Advice on E-Z-Jax

[Capn Ellis]

I saw this http://ezjax.com/ demonstrated at the Annapolis boat show and it looked like a perfect solution for single handing. It is a retractable Lazy Jack. You employ it only when lowering sails. It retracts and stores under tension along the boom so no mods are required for the sail cover and my "redneck bimini" (a painters' drop cloth draped over the boom) can still be used.
Has anyone installed this set up? Evaluations?

 

[knowitall]

Expensive - make your own for 1/4 the cost.

(nm)

 

[sailingdog]

I'd have to agree with knowitall... I installed lazy jacks that I can retract forward to the mast while sailing about two hours work and $150.

This is what I did, but it covers both a "quick-furling" system as well as lazy jacks:

I added four padeyes to each side of the boom. On the 12' boom, I spaced the padeyes 1' in from each end and 2.5' apart. I then ran shock cord through the padeyes on each side. On one side, I added plastic shock cord hooks between each pair of padeyes. To furl the sail, I pull the hook over the boom and attach it to the shock cord on the other side of the boom.

I then attached a line to each pair of the padeyes to make a four-leg lazyjack system that looks like this:

The four legs keep the sail pretty well contained when lowering or reefing the sail. The green line is long enough so that the lazy jacks can be lowered and run forward along the boom and up the mast, keeping them out of the way when raising the main or when sitting at anchor.

The materials I used for this are:

10 Padeyes (two are mounted on the mast just below the second set of spreaders, the other eight are mounted on the boom)
2 Harken micro blocks (attached to the padeyes on the mast)
140' of 5/32" line
6 Stainless steel 1" rings for attaching the lines to each other
20' of 1/4" shock cord
3 nylon shock cord hooks
20 3/16" x 1/4" stainless steel pop rivets
Lanocote

If you drop the lazyjacks, by easing the green line and bringing them forward, the sailcover doesn't even need to be modified.

On my friend's boat, where I did this modification for her, she added a line to the stainless steel ring at the top of the yellow line/end of the green line, that goes to a block on the mast by the gooseneck...and if she releases the green line, she can pull the lines connected to those rings and it pulls the lazy jacks down and forward along the mast... without leaving the cockpit.

 

[Ed Schenck]

My EZ-Jax

Eight years and still holding their stretch. Yes, you can make your own. But they require much more handling because you have to move them and take up the slack and do something with that line. Usually need to have some cheek blocks controlling the lines.

My EZ-Jax have the stretch cord so that you take them off the mast hooks and move them to the boom hooks. There are no blocks and no line handling. There is never anything extra in the way. I only use mine when single-handling and then only when dropping the main as I enter port. I never sail with them.

 

[cbsailor]

RE: E-Z Jacks

I installed E-Z Jacks on my previous boat, a '81 H27. They worked great and made single handing easier. I really liked how they did not interfere with raising the main. Lasy Jacks were already on our H33.5 when we purchased it. Occasionally the battens will hang on them.

 

[Hermit Scott]

saildog, do you leave your lazy jacks pretty much up when sailing? I bought a lot of 1/4" dacron to build some but I haven't decided on a design yet.
Let me get this straight though. You only use shock cord to hold the sail to the boom when you are not using the sail, that's just an added feature and not part of the lazy jack itself? the green yellow blue and red lines are all 5/16 rope, and none of those are shock cord? Also do you have 2 green lines running that you have to handle, or are they somehow attached on the front side of the mast so you only have one line to handle?

 

[sailingdog]

saildog, do you leave your lazy jacks pretty much up when sailing?

It depends, if I'm just out for a short daysail, I'll leave the lazy jacks up. If I'm going to be out longer, I'll ease the lines and bring them forward to the tack hook on the gooseneck. I'm seriously thinking of doing what my friend Jill did on her boat...

I bought a lot of 1/4" dacron to build some but I haven't decided on a design yet.
Let me get this straight though. You only use shock cord to hold the sail to the boom when you are not using the sail, that's just an added feature and not part of the lazy jack itself?

Correct. Instead of using sail ties, I just reach over the boom and hook the shock cord from one side to the one on the other side. It keeps the sail on the boom quite nicely and is much faster and easier than using sail ties..

The green yellow blue and red lines are all 5/16 rope, and none of those are shock cord? Also do you have 2 green lines running that you have to handle, or are they somehow attached on the front side of the mast so you only have one line to handle?

The rope is 5/32" not 5/16". Currently, there are two lines, but Jill's also modified her setup to have the two lines connected in front of the mast and have a single line that controls both sides run back to the cockpit.

Does that help clear things up??

 

[letterman]

Re: Expensive - make your own for 1/4 the cost.

Made my own following the site that shows you how to make them so they retract along the boom. Cost me $18,539, 2 1/2 years to install (which meant the boat had to be on the hard the whole time, so I missed out on a lot of sailing), and now my rudder won't work properly!
Make sure you buy ONLY Original EZ Jacks, and hire ONLY UNION riggers to install it. And for gosh sakes, don't scrimp on hiring a Engineer to teach you how to use them.

 

[caguy]

I leave mine as is when I sail. They are loose enough to keep from chaffing the sail. They double back under the sail cover especially when the boom is lifted. The are short enough to contain the sail. I find that I rarely have to adjust them.
Frank

 

[BobM]

My boat has a set of pretty basic lazy jacks. I think they were Harken. No problems with chafe while sailing and with them slack I can fit the unmodified sail cover on easily. The only issue I have had is catching the battens when raising. It is a particular problem as the new North main has adjustable batten tension and the batten ends stick out from the sail a couple of inches. It isn't a big deal, and is usually only a problem with an amateur helmsman. It is amazing to me how much trouble people have with the concept of steering into the wind.