Stack Pack & Strong Track on CD 31?

[jen1722terry]

Hey CDers,

We hope you're all enjoying this fine sailing weather. We've been in Maine all summer with unusually nice weather.

Jenn and I are having problems with handling the sails on our little 31. We both have some disabilities that make working on the foredeck and cabin roof more challenging than it used to be. We seek the fleet's wisdom with a few questions.

1. We presently have a furling Yankee and a hanked-on staysail with a boom. We'd like to change the staysail to a furler. Should we keep the staysail boom and run the furling line thru a block on the aft end of the boom or just go with a loose-footed, furling staysail?

2. We also have lazy jacks and the original plastic sail slides on the fully-battened main. It's getting difficult for us to get the sail down and secured in windy/rough conditions (even with generous applications of McLube). We're thinking of having something like a Stack Pack or Mack Pack installed, using the existing lazy jacks. Any ideas on these types of sail cover replacements?

3. We want to change the mainsail track on the mast to a strong track or something like it. Then, with the reduced sail track frictions, we're hoping we can run the main halyard back to a camcleat under the dodger without the need for a halyard winch. We appreciated John Stone's comments on this system. Anyone else have experience with this or other sail track systems that you could recommend?

4. We're thinking of having Center Harbor Sails in Brookline, Maine do the work over the winter mainly because we store the boat near their shop. Has anyone had experience with this sailmaker that they could share?

Any other thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated.

And do enjoy the rest of the summer sailing.

Jenn and Terry McAdams

[bottomscraper]

We have a Tides Marine track on Mahalo (CD36) as well as a sail pack (was a "Mack Pack" but current one is a similar custom one made by Melissa).

We also have a furler on the staysail. The outhaul for the staysail runs to a block at the end of the staysail boom, down through a fairlead on the side of the boom, to another block at the base of the boom, back to a dedicated winch on the cabin top port side of the cockpit. (I think if I was to do this again, rather than a dedicated winch I would use a 2 line rope clutch and share the staysail sheet winch.)

Our main halyard also runs back to the cockpit. It shares the main sheet winch using a 2 line rope clutch. I typically raise the main at the mast (it's faster) then come back to the cockpit to tension with the winch. I do drop the main from the cockpit. With the sail pack, lazy jacks and sail track 90% of the sail ends up in the pack when we drop the main. Typically a little bit of the mainsail will need to be tucked in before we zip up the sail pack, but it sure beats messing with a regular sail cover!

[jen1722terry]

Thanks so much, Rich.

This is the kind of thoughtful advice we're looking for.

Enjoy your sailing and, if you're up Northeast Harbor way, stop by. We're at float # 335 on the far right side of the harbor as you come is, near the lobster boats.

Jenn and Terry

[wikakaru]

...

2. We also have lazy jacks and the original plastic sail slides on the fully-battened main. It's getting difficult for us to get the sail down and secured in windy/rough conditions (even with generous applications of McLube). We're thinking of having something like a Stack Pack or Mack Pack installed, using the existing lazy jacks. Any ideas on these types of sail cover replacements?

3. We want to change the mainsail track on the mast to a strong track or something like it. Then, with the reduced sail track frictions, we're hoping we can run the main halyard back to a camcleat under the dodger without the need for a halyard winch. We appreciated John Stone's comments on this system. Anyone else have experience with this or other sail track systems that you could recommend?

...

I highly recommend both the stack pack type system and the Strong Track. I have had both on several boats and it is my preferred method for handling a mainsail.

I'm a bit dubious about running the halyard back to the cockpit and not having a winch, though. If you did that, then at the very least you would need a multi-part tackle to a Cunningham to get enough luff tension for any kind of breeze. Also, turning blocks at the base of the mast will add friction and somewhat negate the easy sliding characteristics of the Strong Track. If you do run the main halyard aft, give careful consideration to what blocks you choose, and avoid unfair leads and multiple turns to minimize friction.

Another thing to keep in mind is that it is preferable with stack pack type systems to ease the lazy jack lines and stow the sail cover along the boom when sailing, and that requires going forward. Some people take the lazy approach and leave the stack pack in the "up" position while sailing, but I never liked doing that.

Finally, any type of lazy jack can catch on the batten pockets when raising the mainsail, so the boom has to either be kept parallel to the wind direction when raising the main or you should ease the lazy jacks and run them forward to lay along the mast before raising the mainsail. Again, that will require a trip forward.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[jen1722terry]

Thanks so much for the kind advice, Jim.

We see your point about running the main halyard aft and negating the positives of the strong track.

The advice on the stack pack is also useful. It won't solve all our sail handling problems, but will certainly make it easier and faster for us to raise and lower the mainsail.

Thanks again. Happy sailing.

Jenn and Terry