MPS Maintenance Tips

The boat is pretty trouble free but here are a few tips that have been picked up off the mailing list.

I have three things to fix at the moment, so how do I:

(a) repair a small (inch long) split in the mainsail where the kicker rubs (w.o. sending it back to Hyde)

Grame Oliver says .. Get hold of some dacron or kevlar self adhesive repair tape, clean the area around the cut and remove any loose edges/fibers. Then apply a patch to both sides and press down firmly.

Richard Stenhouse says - any repair on the sail can be done with mylar sail tape or if on the water duck tape sticks better but not as nice looking.
pay attention to any ware and tare on high load areas ie the leach as a small nik could develop in to a large tare. the kicker pocket has very little load so your repair only needs to stop the knav catching.
while you are at it, a patch were the spreader touch the sail.
if it is a job the requires sewing your local sail maker might be able to do it although Hydes will have the same material.

(b) stick the tiller extension (fibreglass) onto the universal joint (rubbery plastic thing) - previously used Areldite, but came apart in attempted massive bear away ...

Grame Oliver says .. You can drill and bolt the universal joint through the extension
Ian Renilson adds : IMPORTANT: a small bolt is all you need - don’t over-tighten it, or it will crack the fibreglass, which will split (probably on that massive bear-away).
Richard Stenhouse says - I use areldite and a pin or 3mm bolt through it to make sure

(c) replace bottom section of mainsail track - luff rope jumps out when hoisting in any breeze. I know track sections can be bought from Ovington Boats, but how easy is it to attach the new one to the mast securely. Also is it better to hoist the sail before or after applying rig tension?

Grame Oliver says .. Best ask Bov (Ian Turnbull) about this one or try Selden. The main mistake most people make when pulling the mai up is having the battens on different sides, if they are all on the sale side it should go up fairly easily.A good spray of Mclube on the track realy helps as well.

Richard Stenhouse says - to replace the sail track I would saw off with a hack saw, the damaged area being carefulll not to damage any of the carbon fibre.
file /sand to remove all the remaining bits of track/glue and make the replacment peice a good fit .
I would then glue it on with plexus or areldite if not available.(you might need to rough the surfaces with sand paper to ensure the glue holds.) make sure you have stuck it on straight. Your sail feeder may be part of the problem, replace it with the holt one using a Rivet designed for use on carbon.(normal rivets can crush the carbon making it weak)

To hoist the sail without it pulliing out of the track
- hold the sail forward
- put the boat head to wind with all the batterns the same way
- pull it up without the boom on
- an extra pulley at the bottom of the mast can make it easier to pull and feed the sail.
- if it jumps out pull down slowly to avoid melting the plastic track.
- if it still jumps out of the track the bolt rope may have flattened get a sailmaker to replace it.
- Your rig tension sould be on before you hoist your sail as you can not measure it with the sails up. if you - mast is inverted with tension on it will make it harder to pull you sail up. I sail with a straight mast.
- You could hoist you sail without any batten tension the turn it on its side to tension batterns but I think it would be easier to mend your track.

Ian Renilson says: Another great tip if you have an old kite, is to coat it with a tent waterproofer, such as ‘Fabsil’ - it makes an amazing difference: easier to pull up & down - easier to gybe - easier to set. I found the brush-on stuff better (and cheaper) than the spray-on stuff. Unfortunately it does not sort the distorted shape or smooth out these vertical creases from when we’ve been trying to retrieve the trawl-net .