Lazy Jacks

[WallyQ2]

I've never used lazy jacks before. First time I had a batton snag hoisting the main, luckly it fell into cockpit. While the main was up I kept seeing the imprint of the leeward jack lines on back of sail, upper centre. I hauled out the foot, tightened boom vang and then loosened jacks more. It helped some but the jack lines would still slightly touch the sail, which over time would I assume chafe the main. Am I missing something on the lazy jack setup or sail trim, or is this normal. Only solution I thought of was lowing the jacks before hoisting the main and finding a way to secure the jack lines to the boom, out of the way, and then raising them, before I lower the main sail. I've checked the archives but all I could find were opinions to either luv them or hate them, but not how to sail with them.

 

[Ken13531]

I love mine!

It looks like the ones in the pic are really tight.I always have mine sloppy loose while under sail.No need to imprint the sail shape or worse, cause chafe.

 

[Steve Dion]

Hate the damn things.

Wally:I hate the damn things. It appears that your may be a little too tight. You may want to consider setting up something to "retract" them up to the mast prior to departure and then re-deploy them when dropping your sail. If your setup is simlar to many boats, you just need to pull them forward enough to clear the top couple of battens. The bottom ones will probably clear okay.You may also need a little sail work done so your battens will not fall out of the pocket. They can be secured with velcro pockets and even some line to secure them in place.I had a Dutchman system on my previous boat. It was a far superior system. It allowed the sail to flake properly and no hangups. My current boat has no topping lift so there really is no option for that setup & I don't think the Dutchman would work with our large roach main.

 

[dmc]

Ahoy Wally,

I use my lazy jacks all the time. Hoisting does take some practice. Be careful to have the wind dead ahead. When under way I drop the jacks and route them under a pair of cleats on the mast so they run parallel to the boom. I use this set-up to replace the main sail cover as well. My jacs are "home made" and look a little different.Check out the link.

 

[BarryL]

Retract

Hello,Are your LJ's retractable? I can unhook mine at the middle of the boom and run them forward to the mast.Anyway, when I want to hoist the main I retract ONE side of the LJ's. Then I have the boat steered a little to one side so that as the main is raised it flies toward the side without the LJ. This way the battens can't catch.My LJ's are not that tight (the bottom is shock cord) so that when it hits the sail there is not a lot of pressure on the sail. If it bothers me I can retract it. I deploy them before lowering the sail.I sail single handed / short handed all the time and the LJ's make lowering the sail a breeze (get it, breeze )Barry

 

[Old Salt]

Lazy Jacks help the short handed

As I usually sail shorthanded I really appreciate Lazy jacks. The Dutchman system is nice also but I prefer the lazy jacks. Before leaving the dock in my Hunter 34, I tie off my lazy jack towards the mast. After the sails have been set I then release the lazy jacks to help gather the sail when lowering the main sail. I have full battens and my dodger/bemini hinder my watching the main being raised from the cockpit. One thing from your pic it looks like your Lazy Jacks are to tight. They need to be relaxed so as to allow the sail to form properly. They really need to be relaxed so as not to touch the sail. You can tighten them up when you go into the wind to lower the main. Good sailing.

 

[RichH]

Your Pic shows an 'ez-jax' configuration

This is easily retractable by loosening the 'haul' part of the jax attached to cheek blocks under the spreaders. Such can be lead back to cockpit for employing (or not). The 'retracted ez-jax can be 'helped' to the 'stored' position by the use of small dia. bungee cord (but you have to cover all the small bullet blocks with leather ... as the blocks will beat the hell out of a mast when the system is 'retracted'). www.ezjax.com for pics of the control lines.

 

[WallyQ2]

Thanks for the info & some ideas

My mind's a churning, I think I now can solve the problem. Rich I think your right this looks like an E-Z-Jack. I was thinking earlier about placing two bungee chords running along the bottom of the boom, gooseneck to end, with several plastic hooks one one chord. This way I could easily tie down the mainsail without getting whacked in the face by tiedown balls. If I have this in place I'm sure I can figure a way to incorporate the Jacks tied to the bottom of the boom and even forward. I luv it when a plan slowly comes from outside ideas. Thanks much for the start, but I need a rum now to contemplate, whilst I sit in the cockpit.

 

[Murray16764]

Suggestion

Wally, I think you might have the LJ's backwards. If you switched the front to back the angle of the LJ's would better match the sail shape and make raising the sail easier - less likely for the battens to get caught. I have my LJ's fairly loose and they don't interfer with the sail shape when I am underway. The fixed/spring loaded boomvang helps. In summary, LJ's are not a bad system. Murray

 

[Doug_Meyer]

I agree with Murray

Your lazy jacks are backward. Long leg should be forward. I have rigged my lazy jacks to swivel blocks on the mast and led the lines to cleats near deck level on the mast. This allows me to drop them out of the way when I raise the sail so that the battens don't snag. Also, I shortened the battens a couple if inches so that the jack lines wouldn't hook them if the main flogged a little while being hoisted.I don't especially like lazy jacks, but they beat chasing a sail around the deck when the main is lowered in sloppy conditions.

 

[firehoser75]

Move them out of the way

Just prior to raising the main, I loosen my lazy jacks and move them to a cleat on each side of the mast that then "holds them out of the way" parallel with the bottom of the boom. They then do not have any impact on the sail while raising or under way. Just prior to lowering the main, I release the lazy jacks and apply tension to make it very easy to contain the main. I then usually apply one sail tie to hold things in place until we are in our berth or anchored. This technique has worked very well for us (2 people), even in fairly big seas (8-10 foot waves) and decent wind (25 knots or more). Hope this idea helps,Tom

 

[WallyQ2]

GREAT DAY

I motored out today and 1/2 a mile out a stopped and played around with these jacks. I shifted some lines forward and brought them down and layed them forward along the boom. I snugged them up and found I was able to tie them off on the two mast cleats that the ends of the jack lines were tied off on. Looked great, hardly noticable running along the sides of the boom.  I hoisted the main, no snags, and sailed for an hour. Then along came a squall, with 30+ winds, and rain and hail. I got soaked (with only a T shirt on) but the jacks came up in 2 minutes and down came the main with no problems. My crew (wife and yorkie), stayed dry down below.  We motored back and trailered in the wind and waves, and after a shower and BBQ and Rum, with a clear bright evening sky, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I had a ball, what a great day! ;D Thanks all.