Lazy jacks

[Neil Gordon]

I gave up on trying to flake down the main. All that would happen is the slippery sail would fall off the boom and unflake itself.

The main is easily tamed and made ready for the sail cover by simply tucking it into its own belly and rolling it up. I start at the mast, start with the head and work my way down and aft. About halfway, I reach over the boom, roll what's there, put it top of the boom and secure with two sail ties. Sometimes I need to neaten it up after I'm back in the slip, but not always.

[Steve Laume]

Neil, I have done the belly roll method a couple of times when I didn't feel like flaking. I seem to remember it looked much neater than a lot of my flaking jobs.

I do a modified version on the stay sail most of the time. I start out flaking then roll everything into the lose foot of the sail.

It seems like it would be good for a sail to vary the way it is stowed to as not to set permanent creases, Steve.

[Joe Myerson]

I generally end up rolling my sail to furl it, too.

However, instead of sail ties, I'm using a system of two shock cords mounted to the underside of the boom, linked by plastic hooks. I got it from SailCare.

It isn't perfect, but it's easier to manage than sail ties.

Again, with a main the size of the 25D (and probably the 27 and 28 as well), I haven't felt that I needed lazyjacks.

When I owned a catboat, I wouldn't have been able to sail without lazyjacks.

--Joe

[Bill S]

I made my own lazy jacks for my CD 28. Very easy to design and install. They worked great! I really liked them. In fact, with them installed, the boat was set up so that I could do all the raising and lowering of both sails from the cockpit. My current boat came without lazy jacks and I was reminded how much fun it is doing the deck dance, dowsing and tying in five-foot seas. I had Mack Sails install lazy jacks and a Mack pack. No more deck dance. Well worth it to this single-hander. The trick to raising the main with lazy jacks is either move them out of the way or head directly into the wind and be careful not to catch the sail on the lines. With practice, it's very easy.

Bill S
SV Saga
Vero Beach

[Neil Gordon]

The trick to raising the main with lazy jacks is either move them out of the way or head directly into the wind and be careful not to catch the sail on the lines.

Is that true when tying in a reef, as well? I'll usually heave to and tie the reef in behind the backwinded genoa. Generally the main is flapping and the boom is bouncing around during the process.

[Bill S]

Neil,

I find reefing with lazy jacks to be a piece of cake and one of the advantages to having them. Ease main until it begins to luff. Drop the main a little. Hook on the cringle. Pull on outhaul line until clew is where you want it. Tighten the main halyard. Don't worry about reef knots, the lazy jack will take care of keeping the main on the boom. Set the mainsheet. Relax.

Backwind from the jib is not a problem because I don't have to mess around with the boom at all. Heaving to is not necessary. I can reef on any point of sail. If the boom swings a little, that's ok. On my present boat I do most of the work at the mast. On the CD 28 with halyards leading to the cockpit I had to go to the mast to hook the reef cringle and pull on the outhaul, but had I set up a single line reefing system (easy thing to do) I could have done all the work from the cockpit.

Bill

Bill

[Dean Abramson]

For me, the best aspect of having the lazy jacks is that I can just douse my sail and return to the helm without having to flake or put on sail ties.

To me, this is the absolute best part of lazyjacks. Often, after dropping sail, I have other priorities, like anchoring, mooring, whatever. I can drop the sail, it does not get in the way of my vision, and I can deal with it later.

Yes, you have to point dead into the wind to raise and lower, so you have to be motoring, or, for dropping it under sail, luff up and be quick.

We love our lazyjacks. But we did fine on our two previous boats without them. They are a convenience. (I used to use Neil's method.)

Dick, when you described how you fake the sail, my brain went "aha!" I can visualize that. I gotta quit doing this at the mast. Let's face it, it's gotta be easier to pull cloth than push it. Thanks!

Dean

[mattlydon]

Ron,

I strongly suggest you always use ties under the cover. If you ever lost the cover in a blow, the loose sail could cause some serious misery.

Matt

[Dick Kobayashi]

Dean, Let us know how you make out with the "pull on the leach" approach to flaking - interesting to see how you like it on a 31 - my only experience is on the 25D. This has been a most interesting and useful thread.

[Steve Darwin]

I have a new set of sails this year, and had forgotten how slick new sailcloth is, but the leech-pull method worked beautifully and the mainsail flaked right down on the boom.

I followed this tip from an old-timer about how to manage sail ties (stops): Stretch a length of thin shock-cord along the length of the boom; tie loops (or use plastic hooks) to secure the ends of the cord to the gooseneck area and to the after end of the boom somewhere. The cord does not need to be very tight. You want to be able to easily hang or remove it from the boom, hence the loops or hooks. Next, attach (tie or staple) your sail stops (rope, nylon webbing, satin ribbon, whatever you use) by their middles to the shock-cord at the positions where you want them. When under sail, you unhook and stow the shock-cord with all the pre-positioned sail stops; when you're ready to furl sail, simple hook the shock-cord to each end of the boom and all your stops are hanging there right where you want them.

[mgphl52]

Steve, That's a great idea! Thanks for sharing it with us.

-mike & Toni

[Joe Myerson]

Steve, Mike and Toni:

Actually, you can buy these at Worst Marine. They call them Boom Centipedes.

I used one for years, before I installed the Sail Caddy from SailCare. My only problem with the centipede was having to install it before lowering the sail--and I often just sailed with it on.

It didn't affect my sailing, but the boat certainly looked less-than-Bristol with a bunch of sail ties (elastic) hanging down.

--Joe

[Ron Churgin]

Hi Joe,

I looked at the Sail Caddy website, but could not figure out how the caddy is activated. Also, can you use them up while reefed? Also, do you keep them up with the sail cover on?

They look a bit ungainly but less so than lazy jacks.

How do you like them? I can see the advantages, and hidden disadvantages?

[Steve Darwin]

Joe,

Thanks for the information. I had no idea. Actually, it was fun to make, and not a big deal to set up and take down. Sailing with the centipede up might look like you had clothes out to dry.

Speaking of Worst Marine, I went to C. E. Beckman Company in New Bedford this morning to buy a chart and was told that Beckman did not carry charts any more! NOAA cut them off because their chart sales volume was too small. (I was shocked. Beckman has supplied nautical charts since there were nautical charts, almost.) So I stopped at the WB on the Fairhaven bridge to see what they had, which was nothing at all (empty drawers)! My chart (2008 edition of 13233) is on order from New bedford Ship Supply and will be take three days to get. Can't sail without paper charts...

Steve

[Joe Myerson]

Steve,

Actually, the commercially available "centipede" is made by attaching shock-cord sail ties to a longer piece of shock cord, using white plastic cable ties. Pretty simple to make.

As for paper charts, I'm not surprised that the Govt. versions are hard to come by. The business has largely been privatized: You can get chartbooks and booklet charts from Richardson's/Maptech more easily than you can find the genuine NOAA-produced articles.

At least Beckson's is still in business. We were looking for some charts here at the magazine, and I said, "contact Boxell's Chandlery, like we always do."

The response: "Boxell's is out of business."

--Joe