Anyone out there make there own lazy jacks? If so I would app. some advice. I have an O'Day 222 1984 Thanks Pat
- Status
I made my own lazy jacks back in the late 1980's for my 1986 O'Day 222. I took the idea from a magazine called Small Boat Journal, now out of circulation. I don't recall how I set it up but I think that it involved drilling holes in my mast and boom to install the hardware. I tried it and didn't care much for it. A few things need to be taken into consideration when you install a sail holding rig such as this. If you want to protect your sails from UV rays, you need to put a cover on them when you're not using them and it's pretty hard to cover your Mainsail with lines from the lazy Jacks in the way. If you do a lot of trailering, you'll have more extra lines which need to be set up which adds extra time to the set up at the ramp. I know that putting individual sail ties on the Mainsail is a pain in the butt. Years ago I bought a Davis Sail Jock which is a self contained sail tie set up that is made up of Bungee cord and plastic sail hooks which is connected to the under side of the boom from one end to the other. I loved this set up and used it for a number of years, but unfortunately Davis no longer has these available. A few years ago I found a site called Sail Ties and I made up my own sail jock from this site out of 3/16" Bungee cord, plastic hooks, and the stainless steel "C" crimps. A couple of my friends have tried it and they have adopted it. Here's the link.
http://www.cncphotoalbum.com/doityourself/sailties/sailties.htm
I added a small bail strap under the boom close to the goose neck fitting for one end of the sail jock, and I'm using the bail strap at the other end of the boom for the other end of the jock. The advantage of this is; If you do any trailer sailing, you can remove your boom with the sail and the sail cover on it, and stow it inside the cabin. Leaving the topping lift connect until you get it into the cabin, is like having an extra set of hands to help you get it in there. You may not be into trailer sailing, but if you know that a big storm is coming up, you may want to stow the Mainsail in the cabin while she's on her mooring, and this is the fastest way that I know of. If you do trailer sail, having that sail on the boom stowed in the cabin cuts out a lot of extra work and having the sail jock makes it very possible.
I'm not knocking lazy jacks, but on an O'Day 222 with a topping lift and a good Mainsail, I would recommend that a sail jock and a Mainsail cover be used as much as possible for stops longer than 15 minutes out on the water. I believe in keeping it simple.
Joe
Attachments
Last edited by a moderator:
- Status