Struggling with wingsail sleeve friction

[Axel Grease]

I have a Tiki 38. Sails by Rolly Tasker. They are his heavyweight Cruising cloth and even after a good bit of use are still quite stiff. I have now been cruising the boat solo  for about 2 years. For whatever reason, on my boat the friction from the wingsail sleeves makes it very hard to raise and lower the sails. There have been occasions where the difficulty with dropping the sails has posed a bit of a danger. I am planning to have them modified to be able to use either mast hoops or lacing.

I have seen photos of a T38 charter boat in New York (I think it was) and also remember  that Ann & Neville did the same thing on Peace. If anyone has information about doing this conversion, please respond here, or feel free to contact me privately if you prefer.

Also, if anyone has successfully converted beam lashings to webbing or other alternate system, I'd appreciate learning more about it.