stack pac bolt rope foot or lose foot

P

paul-essex

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new to me as my last boat was roller boom
Westerly Konsort what has a bolt rope (think this is the lingo ) foot to the boom
as I see it a stack pack bag for this would have a thin bottom and slide in the boom groove with the sail foot
BUT I have a second-hand stack pack bag which already has a bolt rope to slide in the boom so do I
1 slide stack pack into the boom groove and set the sail as lose foot
or
put sail foot into the boom groove and put stack pack under boom

or is there options I don't know about

cheers :ambivalence:
 
As your note says, the conventional (best) way for a sail with a bolt rope is for the stack pack to have a thin and slidy strip in the middle which goes round the sail bolt rope.
So the other option is modify the stack pack to create this strip. As thin may be easy enough to machine sew?
 
Niether. Split the stack pack onto two halves and sew on bolt rope to both halves. Install P strip on both sides of the boom. Slide both halves into P strip. Very easy to install stack pack and sail without the hassle of one slot, two items. You can install the stack pack then slide the sail in. Especially useful if fully battened as you install battens in sail first then offer whole sail up to stack pack. Lot easier than doing it all on the boom.
 
Remove the bolt rope from the stack pack. Then feed the sail and stack pack together into the boom groove. That was how my stack pack was fitted with a bolt rope on the foot of the sail. When I had a loose footed main made, a bolt rope was added to the stack pacl. So I have had both methods on my Fulmar.
 
if you are going the loose foot way then you will need to have the sail recut and the bolt rope removed. I have just had this done as it allows greater flexibility in the construction of the stack pack. However my boom is wood with an aluminium track to take slides and the old stack pack was as geem described, but this led to compromises on the reefing lines and kicking strap attachment. The new set up is much neater.
 
Either leave the sail loose footed or remove the bolt rope from the stack pack and feed both stack pack and mainsail foot into the groove together. The easiest solution is the first one.

Yoda
 
geem said:
Niether. Split the stack pack onto two halves and sew on bolt rope to both halves. Install P strip on both sides of the boom. Slide both halves into P strip. Very easy to install stack pack and sail without the hassle of one slot, two items. You can install the stack pack then slide the sail in. Especially useful if fully battened as you install battens in sail first then offer whole sail up to stack pack. Lot easier than doing it all on the boom.
Click to expand...

Each to their own. But this seems like a LOT more work than simply changing the stack pack bolt rope with a thin bit of material, which would solve the problem. Personally I would not want extra holes in the boom to attach extra track, nor extra hard bits on the sides of the boom to hit heads.
And again each to their own technique for fitting a fully battened sail, but we did ours yesterday in our usual way. Battens fitted when sail spread out on pontoon, then sail ties round the long bundle. Using spinnaker halyard to take the weight then slid this straight into the stack pack before undoing the ties and threading the cars into the mast.
 
dunedin said:
Each to their own. But this seems like a LOT more work than simply changing the stack pack bolt rope with a thin bit of material, which would solve the problem. Personally I would not want extra holes in the boom to attach extra track, nor extra hard bits on the sides of the boom to hit heads.
And again each to their own technique for fitting a fully battened sail, but we did ours yesterday in our usual way. Battens fitted when sail spread out on pontoon, then sail ties round the long bundle. Using spinnaker halyard to take the weight then slid this straight into the stack pack before undoing the ties and threading the cars into the mast.
Click to expand...

Over time the stackpack material moves in the slot amd will wear through due to movement of the sail. Since we are lievaboards for 7 months at a time we likely see this more quickly than most. With a heavy mainsail it is nice to have the stackpack already rigged to slide the mainsail in to. No difficulty in threading two items into the same slot whilst trying to position a heavy sail. Our mainsail is a two person lift so this makes a difference to us. The P strip can be positioned anywhere on the sides of the boom to suit. It can be near the top so no increase in risk of banging your head on it. With reefing points further down these are far more likley to give you a bad head than a P strip!
 
geem said:
Niether. Split the stack pack onto two halves and sew on bolt rope to both halves. Install P strip on both sides of the boom. Slide both halves into P strip. Very easy to install stack pack and sail without the hassle of one slot, two items. You can install the stack pack then slide the sail in. Especially useful if fully battened as you install battens in sail first then offer whole sail up to stack pack. Lot easier than doing it all on the boom.
Click to expand...

+1
I needed a repair so was able to slip one side off & nipped it to the sail maker & back in a day. without loads of hassle removing the whole sail. Also much easier to rig stack pack then slide mainsail inside as described above.
 
Loose foot - better sail control / trim / shape. My old stack pack / main was bolt rope, when I ordered a new loose foot main I got a bolt rope on the stack pack to seat it on the boom. Works just as effectively for hoist / drop / packing sail while giving advantages mentioned.

Seems a no brainer to me :)
 
horatio_nelson said:
Loose foot - better sail control / trim / shape. My old stack pack / main was bolt rope, when I ordered a new loose foot main I got a bolt rope on the stack pack to seat it on the boom. Works just as effectively for hoist / drop / packing sail while giving advantages mentioned.

Seems a no brainer to me :)
Click to expand...

My stack pack extends past the clew of my sail. If your clew slider sits in the track with the cover then either the cover has 2 " flappy bits extending each side of the clew to extend the cover past the clew when slackened off for running etc or you cannot cover the end of the sail.
 
Daydream believer said:
My stack pack extends past the clew of my sail. If your clew slider sits in the track with the cover then either the cover has 2 " flappy bits extending each side of the clew to extend the cover past the clew when slackened off for running etc or you cannot cover the end of the sail.
Click to expand...

The zip of the stack pack extends past the clew. Doesn't seem to present a problem (with mine).
 
NormanS said:
No, because the end of the zip is the end of the zip (closed).
Click to expand...

But the bolt rope cannot go past the end of the clew slider so for the zip to go past the end of the clew there has to be some sail stack ( possibly 9 inches)that has no bolt rope.
I am trying to understand how ( when the zip is undone) you stop that bit of the cover hanging down or flapping about
 
Daydream believer said:
But the bolt rope cannot go past the end of the clew slider so for the zip to go past the end of the clew there has to be some sail stack ( possibly 9 inches)that has no bolt rope.
I am trying to understand how ( when the zip is undone) you stop that bit of the cover hanging down or flapping about
Click to expand...

on the s pack I have it has bolt rope 3/4 the way down then 1 " straps with a slugs on that fits into grove spaced out along the back end of boom
 
Daydream believer said:
But the bolt rope cannot go past the end of the clew slider so for the zip to go past the end of the clew there has to be some sail stack ( possibly 9 inches)that has no bolt rope.
I am trying to understand how ( when the zip is undone) you stop that bit of the cover hanging down or flapping about
Click to expand...

The rigid battens or tubes supporting the top edges of the stackpack continue to its outer end and thus support it beyond the termination of the bolt rope. The bottom aft corners of the stackpack are held down by a simple tie under the boom and back by a simple tie to the the boom end so there is no "flapping about".
 
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