Hoisting Mainsail with Lazy Jacks

[hunter323]

I have been having problems hoisting mainsail where it catches from time to time in the jacks. Do others slacken the jacks and move them forward or are there other solutions Mike

 

[greeny]

Some do some don't. Personally I try to set the positions and lengths of the lazy jacks to minimise the sail catching and make sure I'm as head to wind as possible. If it catches, I lower a few inches, wait for the wind to flick it out and raise quickly past that point. Generally if you watch as you raise the sail, you can time the hoist to miss the danger points.

 

[Daverw]

We used to have repeated issues but then moved top lines to just on the spreaders and adjusted the lower lines forward and now they miss the battens. Also do makes sure we hoist quickly as they pass through the lower sections.

 

[johnalison]

I like to control the tiller and hoist the main myself, but that is partly related to my wife’s now limited mobility and strength. I stand astride the tiller to steer and haul on the main halyard while keeping the boat’s head to wind. I do this with the mainsheet tight at first. When the leach has cleared the lazy jacks I loosen the mainsheet and complete the haul-up, only the last few inches needing winching. Except in a choppy sea, this generally works well, though it is in fact easier when there is a moderate wind since the sail flaps a bit and it tends to free itself from minor snags. There s always the odd occasion when you have to drop the sail a foot to free it, but it’s basically a question of technique.

 

[Poignard]

I have been having problems hoisting mainsail where it catches from time to time in the jacks. Do others slacken the jacks and move them forward or are there other solutions Mike

I always slacken them and pull them forward.

 

[Slowtack]

I loosen the mainsheet let the boom swing, go very slowly head to wind, hoist slowly, if the sail catches a lazy jack drop it a little, move the boom, hoist again...

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Can appreciate the problem. Narrow stretch of water to get the job done. Low water, lots of traffic , single handed, etc..

You do get better the more you do it though. You could widen the "throat" be tying some shock cord to the shrouds and lazy jacks. Set up so the gap widens when you release the tension .

 

[Dellquay13]

I slacken the jacks, it also stops the sails pressing against them when filled

 

[garymalmgren]

I slacken and tie (back to the mast) the port side lazy jack.
No problem with catching.

gary

 

[sailaboutvic]

Ask a sail maker and he tell you to move the lines forward before rising the sail.
Then tighten them after dropping the sail.
In which case what's the point have them.
As you seen from the posting here everone found their own way to get over the problem
Our way us , a loop on each of the lines , before rising the sails remover the loop of the cleat so the lines flop,
Once the sail is up put the look onto the cleat ready for when the time come to drop the sails.

 

[Frank Holden]

I slacken and tie (back to the mast) the port side lazy jack.
No problem with catching.

gary

Ed Zackery. Get ready to hoist, drop port ones and take back to mast. Put wind fine on stbd bow, hoist.
Reset port lazy jack with just enough tension to work when reefing/dropping main without chaffing sail while sailing.
Retire to cockpit.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Ours only catch if we’re not head to wind. And then only on battens 2 and 3. As we have no topping lift, the lazyjacks hold the boom up til the sail is up. So no other options apart from head to wind.

 

[Poignard]

Heading directly into wind necessitates running the engine.

Suppose one has lowered the mainsail to put a reef in, or repair it, or have been running under bare poles, or under headsail only, and one wishes to hoist the sail again.

Are people really saying they would start the engine under those circumstances?

What would they do if the engine was out of action?

To be able to pull the lazy-jacks forward so they can't get caught be battens seems seems such an obvious thing to me, and so easy to arrange, that I can't understand why anyone would not want to be able to do it.

 

[Daverw]

I would not see the point of going to mast to pull lazy jacks when all else is from cockpit, many lazy jacks seem to be to the far end of the boom or stack pack where they are not needed which brings the lines further back near battens, when we moved these the problem disappeared

 

[Chiara’s slave]

As our main has a massive roach, you can put 3 reefs in without the batten ends being inside the lazyjacks. So it’s only the first hoist you need to go head to wind.

 

[roaringgirl]

Yes it's a pain. When a batten catches, you have to drop it a bit and try again. I have reduced the chance of a batten catching by:
1) stringing the lazy jacks the way I saw it done on a lagoon 42 from the factory (

https://flic.kr/p/2khfXR6

) which means the rearmost lines are further forward all the time.
2) running the tops of the lazy jacks through low-friction rings on the spreaders - this holds the sailbag open wider.
3) whenever possible, raise the main before lifting the anchor, as it's naturally head to wind. The admiral doesn't like this if the anchorage is tight.

 

[SteveG]

You have to adjust them once the mainsail is set up with mast bend, kicker etc, so I don't deploy them until after hoisting the sail anyway. Other than the uphaul to the crosstrees, I always tie mine back to the mast and stow them along the boom under the sailcover when moored. No problem!

 

[geem]

Heading directly into wind necessitates running the engine.

Suppose one has lowered the mainsail to put a reef in, or repair it, or have been running under bare poles, or under headsail only, and one wishes to hoist the sail again.

Are people really saying they would start the engine under those circumstances?

What would they do if the engine was out of action?

To be able to pull the lazy-jacks forward so they can't get caught be battens seems seems such an obvious thing to me, and so easy to arrange, that I can't understand why anyone would not want to be able to do it.

Down wind we never turn into the wind to reef. Going up wind you just ease the main until it's luffing. Lazyjacks never caused a problem.

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

Loosen the main sheet; the boom/main will go against the wind while you steer the boat against the wind. Dont raise the main with the main sheet tight; its much more difficult

 

[johnalison]

Loosen the main sheet; the boom/main will go against the wind while you steer the boat against the wind. Dont raise the main with the main sheet tight; its much more difficult

It doesn't work with me because the boom will rock back and forth, increasing the likelihood of a snag. I might do what you say in a swell but in sheltered water I can control the boat's head accurately with the engine at idle.

Like daverw, I see no point in leaving the cockpit unless absolutely necessary. My lazyjacks only go 3/4 way back on the boom and so the problem only occurs during the first part of the hoist. There was a thread a while ago about widening the lazyjacks by having their block halfway out on the crosstrees, but I think the general conclusion was that by risking over-tensioning them when the boom moves this was not worthwhile. In the end, we have to do what works best on our own boat, though there is never a time to stop learning.