Sail Pack Construction...

[Sumner]

Ruth and I just finished the construction of a ......

....sail pack for our Mac. We kind of designed it together using ideas from what others had done and maybe one or two things new. She did a great job making it.

There are a lot more.....

...... pictures and somewhat detailed instructions here.....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor-canvas/canvas-9.html

Hopefully this will help someone else,

Sum

Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID

Our Mac Pages

Mac-Venture Links

 

[Don12364]

I made one like that. Not only did the rain gather in the gully on the top and then soak through the zipper and blacken the sail but the final indignity came when an oystercatcher nested there and laid an egg.
My wife did not notice and pulled on the cover and the egg smashed on the coachroof. We were both very sad.

Now my battens are recessed and the cover reduced so that the top is now in a ridge.

 

[Rick D]

Interesting, Don...

When I was in the Med, I noticed the preponderance of boats had fixed sail covers and jacks. Less so in Spain and the UK. None the less, way more than you see here in SoCal. I assume just local custom rather than any significant effect of conditions. Curious; what's your opinion?

I had two on different boats and when i got tired of changing the zippers and got a new sail on this one, I went back to lazy jacts alone. Not sure if that was wise or not; part of the problem is that I had to climb the mast all the time to tuck in the throat, so I didn't gain much.

BTW, this looks to be FAR better constructed than anything I had. Congratulations, and I'm glad you're still married after this adventure!

 

[Sumner]

I made one like that. Not only did the rain gather in the gully on the top and then soak through the zipper and blacken the sail but the final indignity came when an oystercatcher nested there and laid an egg.
My wife did not notice and pulled on the cover and the egg smashed on the coachroof. We were both very sad.

Now my battens are recessed and the cover reduced so that the top is now in a ridge.

We are trailer sailors, but have been out up to a month at a time and hope to be out a couple months at a time during the next year. The black you describe sounds like mildew, can't see how it would be from the zipper.

When we aren't sailing the boom, main and cover are off the boat out of the weather. It isn't in a slip someplace getting wet and not airing out. On the water the main is up at least once a day. I don't see the problem you had being one for us and we really look forward to the easy of reefing and also putting the sail away at the end of day.

We have had it up on the boat for the past week on the trailer (mast up) and it has rained 2-3 times and the sail has stayed dry and with the slope on the pack the water runs out the back and doesn't collect in the trough.

c ya,

Sum

Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID

Our Mac Pages

Mac-Venture Links

 

[dscribner]

Sum,

I can't help but notice the RUTH was doing the work!

So, being a fellow trailer sailor, you have no problems pulling it for mast stepping? How do the lazy jacks affect the sail shape. What's the airborne velocity of an unladen swallow?

Don

 

[Sumner]

Sum,

I can't help but notice the RUTH was doing the work!

So, being a fellow trailer sailor, you have no problems pulling it for mast stepping? How do the lazy jacks affect the sail shape. What's the airborne velocity of an unladen swallow?

Don

I noticed that about Ruth doing the work also

It is easy to pull the boom with the sail on it and in the pack. I just push the slugs up past the slug gate and pull the gate out and then drop the slugs back out the slot and keep the sail in the pack.

In the past we have trailered with the boom in the cabin and the sail put away in a bag. Since we sleep in the boat on the road the boom in there has been a mess. Now with the pack we are going to try traveling with the boom/sail/pack either under the mast or attached to the life lines and see how that works.

On the sail shape, I don't know yet as we haven't sailed with it yet, but you can loosen the lazy jack lines easily and I'm putting two cleats on each side of the mast by the goose-neck and I"ll be able to just reach up and pull the lines down and behind the cleats if I want to and they will the lie parallel and next to the boom back to the mast and totally out of the way. I'll have to give credit to an article I say in Practical Sailor on handling the lazy jack lines like that.

I'll have to do further research on the swallow deal ,

Sum

Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID

Our Mac Pages

Mac-Venture Links

 

[dscribner]

The swallow question was simply to check your geek status. It's a question from Monty Python's Holy Grail. It's the last question I ask interviewees just to see the answer they come up with. The correct answer is "African or European?" . . . Don't ask!

The sail pack looks GREAT! I hadn't thought of leaving the boom on the mast while traveling but why not? As long as it isn't getting crushed by a support or something, that would be slicker than whale snot!

You're in Utah. Where do you trailer that requires you to sleep on the road? We lived in Vegas for a couple of years, visited Zion national Park a couple of times. Except for Lake Meade, what else is accessible?

Another question, geek status style . . . how many grooves are on a record?
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. Scroll Down
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V

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Two, one each side that spiral in like wound paper. Monty Python put out a three sided record!

 

[Sumner]

.... I hadn't thought of leaving the boom on the mast while traveling but why not? As long as it isn't getting crushed by a support or something, that would be slicker than whale snot!

You're in Utah. Where do you trailer that requires you to sleep on the road? We lived in Vegas for a couple of years, visited Zion national Park a couple of times. Except for Lake Meade, what else is accessible? ....

Thanks, now I know two new bits of knowledge....

The boom won't be attached to the mast, but hopefully will hang under it, but I haven't done that measurement yet.

We trailered to northern Idaho and Canada last summer and slept on the boat on the road. We plan on sleeping in the boat on the way to Florida this fall and then some other eastern destinations next spring and summer,

Sum

Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID

Our Mac Pages

Mac-Venture Links

 

[COOL]

That looks like a nice effort.
But it seems like a complete over kill for such a small boat.
At the most it would take one minute to furl that main
and throw on some sail ties, and another to throw on a
boom cover.

 

[wonkodsane]

COOL,

My wife would've killed for a sailpack like that on our 23' Sonic.

And now for something completely different...