Stackpack: I'm not at all convinced.

eddystone said:
“Millipede”?
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Lengths of shock-cord fastened at intervals along a length of cord that is shorter and stretched along the length of a boom and is used as a convenient manner for having a series of sail-ties where they are needed.

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PuffTheMagicDragon said:
Lengths of shock-cord fastened at intervals along a length of cord that is shorter and stretched along the length of a boom and is used as a convenient manner for having a series of sail-ties where they are needed.

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Highly likely to snap back and take your eye out unless used carefully. Not for novice crew IMHO.
 
KAL said:
Amen to that! Wouldn’t want to be without ours. With batten cars the whole main just drops beautifully into the stackpack and pretty much flakes itself. Yes, we head directly into wind when raising, but this is no hardship.
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Agree strongly. On my 42 footer we have Harken cars and full length battens and it works so easily on the drop. A real factor when things are busy returning to harbour in a rough sea. I really don't want elderly crew balancing on the coach roof while the boat is moving around.
 
Resolution said:
Agree strongly. On my 42 footer we have Harken cars and full length battens and it works so easily on the drop. A real factor when things are busy returning to harbour in a rough sea. I really don't want elderly crew balancing on the coach roof while the boat is moving around.
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Full length battens and decent quality cars are perhaps two key ingredients (of which I have neither).
 
JumbleDuck said:
I'm with you. As I have written before, I think stackpacks are great on large boats, menaces on small boats and cross over more-or-less exactly at 26', which is my boat's length.

I bought a new mainsail last year and ditched the stackpack at the same time. The new sail is an awkward brute, having the flexibility of corrugated iron, but I have given up trying to flake it down and now just lash it beside/under the boom with a millipede, which takes much less time than I used to spend swearing at the stackpack. I'll do a harbour stow when I leave the boat, but for now stackpacklessness is a blessed release.
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We have a new mainsail this season. It is Vektran and pretty stiff but has long battens and flakes down very easily onto the boom. I was very surprised to find that it is easier to flake down than the old sail.
 
NealB said:
Full length battens and decent quality cars are perhaps two key ingredients (of which I have neither).
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Nor have I, so the sail would drop about half way under its own weight and, if there's much wind, flap around trying to destroy itself and anything else it can reach. A light downhaul was the answer, led back to the cockpit with the other lines. Pull the sail all the way down and put the downhaul in the jammer and everything's secure.

On my 24 footer, 3mm line has proved adequate as it's what I had as a proof of concept, but I'm going to put something a bit less like a cheese wire when I get a round tuit
 
Resolution said:
Highly likely to snap back and take your eye out unless used carefully. Not for novice crew IMHO.
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I agree that they can be dangerous in the hands of the unwary.

Kindly note that I merely answered eddystone's question of what is meant by "“Millipede”?" (see post #40) and described what the gadget does and what it looks like. In no way did I condone or endorse its use, much less express any personal opinion about its use.
 
Stemar said:
That's my preferred direction, too. It means joining and starting the zip at the mast, where I have a secure footing and nothing moves much. rather than balanced on a cockpit seat while the booms trying to escape the mainsheet as the boat rocks in someone's wake. I also added a length of plaited thin line so I can drag the zip past the sprayhood more easily.
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I like the idea of the line on the zip - thanks.
 
vyv_cox said:
We fitted ours after many years of conventional sail plus cover, with lazy jacks. We love it, finding we sail more rather than motoring short distances.
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Like Vyv we are also used to the conventional setup but now have FB main and SP. Hoisting is ok and drop is sort of ok except for the last 3 metres or so which I find I have to haul down from mast steps. My real issue is reefing which is easy using single line setup we have BUT I can't see the reef out haul when putting reefs in because of the bag and have to go to the mast and look down the boom rather defeating the object of it all. Am I to understand that the bag should in fact be loose on the boom when sailing and hauled up when dropping? Sorry I am a simple soul!!
 
DJE said:
We have a new mainsail this season. It is Vektran and pretty stiff but has long battens and flakes down very easily onto the boom. I was very surprised to find that it is easier to flake down than the old sail.
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Mine has short battens and the slugs stay in the mast, which makes flaking tricky. However, we managed a very nice harbour stow in Kilmelford yesterday evening. It was a matter of learning technique: the technique in question being to lower the sail by two flakes, wrestle these into position, millipede them down, repeat as required. Took about ten minutes, and I think we can improve on that. For trip-to-trip stowage I'll stick with "bulging sausage beside the boom", at least until the sail has softened up a bit.
 
I am not a fan of stack packs either.
Think it very much depends on length of boom relative to boat length and how well the boat keeps its course.
I sail a long keeler and have no problems setting her on course, engine ticking over without auto helm. That gives me enough time to lower and flake the main.
 
STOL71 said:
Affirmative
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In that case I need a pair of longer arms because I would not manage the folds along the luff and the corresponding folds along the leech... unless I continue to rely on my home-made contraption to do that for me and leave the tidying up of the folds for later! ;)
 
PuffTheMagicDragon said:
In that case I need a pair of longer arms because I would not manage the folds along the luff and the corresponding folds along the leech... unless I continue to rely on my home-made contraption to do that for me and leave the tidying up of the folds for later! ;)
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I normally fold the main on my own boat (Rival 41C) my self. The sail has luff sliders, so the luff is always secured. After the drop and securing the main sheet I just grab the leach, pull back until I get tension, then make a flake over the boom. One hand clamps the flake while the other grabs the next part of the leach, pull back until tensioned, make the second flake, throw a sail tie around and secure; repeat until I am at the mast. It is very easy, no effort, no stretching, I just use body weight by leaning back to get tension in the leach.

It is nearly always neat and done in less than a minute, after dropping. Even in windy conditions, I just let the boat drift and lies beam on more or less, the flakes blow under the boom and help pin the sail to the boom as it is flaked until the sail tie traps the sail. The only awkward bit (centre cockpit) is after the 2nd flake, If I have not slacked off sufficiently on the topping lift, I need to stand on the binical crash bar to do the 3rd flake, after that I am on the salon coach roof.

I am short, fat and have stubby arms and I find it a dawdle to store my main single handed.
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
I normally fold the main on my own boat (Rival 41C) my self. The sail has luff sliders, so the luff is always secured. After the drop and securing the main sheet I just grab the leach, pull back until I get tension, then make a flake over the boom. One hand clamps the flake while the other grabs the next part of the leach, pull back until tensioned, make the second flake, throw a sail tie around and secure; repeat until I am at the mast. It is very easy, no effort, no stretching, I just use body weight by leaning back to get tension in the leach.
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That's exactly how i do mine, aft cockpit with a 4m boom.

Various people keep advising me to get a stack pack, i've not been convinced. This thread makes me less convinced.
 
I don't want any system that necessitates heading directly into the wind's eye when hoisting or dropping the mainsail because the only way I can do that is by using the engine and I don't want to be dependent on that.
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
The sail has luff sliders, so the luff is always secured. After the drop and securing the main sheet I just grab the leach, pull back until I get tension, then make a flake over the boom.
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So is the main on my boat (Centurion 32).

The problem is that there is nothing to prevent the bulk of the sail from spilling over the boom and ending up on the coach-roof where, if I inadvertently step onto a fold of sailcloth, I would be liable to find that my feet would fly out from underneath me. My stacking system eliminates the problem and holds the tamed sailcloth and holds it safely until I can neaten up the stowing at leisure.

I have learned this the hard way, when I was much younger and much, much, more agile. I am unlikely to now change my method at the age of almost seventy-two. I am not trying to persuade anyone and I am not in the business of selling stacking systems; mine have always been home designed and made. All I can say that mine works for me and that I am glad that yours also works for you.

At a slight tangent, this 'argument' regularly appears regarding flying asymmetrics. Some people deride using a snuffer or even swear at a such thing while I swear by it; without a good snuffer, loaded and used properly, it would be impossible for me since I sail mostly solo. After all, anything that makes sail handling easier is bound to make sailing more of a pleasure, isn't that the whole concept?
 
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