Lazyjack bag

[Miker]

I'm thinking of treating myself this Christmas to a lazyjack bag/sail cover. I'm hoping that as well as making it easier and quicker to get the mainsail down and the cover on, it will control the bottom of the sail when double reefed without my having to put reefing ties in. I don't bother with ties on a first reef but think that I need to with a second reef which I find a struggle. I've even felt seasick threading the cord through. Being a fair weather sailor, I've yet to get down to the third reef (and I've only got two reefing lines but that's another story).
I'd welcome any thoughts on the value of lazyjack bags.



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[ccscott49]

Excellent bit of kit, I would have one or rather two, but I have wooden spars and like the sail covers over them to protect the varnish.

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[Robin]

The lazyjacks are an excellent idea and will hold the dropped main and any reefs. It is better not to lace reefs in place anyway, point loading could damage the sail. Whether to complete the arrangement with the 'stakpack' type boom cover is a personal choice, we put this on our last boat and it worked very well, just zip up the main part and add the small cover round the front of the boom/mast. The downside however was that there was some staining of the main both from dirty rain and from mildew. The rain finds a way through the zip even with a velcro zip cover and unlike on a normal boom cover there is no air circulation via the underside, it becomes a sealed sausage. On our latest boat which is much bigger and with a correspondingly bigger and heavier mainsail, we still have the lazyjacks (absolutely essential with just 2 of us) but have decided to stick with a conventional sail cover. The reasons are a) I don't like the dirt/midew b) the bigger sail also has ball bearing batten cars/track which means a bigger height to the front of the stowed sail, so the stakpack would be much bigger and untidy when the sail was hoisted c) We inherited the lazyjack system/cover and it works very well anyway, the lazyjacks are cleated at the mast and can be lowered & stowed along the boom under the cover.

Arguably the sail can be covered and protected from UV more quickly with a stacking cover but unless you take the trouble to fit the front part there is a lot still exposed and fitting a full cover takes little longer than fitting just the front bit.

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[zefender]

Not sure whether a stackpack type is actually much easier to use than the ties although for dropping the main quickly its fab. Typically there's a zip for it at the end of the boom and this is far from easy to hook up to start zipping up when the boat is bouncing about. So I wouldn't use it for reefing but it's excellent for keeping the whole sail together. If you go for it, I'd check the quality of the zip. 2 years old and mine has had to be replaced.

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[bigmart]

I fitted the Arun Stack Pack last year & I am completely happy with the system. The only problem & I think this is true of all Lazyjack systems, is that the sail battens can get caught in the Lazyjacks when hoisting the sail. You have to be extra careful particularly when the wind is not on the bow.

My No.1 Son who gets lumbered with all the sail hoisting/lowering, when I can get away with it, thinks his Dad really cares about him since I bought the system.

Martin

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[Lofty]

Hi Miker
I made my own lazy jacks and sail bag. Just completed the second season with them and I would not be without them now. Whether I reef or lower the main completely it is kept under control and no longer falls all over my cabin top. I have had the lazyjack cords caught on my battens a few times but so long as I am careful to get her into wind before I hoist the sail there is no problem. Next season I am going to fit a pair of reins to pull the lazyjack chords in against the mast while I hoist the main so this will annoy me no longer.
The sail bag was simple to make and just slides on to the boom with the mainsail foot. I used Velcro to seal the top of the bag when the sail is put away and so I don’t have to unzip anything but just hoist the sail and the Velcro parts all on its own. Another advantage with Velcro is that I can start packing the sail anywhere on the boom I fancy. The smaller piece to cover the sail where it joins the mast was very easy to make.
I first saw a sailbag as part of a lazyjack system in Holland but did not like the way bits had been pop riveted on to the side of the boom to attach the sailbag. Sliding it into the groove with the mainsail foot was, for me, the perfect answer. I got the idea from a PBO article a couple of years ago.
Hope it works for you.


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[claymore]

Do It
Owen Sails made us one - think you'd get it done for around £300 - do you have a fully battened main?
Really makes single/shorthanded sailing simpler
I don't think you can use it as a reefing tool though?

<hr width=100% size=1>regards
Claymore
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[qsiv]

We have lazyjacks and a bag - but I elected to take the lazyjacks to the boom, and have the bag 'loose' inside the lazyjacks. I pull the lazjacks forward to the gooseneck when sailing, as I dont like the chafe, and roll the sides of the bag away, looks much tidier.

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[Robin]

That sounds like a neat solution though still doesn't sove the staining/mildew problem. This may be peculiar to Poole but the rain in recent years leaves black (sometimes even red) dust behind after it dries on deck. The zip up cover on the old W33 was excellent but even with a velco flap over the zip you could see a black line under it on the sail getting progressively lighter in shade as you went through the folds, we also had mildew forming even though the sails were valeted each year and wintered at the sailmaker. We have just ordered a new mainsail (ouch) for the Sun Legende and also all new covers (ouch again) including the bimini/cover with a full cockpit enclosure conversion, dodgers and with a new sail cover to follow once the new main is fitted. We do have a chance to change our mind on the sailcover design therefore so who knows! Our lazyjacks go to the boom and like you I could pull them forward to the gooseneck when the sail is hoisted as we do that to put the sail away under the normal cover now. It would mean a trip to the mast (otherwise not needed) to put the lazyjacks back up as the first reef goes in, though not too much hassle I suppose since they would then be in place to hold the slabs for reefs 2 & 3. I will give that some more thought.

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[charles_reed]

Short-handed a boom bag is a major benefit - nearly all my sailing is single-handed.

I have an extremely successful lazy-jack boom-bag (it's the Mk 2) made for me by James Capstick of Cariad Voiles last season.

What has allowed a big improvement is having a loose-footed main to replace the roped-foot one.
This allows the boom-bag to go into the foot-groove on the boom.

On the Mk 1 one I had to seize the boom-bag to the rope foot of the main in 5 places on a 4.21m length, which was a bind. It was a little too loose with the result that it tended to droop which is even worse than having one's reef hanging down. It gave good service for 6 years though.

I am, however, very doubtful about the value of a boom-bag without slides on the main and it's best with a fully-battened main.
Some have a means of tensioning/untensioning the jacks - I soon got rid of this it was far more trouble than it was worth.

Some pointers:-

1. The lazy-jacks and boom bag need to be in tension with the sail fully up - this means that you need to either have a gas-strut (best), the topping lift set to allow very little drop from the set position OR very stout lazy-jacks which will support main, boom and an adult swinging on it.
2. On my boom of 4.2m three lazy-jacks are probably to far apart at about 1.3m - I'd suggest 1.0-1.2m spacing as being better.
3. The boom-bag needs to be a snug fit round the flaked sail - too much room means it is untidy and gets in the way.
4. My original bag had velcro ties and velcro fixing for the flap - easier to do up than the zip I have on the present one - so I just drop the main into the bag and tidy it away when I'm anchored or moored.
5. I've found twin round battens to be ideal stiffening along the length of the boom bag, but both ends need pockets with ample tape reinforcement.
6. I've yet to see a successful one-piece round the mast - far better to have a separate cover round the mast with velcro or a zip and ties to locate it.

I'm doubtful if i the boom-bag much value for containing the bunt of the reef - I usually have to put a lacing in for 3rd and 4th reefs, but I don't bother with the 2 first (don't need a flattening reef with a loose-footed main).

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[Miker]

Thanks everyone. I'll go for it but don't tell my wife that I'm spending more money on"That Damned Boat".

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[qsiv]

I have an 'old fashioned cover for the winter', to avoid water ingress.

I have to say I dont bother with the lazyjacks for reefs, taking the view that they are there simply to stop the lowered sail falling off the boom. They would also have to be set up very tight to have any impact on the bunt of the reefed sail (maybe thats just because the sail cloth is relatively sturdy TapeDrive) - also the chafe would be even worse in a fresher breeze. We just re-instate them when lowering the sail.

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[Robin]

Yes you are probably right about the reef slabs so I might well give that a go. The new sail is a fully battened triradial in Dimension Hydranet (Spectra reinforced) and loose footed as opposed to the existing fb one which is crosscut in plain but heavy Dacron. The Hydranet should be lighter overall (with selective panel weights to match loading) and also softer so might sit differently in the reefs? Mind you the extra stitching with triradial cut might mean more potential for the lazyjacks to chafe which is another reason to follow your method.



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