InfiniLube960
When opportunity knocks, Craig Tovell doesn’t take long to answer the door. After his daughter took interest in equestrian—which is, as far as I can tell, the worst thing that can happen to a parent’s checkbook—the Columbus, Ohio, native began offsetting the costs by building custom tack trucks in his garage. He’s got an idea to catch the stand-up paddleboard wave with a folding Kevlar longboard. Tovell’s also a lifelong sailor with a handful of one-design dinghy championships under his belt, so it was only a matter of time before his entrepreneurial wanderings led him to the racecourse.
“I was speaking with a friend who works in heavy machinery sales,” says Tovell. “I was telling him how the dry lube we use in sailing costs a lot, washes off, and leaves white snotty residue on my boat. He went to the back of his company van and pulled out a can of the synthetic, NSF-grade (food industry approved) silicon grease they use. He told me it was military/government stuff. He uses it in manufacturing because of its high temperature resistance and survivability.”
Tovell saw a broader potential for the goo and soon began marketing it as InfiniLube. As opposed to a Teflon-based lubricant like McLube’s SailKote, InfiniLube is a synthetic silicon grease. It stays put and doesn’t evaporate. “The film left behind is government tested and certified,” says Tovell. “When they put it in use on a satellite, tank turret, wind turbine, etc., it’s good for up to 10 years or when maintenance is subsequently needed for other components.”
I brought a can of InfiniLube aboard the IMX 38 Mr. Ed, which has a headstay foil that, in the past, required regular doses of McLube. Bowman Rob Wilber Jr. sprayed a thin coat of InfiniLube in the track a few weeks back and hasn’t had to reapply since. Ever better, the harmless white can has introduced an exciting new range of verbal puns and other lubricant-related humor to Mr. Ed‘s post-race debriefs.
As my crewmates have suggested, InfiniLube isn’t just for your boat. “This stuff justifies its existence in almost every application,” says Tovell. “Other than life and death situations like the military and government, it’s used in high-performance applications like auto racing, cycling, even logging.”
www.infinilube.com, $95 for six 12-ounce cans
