Mainsail lazy jack and cover

[chuck53]

I was looking thru this month's Mainsheet Magazine and saw an ad for the Doyle Stackpack.  It's a combined mainsail cover and lazy jack system.  I've seen a few out on the water and wanted to get some first hand info on it and how well it works.
Dropping the mainsail, flaking and putting on the cover is a major pain in the butt.  Just wandering if this or similar systems are as easy as they look.
Anyone have one?

[Ron Hill]

Chuck : I have just the lazy jacks(made my own - see projects) and after the sail is "trained" it pretty well flacks itself. 

[RV61]

Chuck,
When my wife and I were chartering in the BVIs last month the boat had Doyle Stack Pack and worked well. Liked it so much my wife is in process of making one. We to thought better than hauling sail cover up and down.  We have lazy jacks w full batten main currently and only thing must watch is on the way up sail catching on a jack. If you loosen the jack and are headed into the wind no problem. She ordered stack pack kit and video from Sailrite. Looks pretty straight forward. Will let you know how it works out once completed .

Rick

[Stu Jackson]

There's been so much written about battens catching on lazy jacks when going up that I tend to gag on it. Here's why: Our lazy jacks are led back and can be retracted to the mast to get everything out of the way and not have the lazy jacks deployed when raising the main and sailing. But because I do so much singlehanding, I've always tried to minimize unnecessary effort. All I do is pull back the starboard side of our lazy jacks and hook them under a cleat horn at the mast end of the boom. Then, when raising sail, I deliberately motor a bit off the wind so it's coming off the port bow and so blows the sail over to the starboard side of the boom, where the lazy jacks have magically disappeared. People who hang their mains up on lazy jacks are generally heading directly into the wind, which is why, unless they're retracted up to the mast, will almost guarantee getting the battens caught. Just a little "keep it simple" trick I've been sharing for years.

[Ken Juul]

If tight the lazy jacks are kind of like the topping lift, to get a proper sail shape they must be loosened each time the sail is raised.  So I just slacken them when I pull the sail ties off, don't need much, maybe 6-8" of slack at the cleat. 

Couple things I didn't like about the StackPack I used while chartering.  Could not see the sail when it was down.  Did it flake cleanly or is it just a pile?  Also it made it a lot harder to reef the sail. Very hard to access the front reef point.  I'm sure the reefing issue can be solved with a well thought out installation.

[chuck53]

Guys,
Thanks for the comments.
Anyone else want to chime in?

[cmainprize]

chuck
We also have an intergated sail cover.  That's what we call it as the Doyle is a little different.  The doyle bags are usually sewn to the foot of the sail.  The bottom edge of our cover goes into a plastic track attached  to the boom.  Our lazy jacks are led to cheek blocks just above the spreaders and then down the mast.  Then they join together into one line and they are led back to a cam cleat next to the main halyard.  Makes them easy to adjust when lowering or raising the sail.  When I raise the sail I loosen the jacks and raise the sail.  When i drop the main I head upwind, pull the jacks tight and drop the main.  works great.  The battens will hang up on occasion, if you keep it pointed in to wind you are good.

[Ted Pounds]

I have 2 friends w/ Stack-Packs and they love them.   

On another note my lazy-jacks had shock-cord where they ran under the boom.  That allowed enough give for good sail shape without having to loosen them.

[waterdog]

I made one out of my old sail cover and then recently made a brand new one while in La Paz.   It's stitched to the bottom of the main.   Lazy jacks are fixed, adjusted to the point where they don't impede sail shape.   Never had a problem with battens getting hung up (you just watch while you are hoisting and don't pull if your batten is under a lazy jack - my eleven year old son never messes it up).   No lazy jacks at the mast to slap.   Drop and zip.   Very simple.   Love it.   

[Kyle Ewing]

I have UK's Lazy Cradle.  Previously I had the Doyle Stack Pack.  They both work well.  Advantages to me of the Lazy Cradle:
*  Not built into the sail so it can be removed or rolled up completely out of the way.  Will probably out last the main sail so I can replace the main at a lower cost.
*  Allows for a loose fitted main.
*  New UK main with Lazy Cradle was less than a new Doyle main with Stack Pack.

On another boat I had lazy jacks.  They worked well but removing, storing, and replacing the sail cover was an additional step and the sail cover had to be modified to fit properly.

On all the line was adjustable with small cleats on the mast so I could move them out of the way.

[Terry Forshier]

I have the Dolyle Stack Pak and full battened main. Yes if I am not into the wind the battens get hung up on the lazy jacks. That said, I have adjusted to this when i raise and lower the sail. It is a lot better than having the sail fall on deck and then gathering it. The sail cover is sewn into and is part of the sail in this system. I have had it off and resewn once where the threads have let go due to hot
Fl sun. damage. I think it is a good system. Sits nice on the boom with the boomkicker for height adjustment.

[dbpaul]

I got rid of the Dutchman system and the batten over hang.

Now have a Lazy Cradle.

http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=116372


http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=116372

paulj

[chuck53]

Thanks guys.  Lots of good info to think about.  Not something I'm going to do in the near future, but I do want to do something down the road.

[crieders]

Use full battens (4), lazy jacks and build your own zippered cover as I did. For 10 dollars you can buy a video on line that takes you thru step by step. Works great.

[horsemel]

Cliff, what is the link for the video?
Mark Mueller