| I just had to be the first 1988 entry in this file..... :->
I have a full battened main and do *not* have lazy jacks. I don't
have any more trouble folding the main than I did without full battens.
I have however, been on boats with lazy jacks and the tendancy is
to get lazy (thus the name..) and just cover the sail as it fell
into the cradle. It looks like a lumpy sleeping after the cover
is thrown on.
I don't know, it just seemed like more lines to foul and chafe your
sail to me.
Rick
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| My experience with Lazy Jacks was on a friend's boat. Meaning,
I don't have too much experience with them. I found you had to
be dead on the wind to raise the main. Slighly off and the headboard
or battens would foul in the lazy jacks. I am in agreement with
.1, I will not rig them on my boat.
Frank
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| RE: .2, Battens can get caught on their forward inner end if the batten
pocket-to-sail area isn't stiff enough there to prevent it.
I had a 32' Quoddy Pilot gaff ketch, with lazyjacks and the whole nine
yards. A gaffed sail has a lot more leech than a marconi, and they did
help considerably. Now, I'd go for a full-battened main before lazyjacks,
but you may prefer the economy or style of the latter. Nice thing is, you
won't invest too much trying them out. My observations/advice include:
- I'd be inclined to set them up to replace the topping lift, rather than
as an adjunct to a topping lift. To really do their job, they needed to
be taut under the boom's weight or snugged up (if topping lift is holding
the boom) before dropping the sail; sailing required enough belly in the
sail to require loosening them when actually under sail. Without
tightening, mine wouldn't really control the sail (let alone the gaff.)
- They do add wind resistance. And if laying against the back of your
sail underway, they probably mess up the laminar airflow somewhat. Did
that matter much in a 12-ton ketch with over 800 sq ft of sail? ;-)
- Having decided A) if this will replace the topping lift, B) how much
control you want/need (how many strings running from mast-to-boom -- the
gamut runs from single line to spider web), and C) how much leverage you
need to haul them without creating more friction than desired, sketch out
a plan based on your sailplan. Small Harken-type blocks work well
if/where the boomlines meet the mastlines, better than wooden or plastic
deadeyes. The more complex the system, the more you should tend towards
lighter line. I'd use braided; we got hockles sometimes and twists always
in our 3/8" twisted spun dacron lines.
- Placement of attachments and blocks is *critical*. Inches can make a
big difference. I'd certainly find a quiet day, a helpful friend to grind
you aloft, a pocketful of gaffer's tape and/or clamps, and try out raising
and lowering the sail. Experiment with mast location, boom location(s),
and perhaps with the blocking arrangement in between. Watch carefully how
it controls the middle leech of the sail, since usually that's the source
of problems. In too far, and lazyjacks won't justify themselves; out too
far, and the leech will flog itself free of the lazyjacks' confines.
There are literally dozens of ways to rig lazyjacks, with varying
advatages and disadvantages. Think of as many as you can. A good idea is
to spend some time in your favorite nautical bookstore looking up
"lazyjacks" in the index of every appropriate book you can find (Hiscock,
Street, etc.)
John.
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| I have installed the lazy jacks on my boat last season and I love
every minute of it. I've bought mine from the (Safe Sailing Systems
- they advertise on the back of the Cruising World magazine),they
provide very simple installation and are inexpensive ($159). They
are made of rope and bungee cord section, therefore are very flexible
and do not effect sail shape, or if someone prefers can be moved
forward when underway. With this kind of lazy jacks you would not
want to remove your topping lift (they would support the boom during
emergency, at least for a short time).
It is not neccessary to be "dead" into the wind to raise or
lower your main, all it has to be done is to release the main sheet
and let the boom swing out and then drop the main (lazy jacks gather
all sail in), try to do the same action without them.
It is a great time saver and enhances the sail handling under any
conditions. My boat is a Beneteau First 345 with the double spreader
rig so the lazy jack are attached to the first spreader only and
the end of boom providing sufficient area to retain all of the falling
off main.
Good sailing.
Igor.
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| The lazy jacks on my Freedom 32 serve as a topping lift as well
as a means of keeping the battens from breaking when the sail is
lowered. I have mixed emotions about them. I find that they do a
fair job of stacking the sail but not nearly as neat as I'd like and
once the sail is down it's real hard to re-flake it on the boom.
Hoisting is difficult since the aft end of the upper battens just
love to get hooked under the lazy jack (and the lazy jack is too
lazy to help get them back out). However, with a bit of practice
it gets easy to time the luffing sail and with a quick yank on the
halyard to get it past the blocking point. Sail covers have to be real
special to cover a sail with lazy jacks. Getting the sail off with the
lazy jacks in place is torture (even with the battens out). I find
that I rarely have to adjust them to keep them from chafing the sail but
that may change when I get my dodger this summer; currently the
aft end of the boom is pretty low with the sail furled.
The upper 2/3 of the jacks are plastic coated wire (just like lifelines)
and are attached to heavy tangs next to the Jib sheave (7/8 or less
rig, not mast head rig). At the ends of each wire is a block.
A line is attached to a cleat on the forward end of the boom (about
1/4 back from the gooseneck if I remember correctly), runs
up through the block on one side, down through an eye under the
boom about 3/4 the way from the forward to end of the boom, back
up through the block on the other side and then down to the cleat.
It's a simple rig, adjusts easily under sail and supports the
boom and sail well (except for the very end of the sail which always
wants to hang in front of my eyes).
They are very handy when you want to lower sail in a hurry and may
not have time to gather all the sail up and tie it on the boom (like
in a blow). I found that the original design of my sail assumed
that the lazy jacks would hold the folds of a reefed sail too; that
doesn't work very well so I added reef points so that lines could
be tied through the sail and around the boom when reefed down (standard
procedure on most boats I know).
I'm not sure the pros outweigh the cons and on my boat they are
the only choice I have so I've learned to live with them. I love
fully battented mains and if the risk of breaking a batten is great
without lazy jacks I'd get them.
Pam
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