What do you do with your Stack Pack while sailing?

[Paul L]

I'm getting ready to make a stack pack for my mono. I've never sailed with one. What happens to all that fabric while you have the main up? Does it just flop around the boom?

[colemj]

We have a stack pack with battens through the top of each side. It is held up by the lazy jacks and does not flap around at all. I suppose wind does get into it, but it does not make it flop around - the windward side presses against the sail and the leeward side does the opposite.

If we wanted, we could slack the lazy jacks and tie the stack pack to the boom completely out of the way. We have never wanted to do this. We are too lazy.

Mark

[cchesley]

Originally Posted by colemj

We have a stack pack with battens through the top of each side. It is held up by the lazy jacks and does not flap around at all. I suppose wind does get into it, but it does not make it flop around - the windward side presses against the sail and the leeward side does the opposite.

If we wanted, we could slack the lazy jacks and tie the stack pack to the boom completely out of the way. We have never wanted to do this. We are too lazy.

Mark

What he said!

(Lazy is Good)

[brankin]

Originally Posted by Paul L

I'm getting ready to make a stack pack for my mono. I've never sailed with one. What happens to all that fabric while you have the main up? Does it just flop around the boom?

Are you going to build your own? Do you have a set of plans you could share?
I bought the plans from sailrite and they are a start but I would like to see ideas from others. I plan to use a bolt rope in the base of the stack pack to attach it to the boom and then leave the foot of the sail free.
Thanks
Brankin

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by brankin

Are you going to build your own? Do you have a set of plans you could share?
I bought the plans from sailrite and they are a start but I would like to see ideas from others. I plan to use a bolt rope in the base of the stack pack to attach it to the boom and then leave the foot of the sail free.
Thanks
Brankin

We plan to use twists on the base, not a bolt rope. I want to be able to remove it without too much hassle. Plus want it to drain quickly. Here's some pretty detailed photos of a project I was also looking at besides the Sailrite plans
Canvas Mods page 8

[Paul L]

Mark
Do have any issues with the lazy jacks chafing the sail or getting caught on the battens?

[senormechanico]

We roll ours inward on each side of the boom, dropping the slack lazyjacks into the cover as it's rolled.
Three bungie loops attached permanently on the outer bottom of each side of the cover are pulled up and over the rolled sunbrella and hooked over plastic downward facing hooks on the bottom inside of the cover.
It only takes a couple of minutes to do both sides.
They stay rolled up along each side of the boom while sailing.

[Ex-Calif]

On my buddies boat we drop the pack battens level with the boom - we us carabiners to clip the rings of the pack to each other (across the boom) under the loose footed main.

The carabiners make this a 30 second job.

[mtnsapo]

i have a stack pack on our cat, my comments

1. it is a bit more a PITA to raise the main, you have to be careful not to catch the lazyjack line(s) on the battens when you raise the main, dead upwind and timing is key in high or shifty winds

2. once the main is up, we don't fuss with it, it is jsut there, doesn't catch wind, or flutter or anything, it is out of mind

3. putting he sail away is easy breezy. well worth the little PITA of 1. and it protects the sail really well form UV and elements

4. we have enver had a problem isth "drainage". Not sure whate you mean. The worst I have ever had to do is spray off the bird **** from the cover periodicaly. the sail has never stayed wet or developed mold or meldew. this is in SF bay where humidity is alway spretty high

Brian

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Mark
Do have any issues with the lazy jacks chafing the sail or getting caught on the battens?

No problem with chafe, but we have full battens with dacron webbing sewed on the outsides of the pockets. But we had no problem with chafe on our previous sail with no webbing protection.

Raising the sail can sometimes catch a batten in the lazy jacks. I mounted the upper blocks for our lazy jacks halfway out the spreaders so that the angle is really opened up. This helps a lot when raising. Also, as long as the wind is forward of the beam and the boom is free, there is enough "sail area" in the stack pack to weathercock it into the wind. So you don't have to go directly into the wind to raise it.

The biggest problem is when it is bouncy and the boom is moving a lot. Then you raise the sail until a batten is near a jack line and pick your moment to clear it. For our boat, it is only the first two battens that need to clear - the other four battens lie outside the lazy jack ends so can't get caught.

All of this is probably different if you don't have full battens.

Of course, before heading out you can always slack the lazy jacks and pull them to the mast. As I said, we are too lazy to do this.

Mark

[Windara]

One of the Doyle brand of Stack Packs actually has a lighter weight fabric sewn into the sail so when the mailsail is raised the stackpack sits firmly against the main and does not flap around. Their other design does not have this (they call it a Cradle Cover) and it just stays in place when sailing. This is the design we have, and it works fine. I have used both and both work well. With the cradle cover, you can use several mainsails. The design with the sailcover sewn into the sail obviously only works with one sail unless you have a zipper installed to undo the fabric from the sail. See the doyle website for more info.

Hoisting is always a problem with this setup, especially if you have full-length battens. The batten end pockets on the leech always catch in the jackstays. We have found it best to loosen the jackstays and bring them forward to the gooseneck while hoisting, thereby making hoisting easy. Either that or motor at a moderate (3k+) speed to keep the sail within the jackstays, but this works less than 50% of time.

After the sail is up, we retighten the jackstays fairly tightly. The cover does not flap around as it is pressed against the windward and leward side by the wind. There is enough stretch in the jackstay lines that we have not had any problems. In 4 years sailing 6 months a year in the Caribbean, chafe has not been a problem in the sail, some minor chafe on the sailcover.

This setup works great when reefing, the extra cloth stays in the bag, no ties needed.

Be careful when unreefing that there is not a foul with the jackstays if you take a deep reef.

If you are trying to make your own, I would strongly encourage you to examine several installed on various sailboats first, and better yet sail with one a few times. There are lots of litttle features that are important to get right. Unless you are very good at canvas work, this might be one project to pay a sailmaker to do, as the cost of good quality sumbrella material is quite expensive to do by trial and error.

[jackdale]

I dislike stack packs.

Stow your lazy jacks at the gooseneck. Use sail ties to flake the main to the boom. Once you are back the dock put on a proper sail cover.

[colemj]

I don't see how that is any different than a stackpack - which allows one to stow the lazy jacks at the gooseneck and stow the canvas against the boom. Then simply release all when dropping sails and forget about the sail ties and sail cover.

Most of us don't do it that way, but there is nothing preventing it.

Dealing with sail ties on a large boat with a high boom in a bouncy sea can be a safety issue. Much safer simply dropping the sail into a canvas cradle. This is especially pronounced when reefing - particularly downwind - where the stackpac holds the loose bunt of the sail and the slacked reef lines and negates the need to center the boom and go up on deck/cabin house to tie the bunt lines. Reefing downwind it is not possible to tie the bunt lines at all.

Mark

[Blue Stocking]

Originally Posted by Paul L

I'm getting ready to make a stack pack for my mono. I've never sailed with one. What happens to all that fabric while you have the main up? Does it just flop around the boom?

If you enter "dutchmen system" in the search function, you will find extensive discussion on your problem. While a bit of a hi-jack (guilty as charged, your Honor) you will see a lot of detail.
I went 1 step further with mine, I have, for originality sake only, kept my roller furling boom. I can rotate the track to the 3 o'clock position, and slide my main off while still inside the fabric cover. Living in hurricane alley, insurance requires I remove my sails.
Whole removal process takes 1/2hr.

[Bloodhound]

Originally Posted by jackdale

I dislike stack packs.

Stow your lazy jacks at the gooseneck. Use sail ties to flake the main to the boom. Once you are back the dock put on a proper sail cover.

Why would anyone go through the hassle of catching battens on lazy jack lines while raising sail, when stowing the lazy jacks at the gooseneck is so straightforward? IMO, lazyjacks are for neatly folding the sail when it's dropped, otherwise they should be stowed. What am I overlooking?