jaminb
Active member
stack pack covers up a multitude of flaking sins. No way I would enter anywhere as judgemental as a marina without it firmly zipped up!
Stack Pack or Not,,,,?
- Thread starter ctva
- Start date
Snowgoose-1
Well-known member
Easy to raise again in an emergency .
Bunt of sail easily dealt with when reefing.
I was a very late convert . Can understand why some folks don't like them.
Bunt of sail easily dealt with when reefing.
I was a very late convert . Can understand why some folks don't like them.
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johnalison
Well-known member
Some of us enjoy poncing about, and it seems odd to accuse aja of having made a system when he is simply doing what most of s have been doing for yonks. Stackpacks are probably very rewarding for the terminally lazy, but much depends on how good a sail cover is. My current one is very quick to deploy, with good fastenings and the split at the bow end taken round to the side of the mast, but in the past I have struggled with stiff vinyl covers with recalcitrant zips, so I can see why some people prefer convenience. I have heard rumours of the occasional stackpack that gave difficulty too, but that may be only a rumour.
AngusMcDoon
Well-known member
I use one, not because I'm terminally lazy, but because my mainsail weighs 57kg and would be a struggle to handle on my own without it.
Maybe I'm just terminally weak.
smert
Active member
We have a Dutchman Flaking system. Dropping the sail is a case of tightening the Dutchman lines and letting go of the halyard. The sail then drops onto the boom all neatly flaked!
It was already on the boat when we got it and we have got on with it better than the stack pack we had on the previous boat. We had to try a few sailmakers when we were looking for a new sail as very few had even heard of the system!
It was already on the boat when we got it and we have got on with it better than the stack pack we had on the previous boat. We had to try a few sailmakers when we were looking for a new sail as very few had even heard of the system!
Aja
Well-known member
Whatever works for you....
ashtead
Well-known member
The main issue with stack packs if you want to find one is the long zip jamming due to say dirt or salt plus the pack not being long enough to cover an extended clew . The first issue is really down to replacing the zip after a few years unless you periodically remove and wash the pack and reproof or using some form of lube to easy it during sailing season plus perhaps having a longish rope line on the zipper and just pull in half way when motoring to berth. The second issue is really down to freeing the outhaul . These packs do go green/dirt if in uk at least so annual cleaning might be required or a spray with patio magic type concoction. The body of the pack lasts better than the canvas boot cover on front in my experience. Clearly you don’t need the hassle of a separate sail cover or the nasty elastic fixings or having to fasten what might be a number of elastics to a sail over that doesn’t want to stay on boom even on a small westerly which on a centaur at least had a short low boom. Sail covers are very 70s though so maybe if I had a classic yacht they would appeal.
Daydream believer
Well-known member
2 problems easily solved
make the stack pack the correct length- Surely that is not rocket science
Have the zip of a coarse size. I have had both fine & coarse zips & the fine one is slightly harder.
There is another trick to make zipping easy & that is to have internal straps that take the load off the zip.
When I leave port I unzip the cover & leave the straps fastened. That way the halyard does not shake the sail up the mast.
When I drop the sail I fasten the straps & do not bother with the zip until in port or until sea state suits & i know that i will not need the sails. One never knows if the engine is not going to fail at an inopportune moment, so having the sails ready to go is a must in my view.
These ones are not the latest ones but show the idea. My current straps can be located with one hand whilst the other holds the mast in rough weather. I can go forward , tuck the sail into the sail cover, & secure it, then worry about zipping later on. When I do zip there is no struggling to pull the 2 halves together to get the zip started.
Obviously the zip should start at the mast so that one does not have to catch a swinging boom to do this plus one can zip up on the way back to the cockpit rather than make 2 trips.
dunedin
Well-known member
Agree that clew left sticking out is a simple bad measurement or positioning issue, and easily fixed.
Re zipping up, a lot depends on boat size and boom height. Smaller boats / lower booms then zipping from mast to stern might be easier.
For our boat the opposite is much easier - as zip is too high to engage near the mast. Easier to start at the clew end, standing on the cockpit seats or strong permanent cockpit table. 70cm string on zip enables getting it past the large sprayhood which is always up. Have mast steps to climb up to help zip last bit closed, and to remove main halyard to attach to boom end to stabilise boom (and avoid tapping).
ashtead
Well-known member
Yes wile it would be easy for the supplier to make one of correct length it’s quite common to find that when suppled new the packs are too short by 2 inches approx. A larger toothed zip does help if replacing. I have never seen those internal straps before but a good idea to retrofit perhaps when the pack is next being cleaned and zip replacement due . I suspect we could manage with just one or 2 - would always have at boom end for reasons stated . The boom end can be winched down subject to the sprayhood height. For the halyard we have a clip like a carbinneer on side of bag to secure back pro tem to avoid it running around front of mast . Only problem with mast steps is the plastic one break due to sunlight after a while.
johnalison
Well-known member
You can’t win on this forum. Only a moment ago someone was telling me that his boat is small enough to zip his main up fully from the cockpit, and now someone tells me that he can’t lift the main on his megayacht. We need a new forum for 10 metre yachts.
Daydream believer
Well-known member
I really do not understand why people have the halyard wrap issue, there is a simple solution & one just needs to take a 4mm cord from one shroud to the one the other side. Mine sits just above the deck light because that is where it used hook round, As for halyard flap just take a bight of the halyard out to the shroud & tie it to that so it is clear of the mast. No need to disconnect from the sail all the time & risk letting it go.
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johnalison
Well-known member
I don’t have that halyard wrap problem with my current boat but once or twice it has flipped round outside the end of the spreader and refused to return. In theory, before motoring off I could secure the halyard with a slip knot in a light line from the cockpit, and I have done this once or twice in the past. On a previous boat I got a halyard wrap round a blipper while on passage but managed to recover it. My method was to attach a weight, a bucket, to the halyard and raise it to the spreader with a control line down to the deck. It was then possible to flick the bucket forwards and then lower it, free it from the blipper and then raise it and recover it, which saved what would have been a tedious trip.
Boathook
Well-known member
My stack pack covers the clew end nicely and the zip has large teeth and never had a problem with salt etc jamming it. I did have the zip replaced a few years back as the zip material was wearing out.
The covers are washed and treated with fabsil gold and if any stitching looks worn my old singer sewing machine is bought in to use to replace.
The covers are washed and treated with fabsil gold and if any stitching looks worn my old singer sewing machine is bought in to use to replace.
ashtead
Well-known member
I should have perhaps said the use of the clip is to remove the need to undo the halyard when visiting but it does solve the firdell blip per /radar scanner tangle risk .
Aja
Well-known member
What an absolute faff.
Stemar
Well-known member
My top tip for a stackpack and lines led aft is to add a light downhaul for the main. 3-4mm line should be plenty for most boats. It doesn't need fancy kit, just cheap blocks and a small cleat, but does ensure you can get the main right down and keep it down on a windy, bumpy day until you get to a convenient place to tidy everything up. I have no pride, so that tends to be once tied up or anchored.
Daydream believer
Well-known member
So when you let the halyard go & the main drops a bit quick ( which mine does for 75% of the way) how do you stop the line billowing out & snagging on rigging, steaming light, radar etc., Surely that can be dodgy at night when you cannot see it.
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dunedin
Well-known member
Guess it depends a bit on whether fully battened sail with roller cars, vs some lighter soft sails.
Like you, if in a hurry for some reason, I can dump the halyard and our fully battened main will come down in a rush into the stack pack in a few seconds, entirely on its own. Done this a few times in Scottish 40 knot squalls and simply left there with no need to go on deck - popped kettle on, drifted under bare poles, then re hoisted a bit of sail after coffee was finished.
But lighter sails may need some assistance.
Hence I use a partial downhaul - only needed when lowering slowly to improve the folding (done from cockpit by steering gently side to side, or swinging the boom with a hand). In this case the last couple of metres doesn’t have enough weight to drag 50m of halyard. Hence have a short downhaul attached from headboard to third sail slide down. In normal conditions nip on deck to pull this down and tie off to secure sail. But only for tidiness rather than necesssity.
Our downhaul is attached by Velcro “fuses” so if ever got tangled could still pull sail down. In 20k miles and perhaps 1,000 or more drops hasn’t yet happened.
Stemar
Well-known member
I threaded the line though the fitting on three or four sliders to keep it in check. My main only dropped about 60% of the way under gravity, so the rest flogged, and at the mast of a 24 footer is no place to be when things are getting nasty.