Whats the best way to pack up a bolt-rope main on to the boom after sailing?

[Even Chance]

I have an E-Boat, and have been rolling the sail up into the lower portion of the sail and rolling it all up before adding a few sail straps round the boom and fitting the sail-cover over it all. There is no lazy jack system, just a topping lift to hold the boom up.

I have just bought a new(to me at least!) mainsail, and its a LOT crisper and stiffer than my old one. Tried like I normally do tonight and there was no way it was fitting under the cover. I could barely get the straps round it. It has more battens than my old sail, and removing one of the lower battens helped, but I'd rather they were fitted all the time.

So:- folding it or what?? Bigger cover? Help please folks....

PS cant wait to take her a wee sail and see how the new sail helps things. My old sail was baggier than a rapper's jeans in the 90's.
New one looks lovely, with e lot more roach. If only my new weapon would fit into my breeks!

 

[onesea]

I would say flakeing it...

 

[LadyInBed]

Flake the sail onto the boom.
As for ties, I've made up a 6mm laid rope with plastic hooks each end, then distributed bungees along the length.
Before dropping the sail one end gets hooked onto the end of the boom, the other end gets walked fwd and hooked onto the mast, drop the sail, flake it and do up bungees as I go.
Get your sail cover modified to have adjustable webbing straps with plastic 'back pack' clips along its length.

 

[Lakesailor]

I know the problem. I got a new main for my Foxcub and sailed singlehanded most of the time. I settled for flaking the sail and then putting the sailcoat over it. The sail coat was new and had adjustable straps as suggested.

It can be bloody tricky flaking a slippery and stiff new sail on your own.

 

[Simondjuk]

And when you flake it, make them big flakes like elephant ears. Helps it stay on the boom and kinder to the sail.

 

[Even Chance]

I would say flakeing it...

Pic looks great, the perfect pic in fact, but theres no way that the sail will lie like that. lol
Its just too crispy, which aint a bad thing!
Dont want to crease the thing too much if possible. Keep the dinghy sails rolled up on an old carpet tube and theyre like new.



Will give flaking a go though and see how it goes. Ive even considered fitting slides to help me single-handing, but I dont want to touch my new sail. Lazy jacks are a no-no on a bloomin E-Boat.
Will take her a wee sail after work tonight and see how I manage. Might take my wee lad to helm for me and give me a hand flaking the main for the first time.

Will begin trawling Ebay for bungees and back-pack clip ties to make some mods to my sail-cover and make up a new sail tie system. Work from the rear of the boom forwards when flaking so you can tie a portion off as you go along?
Will also try big floppy folds to help preserve my sail, but my cover is quite tight. The back-pack clips will surely help with that one. It currently has a rope on one side and plastic hooks on the other side.

Thanks for the wisdom folks.

 

[flaming]

Have you tried rolling from the middle?

Start your roll from the middle of the sail and you get the advantages of rolling but without the disadvantage of having to unroll the thing before you hoist. Probably slightly easier to get a tighter roll too.

 

[Even Chance]

Have you tried rolling from the middle?

Start your roll from the middle of the sail and you get the advantages of rolling but without the disadvantage of having to unroll the thing before you hoist. Probably slightly easier to get a tighter roll too.

Havent tried, but will give it a go for sure, thanks. Its the battens laying at an angle to the roll in the sail that might prevent that though, like it did when I tried my normal method last night. Theyre in with velcro ends and are a pain to put them in every time. Cheers.

 

[flaming]

Havent tried, but will give it a go for sure, thanks. Its the battens laying at an angle to the roll in the sail that might prevent that though, like it did when I tried my normal method last night. Theyre in with velcro ends and are a pain to put them in every time. Cheers.

If you roll bigger at one end than the other you can normally get the battens to align well enough.

 

[Even Chance]

Will try it out. Many thanks!

 

[Even Chance]

Have now ordered 5M of 8mm bungee cord, some 8mm T end pieces and a few 8mm plastic hooks and will make up a millipede style sail tidy. I have also ordered 12 of the webbing straps and clips to modify my sail cover to have clips instead of the hooks and line. Should enable the cover to have a lot more room for the sail.

Thanks all!

 

[onesea]

Pic looks great, the perfect pic in fact, but theres no way that the sail will lie like that. lol

That not mine (google supplied the image) with 30m2 of sail to deal with solo I have sail slides, without which any breeze would make it impossible. As it is I roughly flake it then get the boom cover on quick to hide the mess .

Another thought for you if you have slab reefing is to put the reefs in on the way down, this helps control the sail you then jiggle the flakes in after.

If the sail is soft you can make a bag out of the lower portion of the sail by holding a section at the rear end away from the boom, then lay the sail in the "bag".

The system I use for securing the sail on that size boat is:

1 piece of elastic double the length of the boom with hooks either end,

Along the length have 4 or 5 hooks evenly spaced with an over hand knot for both pieces of elastic between each hook.

So the construction would be:

1) Hook to secure to end of boom with 2 pieces of elastic leading forward.
2) Hook loose on one piece of elastic,
3) An over hand knot after 1m for both pieces of elastic,
4) A second hook on one piece of elastic,
5) An over hand knot after 1m,
6) Repeat until at the other end of boom where both elastics terminate with a hook.

Then you can split the elastics one hook one without and clip together to secure the sail..

Does that make sense?


Either way get the sail down secured on boom you can tidy or cover later .

 

[onesea]

....instead of the hooks and line. Should enable the cover to have a lot more room for the sail.

Try elastic instead of line if you have a pair of eyelets and a hook, make the same length as the two end eyelets reeve the elastics through the eyelets so the elastics can be pulled up on to the hooks. makes allot more give for a larger sail...

Like this but with elastic?

 

[LadyInBed]

I use these to tie bungee round sail

To space the bungees, just thread them between two strands of the laid rope.

These are what I use on the front and bottom of the sail cover
http://www.amazon.co.uk/PLASTIC-STRAP-WEBBING-RELEASE-BUCKLE/dp/B005OH83GW/ref=pd_bxgy_sg_img_z

 

[Hypocacculus]

I'll second the "bag" method, which works really well if you are short handed. And it can be really neat too.

 

[Even Chance]

Its the "Bag" method Ive been using, but this sail wont roll up as tight, and the battens wont lie flat against the boom like my old sail.

My cover is indeed just like the one pictured above. I was always planning on modifying it some day. Nows that day!

Ive gone for the T end fittings, and a loop of bungee on the other side. Should be easy to thread and fix whilst moving about by myself, reach through the loop, grab the T fitting and pull. Job done....