Doyle Stack Pack help

[Tim Mills]

So my new-to-me H41DS has a conventional sail with a Doyle Stack Pack with a zipper trolley. I intentionally was looking for a conventional full batten mainsail (which is hard to find on these boats).

Hunter has the mast forward design with a very long boom and with the arch, the boom is very, very high. My issue is with the DS the boom is literally 8' above the cockpit and with the bag the top of the bag is fully 6-1/2' above the top of the coach roof. With the dodger and bimini up there is no way to reach the end of the boom. I made boom pulpit per Doyle's recommendations but it only helps a little bit. This setup makes pushing the little bits of sail sticking up into the bag a dangerous feat. I have to climb the arch and the mast on both sides and its still almost impossible. I'm thinking of having Doyle cut the zipper and bag top cover off and figuring a way to add a conventional cover.

What do you sailors do?

Here is one of my sons helping to get the bag closed.

 

[shemandr]

On a Tartan 3700 I've sailed on a few times there is a stack pack. There is a bimini that makes access to the end of the boom very difficult and dangerous. This set up has a zipper line on the sail cover run forward so you can zip it closed from the mast. You still need to stuff the sail into the pack. Maybe you can pull the boom to the side and by standing on the deck or deck coaming you get stuff it in. I never had a problem with a conventional sail cover except if you have lazy jacks. I've never seen a solution for the lazy jacks that I like.
The e-33 I sailed on a bit was the worst. There was nothing in the back of that boat to hold onto while trying to access the sail cover. That boat was a bit tender at the dock so if someone stepped on board while I was taking the sail cover off I could easily been thrown off the boat. No lifelines.

 

[Capn Vinny]

I have a similar stack pack on my Legend 37.5 and fortunately, I’m tall and just able to get the sail stuffed in and zipped by standing on the coaming and cabin top. I agree, yours looks downright dangerous.
Have you tried dropping (lowering) the lazyjacks/stack pack once you are ready to stow the sail and then hoisting them back up? My thinking is that this will pull the stack pack up around the sail and resolve the stuffing problem. The earlier post about rigging a zipper pull to the mast may then solve the zipper access. If not, I use a really long zipper lanyard to help me pull it from below/forward.

 

[Rick D]

All the catamarans have them where I am and, if anything, they are worse. There must be a solution. I would continue working with the sailmaker.

 

[Ron20324]

... have you tried dropping (lowering) the lazyjacks/stack pack once you are ready to stow the sail and then hoisting them back up? My thinking is that this will pull the stack pack up around the sail and resolve the stuffing problem.

I always slack off the lazy bag lines before dropping the sail. Maybe even secure the bags to the shrouds so It makes a wide open "basket" to catch the sail in the middle. Pull the LJ lines, and the bag encompasses the sail easily. Well, almost easily. You can't keep the bag taught and try to drop the sail into it.

Edit: My lazy jacks are attached to the sal bag.

 

[Tim Mills]

I always slack off the lazy bag lines before dropping the sail. Maybe even secure the bags to the shrouds so It makes a wide open "basket" to catch the sail in the middle. Pull the LJ lines, and the bag encompasses the sail easily. Well, almost easily. You can't keep the bag taught and try to drop the sail into it.

I'll try that. That make a ton on sense. The PO and Doyle has it set up so that the bag is sewn into the sail and the lazy jacks are not adjustable currently. The lines are clipped on to the bag and then tied inside the bag...... But I can easily change that.

 

[Rick D]

Yes, +2 to Ron. I was told by the bag maker to loosen the bag halyards by about 6-8" before raising or lowering the sail. Following that, re-tention them before zipping it up. That practice seems to work even for my very stiff mainsail. I am, however, going to add a Tides insert and cars to keep the first batten from drooping.

 

[SoSound]

Our sail bag was not adjustable when new. We had it modified so that we could drop it when necessary, but we typically do not drop the bag to catch the sail. We have found that a combination of flaking the sail at the mast (there is a flap at the mast which allows access to the sail), and strategically tugging at the leech of the sail as, or just after, it comes down.

On the bag itself, the zipper has a long lanyard attached to it that gets pulled forward and fished through and between the lazy jacks as I walk along the top of the coach roof. We do find that it is necessary to move the boom to one side or another to make it easier for us to get ahold of the leech of the sail to pull it into the bag. It does take some adjusting every year to find the best tension on the lazy jacks and height of the sail bag. We are not tall enough to see over or into the bag, so everything is done by feel. An occasional touch-up of the zipper with some lube helps in closing and opening the bag (I think the last touch-up was done with a q-tip and a tube of McLube OneDrop).

 

[Tim Mills]

Yes, +2 to Ron. I was told by the bag maker to loosen the bag halyards by about 6-8" before raising or lowering the sail. Following that, re-tention them before zipping it up. That practice seems to work even for my very stiff mainsail. I am, however, going to add a Tides insert and cars to keep the first batten from drooping.

I installed a Tides track on my last boat. A very good investment.