Stack pack or sail cover?

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by chris95040

slapslapslapslapslapslapslapslap

Bungy cords solve that problem.

[akprb]

Stack pack no question.

Our current boat has a Dutchman system with sail covers

Misery.

When cruising I leave it off more that I should. With the stack pack was always tucked away plus it made a great place for the kids to play when they were little!

[philiosophy]

Started with a Stack Pack 10 years ago, because I saw so many boats with them in the Carribean when on a charter. They are great if you are sailing around protected waters and make it easy to drop your sail and stow. We are sailing Oceana having left West Coast Seattle. We are presently replacing it with a regular sail cove with stand alone Lazy Jacks. When doing crossings you want to be able to see your reef points, especially in heavy weather. All that cloth and batton hanging off the boom was not a good idea. You need to be able to secure your lazy Jacks forward to the mast so they are not chaffing on your main sail. We are using the expensive UV thread from Sailrite.

[akprb]

Originally Posted by philiosophy

Started with a Stack Pack 10 years ago, because I saw so many boats with them in the Carribean when on a charter. They are great if you are sailing around protected waters and make it easy to drop your sail and stow. We are sailing Oceana having left West Coast Seattle. We are presently replacing it with a regular sail cove with stand alone Lazy Jacks. When doing crossings you want to be able to see your reef points, especially in heavy weather. All that cloth and batton hanging off the boom was not a good idea. You need to be able to secure your lazy Jacks forward to the mast so they are not chaffing on your main sail. We are using the expensive UV thread from Sailrite.

On long ocean crossings we simply lowered the jacks of the stack pack and neatly secured it along the boom. The jacks stayed loose aloft so chafing was not an issue and reefing still easy with the jacks in place rather than bunched up at the mast.

We also carried spare mainsail battens along the boom just in case.

For what it's worth :-)

[Emouchet]

Vocabulary question: stack pack versus lazy bag ? Are we talking about the same thing ?

[Paul Kelly]

Originally Posted by jackdale

I would stay with what you have.



You also cannot use reef point lines with most stack packs.

Sorry, this is incorrect. If your stackapack is correctly designed - with zips on either side at the mainsheet end of the boom, then of course you can use them with reef point lines and both work fine.

I've had stackapacks and lazy jacks on three boats and I love the system, especially when I am singlehanded.

Yes, you do need to be pointing dead into the wind when getting the main up. But when it comes to dropping the main, it makes stowing everything so easy. And it's a particularly good system if you have a fully battened main.

I don't think it affects sailing performance very much - though I don't race and if I did I might have a different opinion. I know one boat owner who had a clever additional system of pulleys and cleats to drop the stackapack when sailing so the full main was exposed to the boomline.

Also on my last boat, on which the reefing lines didn't come back to the cockpit, but were controlled from the mast, the stackapack was an excellent storage pocket for them when sailing and when in port. Much better than the mast cleats.

[macman4190]

I had a sail cover and it always took time to flake the sail and cover it. Now I have a Doyle Cradle Cover, which is similar to a stack pack. I prefer that. Reefing is not impacted, and it holds the lowered sail on the boom.

[alctel]

Originally Posted by jackdale

Lazy jacks are only necessary when lowering a sail.

Once the sail is down and secured with sail ties, stow the lazy jacks at the mast, then cover the sail (if at the dock) - no custom cover required.

Yeah this is what I do.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by jackdale

built in lazy jacks are a royal pain. The mainsail battens snag on the lazy jacks when raising the main.

Lazy Jack Trick
Many folks complain about full battens getting caught up when raising the mainsail. They then spend a lot of time moving BOTH sides of the lazy jacks to the mast.

We developed an easier way with our lazy jacks.

We have a small cleat on the forward starboard side of the boom. When we put the halyard on the headboard, we move ONLY the starboard side of the lazy jacks forward and snug them under the forward side of the horn of this cleat.

Then, when we raise the mainsail, instead of going exactly head to wind, we bear off a tad to starboard so the wind is coming from the port side of the bow.

We then raise the mainsail and it doesn't get hooked on the lazy jacks even though the port side jacks are still there.

Been working for 20 years.

Yes, we have to go forward again to unhook the starboard lazy jack for dousing the sail if I forget to do it right when the main is raised, but there's never any hurry. The drill is: after the main is raised, I unhook that starboard lazy jack, so they're both ready to go when we drop the sails at the end of the day.

So, for those of you with lazy jacks, consider doing only one side.

Your boat, your choice.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by chris95040

slapslapslapslapslapslapslapslap

+ 1,000 !

In post #15, JPA Cate has an excellent point about reefing. The pack holds the reefed sail. No ties needed.

[NakedCity]

We LOVE our North Sails built stack packs. (yes plural !) The sailcovers (2) on our Freedom 40 were such a pain. Two huge sails, took 2 of us at least 15 minutes to cover. So much trouble that often when cruising, upon reaching our destination for the day, we would get lazy and not cover them. (not good)

Now, we never fail to pull the zippers !

If concerned about interference with your lower sail area, one line on either side of the mast lowers the pack down to your boom.

[guyrj33]

I sewed together one of sailtites stack pack sail covers, it’s great really shortens the time it takes to get under way.
I remove it when racing (once a year)

[JPA Cate]

Just wanted to add, the forward end of our boom bag was designed cut back a way, to allow easy putting of the dog bones on the reefing horn, and the forward cowl designed to overlap the forward part of the bag by about 3 inches, for UV protection.

Lots of people put the top to their lazy jacks at the mast. We rig ours out on the second spreaders, about 2/3 the way to the tips, to make a more open "mouth" for the bag.

Ann

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by philiosophy

When doing crossings you want to be able to see your reef points, especially in heavy weather. All that cloth and batton hanging off the boom was not a good idea.

Absolutely!

[dneve]

I replaced my form fitting main sail cover with a Macpack which I find is excellent in flaking my large laminate main by myself. I bring the lazy jacks forward to the mast where I have snap shackles for each side when raising the main and then put them back. I roll up the Macpack along the boom and tie up with sail ties so the main sail is not affected by the cover. Check out a boat with the Macpack which cost me about $1200 installed on my Sigma 41.