Lazyjacks, battens and dropping the main

[wilkinsonsails]

My tides marine track works wonderfully ,just flip the jamber leavers and the sails are stowed in lazy jacks in seconds ,no help from me either..!
With an ally mast I would use Maclube and clean the sliders with it too.These tend to get fluffy with age ,there are low friction varieties now ,not a really expensive job to replace them .
You can spray Maclube on sheaves and ropes to help friction too,any sheave squealing about it needs attention.
Cindy

 

[srah1953]

I just add one thing to the above, get head to wind as closely as possible, let the mainsheet loose and pull down the vang to tension the lazyjacks, otherwise some of my sail will try to fall over the side of the sailbag

There seems to be a conflict with this recommendation to pull down on the vang and the alternative recommendation to tighten the topping lift to take pressure off slides

 

[scottie]

Check the batten tension if applicable
We slackened the tension and this made a big difference it also solved the problem of he battens inverting.

 

[ffiill]

I hate lazy jacks particularly on my mizzen where the sail catches the lines if I am hoisting it in anything other than a dead calm!

 

[Stu Jackson]

I hate lazy jacks particularly on my mizzen where the sail catches the lines if I am hoisting it in anything other than a dead calm!

Simply retract only ONE side of the lazy jacks and hoist with the boat a tad off the wind with the wind pushing the sail over to the retracted side. I had to add more line to my LJs, but did it on the "other" side. So many people complain about the lazy jacks, but this simple trick works quite well.

 

[nigel1]

There seems to be a conflict with this recommendation to pull down on the vang and the alternative recommendation to tighten the topping lift to take pressure off slides

Maybe the LJ's are fixed.
Mine go to a turning block above the second spreaders so I can slack them right off and bring them fwd to the mast and secure before hoisting.
Once main hoisted, the LJ''s are set but loosely, and when dropping, they are tightened

 

[Stu Jackson]

Maybe the LJ's are fixed.
Mine go to a turning block above the second spreaders so I can slack them right off and bring them fwd to the mast and secure before hoisting.
Once main hoisted, the LJ''s are set but loosely, and when dropping, they are tightened

I'm unsure about the concept of "fixed" lazy jacks. All I've seen have adjustments, 'cuz the boom moves. The only differences I've seen is the amount of line and whether folks retract them or not, hence my earlier post with the "use one side it's easier to retract" idea.

 

[nigel1]

Should have been clearer, the boat originally had the LJ main lines fixed to the mast above the 2nd spreader. The branch lines were bowlined to the stack pack. The only adjustment possible was at the stack pack end of the system.
As I wanted a system that would
1) Allow me to drop the stack pack and secure to side of boom so i could see the foot of the sail
2) Allow me to move the LJ's fwd to prevent them fouling the batons,
I got rid of the fixed bit at the mast, fitted blocks, made up new LJ's with the main lines led trhough blocks, back down mast to a cleat.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Should have been clearer, the boat originally had the LJ main lines fixed to the mast above the 2nd spreader. The branch lines were bowlined to the stack pack. The only adjustment possible was at the stack pack end of the system.
As I wanted a system that would
1) Allow me to drop the stack pack and secure to side of boom so i could see the foot of the sail
2) Allow me to move the LJ's fwd to prevent them fouling the batons,
I got rid of the fixed bit at the mast, fitted blocks, made up new LJ's with the main lines led trhough blocks, back down mast to a cleat.

The latter method is what we have. I have found that it is possible (on our boat at least) to find a tensioning position that enables the lazyjack lines to be left alone.

This might not be always possible on all boats, as I sailed on a school boat a while ago where one side of the lazyjacks always had to be brought forward to the mast to allow the sail to be hoisted easily. Right pain in the backside that was!

 

[rotrax]

The latter method is what we have. I have found that it is possible (on our boat at least) to find a tensioning position that enables the lazyjack lines to be left alone.

This might not be always possible on all boats, as I sailed on a school boat a while ago where one side of the lazyjacks always had to be brought forward to the mast to allow the sail to be hoisted easily. Right pain in the backside that was!

We have found the same works for us. Careful adjustment of the topping lift and lazyjacks allows the main to be hoisted and dropped without touching them. To allow for the belly of the sail applying pressure to the lazyjacks I shall replace the last metre or so of the tail of the rearmost lazyjack line with heavy shockcord as on a previous system by Arun sails. We had problems with sticky slides. Ivan at Arun suggested spaying the track and slides with 50/50 fairy liquid and water to clean them. It took a few hoists and drops but now its very free and goes up and down a treat. Biggest hassle is the single line reefing hanging in loops just in front of First Mate on the helm untill I can get them tucked in the stackpak.Being a shorthouse its sometimes not easy.......

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

Comments seem to be in line with my experience of full battens in the main. I've used them with a 28footer and now with a 33 footer.
I now have lazy jacks, which above 28foot may make life a bit easier and quicker to 'flake' into the boom stack,that is if they dont get caught up on the way down. Similarly on the way up.

With the smaller sail and with a small amount of teflon spray in the track, the main usually dropped instantly and even solo was fairly easy to control and tie in some form of flake.

Overall I would say get it right and full battens are a boon, but as others have said get it wrong and they can be a pain.