Stackpack

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jakeroyd

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A really dumb question I need to ask.
My boat currently has a convetional boom with one bolt groove.
The main also is conventional , ie. not loose foooted.

If I want to convert to a stackpack for the main how is the canvas attached at each side?

Is the stackpack canvas sewn onto the main itself or attached with fittings to the boom ?

TIA
 
Normally the main is loose footed and the stackpack bag has a boltrope sewn along its length that is threaded through the groove.
 
Usual technique is a thin strip of sailcloth along the bottom of the stackpack, which wraps around the boltrope and slides into the groove with it. Alternatively, a series of straps fitted in the same way.

Some people have attached additional fittings to the boom for a home-made one, and that works too.

Pete
 
prv said:
Usual technique is a thin strip of sailcloth along the bottom of the stackpack, which wraps around the boltrope and slides into the groove with it. Alternatively, a series of straps fitted in the same way.

Some people have attached additional fittings to the boom for a home-made one, and that works too.

Pete
Click to expand...

As the OP is in Mayflower may I recommend the ladies in Ocean Canvas at the end of Richmond Walk. Very, very pleased with the 'stackpack' cover they made for me. If you want to take a look I think I told you which berth I was on, when we were in Fowey. I am away on the boat next week. Not the cheapest, but really good design and execution. No connection etc etc
 
prv said:
Usual technique is a thin strip of sailcloth along the bottom of the stackpack, which wraps around the boltrope and slides into the groove with it.
Click to expand...

+1 to that. On our previous boat the material that wrapped around the bolt rope seemed to be very slippery nylon yet strong enough not to bunch up as you pulled the main along the boom.
 
Thanks gents.
Yes , i get the idea of thin sailcloth wrapped around the boltrope.
Had not though of that.

sail50.
Yes we have in the past had good work done ny Ocean Canvas.
Had some dodgers made a few years ago.
As you have said , not cheap but good execution and good workmanship.

:-)
 
I bought a stackpack from Kemp this year. It is fitted as all the others say, a strip of sailcloth around the mainsail bolt rope. I have to say it is a worthwhile investment, although not cheap. It makes it far more convenient to use the main for short trips, which was the intention. We adjust our outhaul regularly as the mainsail has a shelf to increase fullness off the wind. This is now subject to increased friction and not so convenient but that is the only downside, apart from having the thing flapping on the boom all the time. We can live with that though.
 
vyv_cox said:
apart from having the thing flapping on the boom all the time.
Click to expand...

We have a series of straps along the bottom of the stackpack on each side, which allow us to let down the lazy jacks and roll up the fabric. I only usually bother on longer passages, but off the wind with the outhaul eased, our loose-footed sail does seem to set slightly better with the stackpack stowed.

Pete
 
prv said:
We have a series of straps along the bottom of the stackpack on each side, which allow us to let down the lazy jacks and roll up the fabric. I only usually bother on longer passages, but off the wind with the outhaul eased, our loose-footed sail does seem to set slightly better with the stackpack stowed.

Pete
Click to expand...

Ours (Kemp) has them too but the buckle has been placed far too close to the canvas, making it extremely fiddly to get the free end through. A neat idea but spoiled in the detail.
 
vyv_cox said:
Ours (Kemp) has them too but the buckle has been placed far too close to the canvas, making it extremely fiddly to get the free end through. A neat idea but spoiled in the detail.
Click to expand...

Heh. Ours also wasn't quite right from new - they made a stupid choice of buckle and fitted the kind where you thread the bare end of a strap through it:

1004444958.jpg


This was far too fiddly to use - what they should have had was Fastex buckles that just click together:

Side%20Release%20Buckle.jpg


Last winter I decided to install the correct buckles. I was expecting to have to unpick and re-sew all the straps, but I managed to find a "repair" buckle which can be hooked into a closed loop of tape. I did cut short the loose half of each strap, and fold and sew a "stopper" in the end after passing it through the adjusting half of the buckle. It's now much easier to tuck the stack-pack away.

Pete
 
I made ours to be completely independent of the sail by fixing some bolt rope track down both sides of the boom, the stack pack is made up in two halves. Sail or stack pack can be easily removed without disturbing the other and using the outhaul is much easier without stack pack sail cloth wrapped around the foot bolt rope.
 
GrahamM376 said:
I made ours to be completely independent of the sail by fixing some bolt rope track down both sides of the boom, the stack pack is made up in two halves. Sail or stack pack can be easily removed without disturbing the other and using the outhaul is much easier without stack pack sail cloth wrapped around the foot bolt rope.
Click to expand...

But how does it cope with reefing pennants? Mine go around the boom, for which the stackpack has zipped openings.
 
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