few hours. Thus the cost of conversion to the Battslide system is usually quite modest.

Twist at the Top -- Headboards:

The Battslide #844 Headboard Plate and matching slide allow rotation in all directions.

Sailmakers have been struggling with headboards on mainsails for many years. They need to be very strong and stiff to accommodate the enormous strain from the halyard. The headboard must also be firmly attached to the mast with multiple slides, especially when deeply reefed. The weight of the boom and sail, combined with tension from the main sheet and boom vang, pulls the leech downward and attempts to pull the headboard away from the mast. This twisting motion pushes in on the lower headboard slides and pulls back on the upper slides. All these stresses on the closely spaced slides of the unyielding headboard plate are a common recipe for binding.

Schaefer has given sailmakers special Battslide headboard fittings to fight the war on headboard jamming. Like the rest of the Schaefer system, the Battslide headboard fittings allow three-dimensional motion and adjustment to conform to mast rake and sail shape. The Battslide headboard fittings, however, are made entirely of metal for extra strength during reefing.