Lazy Jacks and racing

[Parsons]

Every casual race boat around here (larger than an open dingy or Lightning) has lazy jacks, and seem to not have any performance problems. As @Jackdaw said, if you're REALLY serious (guessing not, if you chose a Catalina 30), you'd have your large crew roll your carbon-fiber sails before storing below. It seems a shame to have anything you have on your boat unavailable to you for casual or single-handed sailing.

 

[JRT]

How open is the stack pack when closed up? What I mean is that my current cover uses snaps along the bottom and is open to let the spiders and wasps get inside. I could see investing if it better sealed up the sails and helped me prevent spiders from making a home.

 

[Justin_NSA]

The ends don't close up if I recall correctly. I think you'll still have spiders and wasps. You may even get nesting birds. Take a look at these photos from Doyle.
http://www.doylesails.com/other/sail-handling/stackpack

 

[Jimski]

I do strive to NOT be too serious. If winning ever becomes more important than having a good time then its past time to call it quits. My Catalina 30 is my first and according to my wife the only sailboat I will ever own. I bought it thinking I would upgrade after a few years to something in the 34-36 foot range to more comfortably sail offshore.

Now I think the C30 is a great boat and capable for all my purposes. I did my first offshore race a few weeks ago and took 2nd place in non-spin. A C&C 115 beat me out by only a few minutes corrected time. My crew and I were very happy with our performance.

I usually race in cruising club class. I dont think can be competitive in non-spin without spending serious money on kevlar sails. I am not going to do that. I am trying to balance out what I can do to the boat to make it easier to sail and hopefully a little faster without breaking the bank. I do not want to do anything that would slow me down though. Leisure sails are also important. I've had crew mutiny and inform me we were not going to use the main on a leisure sail because they didnt want to hassle with flaking it upon return. Thanks to the inputs here I am going to more forward installing lazy jacks.

 

[Apex]

Lazy jack lines can be pulled forward to the gooseneck, so alongside mast and boom. very easy

 

[thinwater]

Thanks for all the info. I think lazy jacks are in my future.
Points about superfluous stuff on board during are race are well taken. I do keep the bottom clean and have removed a lot of stuff I dont use such as microwave, pots, etc.. My mast has steps that should probably come off. But I draw the line at the mini fridge - it stays!

Mast steps and min-fridge? Not a racer . Might as well tow a dinghy.

Just funnin' you!