How to use Mclube products
Harken/Fosters has been distributing McLube products for the leisure marine industry for a long time. In the beginning there was McLube® Sailkote™ dry lubricant spray, and we merrily sprayed everything to make it more slippery! With the success of Sailkote, McLube got to work developing new products specifically tailored for different applications.
The original Sailkote works best on everything that slides. Try it on your spinnaker chutes, luff tapes, and slider cars and track. You’ll be amazed at how it reduces friction! It sprays or wipes on, dries in seconds, and unlike oils, silicones and waxes, will not attract dirt and water contaminants. Here’s another neat trick. Spray a little Sailkote on your telltales and they won’t stick to your wet sail!
OneDrop™ ball bearing conditioner is specifically formulated for things that roll: ball and roller bearings in blocks, traveler cars, and Harken Battcars. Use it in very small amounts (one drop in each bearing race, not entirely coincidentally) and you’ll see a significant reduction in friction under load. But use too much and it could cause the bearings to skid, rather than roll. So please curb your enthusiasm!
Hullkote™ Speed Polish was introduced as an improved solution for people who were previously polishing their hulls with Sailkote. The result is a hard, lustrous, slippery finish that's very, very fast! Hullkote is easy to apply – one cloth with polish, one to wipe it off – in a classic “wax on, wax off” technique. There is no wax involved though! It also has a delightful whiff of citrus about it. Hullkote is principally used by dry-sailed boats and typically lasts for around 20 days of hard sailing. It is excellent for keelboat regattas where the boat may not be hauled out for the duration of the event. Hullkote Speed Polish was used on every hull at the 2015 Sailing World Cup in Miami, Florida.
For boats that are sailed for longer periods of time or moored in the water, McLube introduced Antifoul Alternative – a speed polish with all the same benefits as Hullkote, plus foul-release properties to prevent marine growth and slime from adhering for weeks. In a ringing endorsement, Antifoul Alternative won Sail Magazines Innovative Product of the Year Award in 2013 and is being used on the hulls of all the boats in the 2015-16 Volvo Ocean Race.
So to summarize use:
- Sailkote for things that slide (including telltales)
- OneDrop for things that roll (bearings in cars and blocks)
- Hullkote for fast hulls
- Antifoul Alternative for long-term events.