Some skippers flake their mainsail with hospital corners, while others crumple it up and call it good. How careful are you about flaking your main and what tips you have for the neatest flake?
Sail flaking tips
- Thread starter Phil Herring
- Start date
I have no tips as I'm frustrated after 3 seasons of trying to get a good flake on our main. It was purchased new three years ago and is still as stiff as the day it came out of the bag for the first time. It falls into the jacks well for the most part save for the first few feet at the rear of the boom which always manages to flop about. The fact that it's loose footed may have a lot to do with the flaking problem but I also believe that sails stay stiffer longer nowadays due to the increase in resins in the various weights of cloth used.
Full battens and a track system and it almost flakes itself. Fold at every car and battens on the boom. That's our rule and its down and pretty in 30 seconds.
Dutchman and full battens. Also cleaned and SailKoted the slug slot when the mast was down. Comes down pretty well flaked. I'll still touch it up before I put the cover back on. No wrinkles allowed.
I have EZ Jax and do a fast free-fall drop. For the most part, the forward end of the main flakes itself with each slid going to the opposite side. I then set the boom off to one side and pull the aft end of the sail, to take out any folds and to tidy the flakes at the back of the boom. I also loosely pull in both the 1st and 2nd reef lines to help hold the sail back and on top of the boom.
We are having a major amount of trouble getting our Doyle Stack Pak to work correctly. When brand new it worked great, but now the sail bag always seems to get
hung up on the lazy jack (s)...what a pain...I'm getting ready to give up on using the main which to me is terrible...why do I want to only use the headsail? Patrick in Wichita..
hung up on the lazy jack (s)...what a pain...I'm getting ready to give up on using the main which to me is terrible...why do I want to only use the headsail? Patrick in Wichita..
We have lazy jacks on our boat and they do a pretty good job except you still have to pull on the leach and clean it up a bit. Our sail maker mentioned a trick that one of his customers used. Once you have your sail flaked the way you like it, put a Red or Green mark (permanent marker) on the Port or Starboard side of your flake - just a small mark. This way when you flake your sail, it will be done the same way every time. This also makes it easy when you have guests on the boat and you can tell them that the red marks go on the port side and the green marks go on starboard. This really helps to speed up the flaking process and it is neat and tidy every time.
Steve - Sea Dog Boating Solutions, LLC
Steve - Sea Dog Boating Solutions, LLC
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All good responses. Starting aft working forward pulling back with sail folded adding several ties is the trick. Anything else added as mentioned is good but costs money if you are willing to spend
Looks like lots of good advice. Wondering whether anybody has seen (or made) some good videos that might be worth a look?
I don't like to tightly flake and tie down my mainsail. When I made my sail cover a couple of years ago I made it a little oversized. I loosely flake the sail between the lazyjacks and then put the sail cover over it. no creases and plenty of airspace.
I generally sail solo. Quite often, with the boat under diesel power and me relying only on the auto pilot to keep "Wildaire" dead-heading into a 20kt afternoon wind in the Sausalito approach channel, I am just relieved to get the mainsail down and lashed to the boom without incident. The lazy jacks are great preventing the sail from going rogue.
Later at the berth, before I put on the cover, I might then make a halfhearted/unenthusiastic effort to flake properly. I am of a mind that one shouldn't put the creases in the same spot every time! So I go home with a clear conscience.
Later at the berth, before I put on the cover, I might then make a halfhearted/unenthusiastic effort to flake properly. I am of a mind that one shouldn't put the creases in the same spot every time! So I go home with a clear conscience.
I've got a fairly new, quite stiff mainsail. I used to have a dutchman system, but my sailmaker pleaded with me not to put the dutchman system back in. To aid in flaking the sail I ended up making little squares and little triangles of sail number material, and stuck them on the luff and leach respectively. At the luff, the little blue squares are all on the port side, and on the leach, the little triangles are all on the top of the boom when flaked properly. New an experienced crew can flake it in seconds with just some simple instructions ....
Chris
Chris
I often sail solo or with inexperienced guests, so I just drop the sail into the lazy jacks, throw a couple sail ties on, and then neaten it up at the dock before putting the sail cover on. This is the third season with my new sails and they are still pretty stiff, so it sometimes takes a little extra effort to get the main nicely flaked. I try to keep the sail ties on the loose side.
Long story with us but I've resigned myself to just having my wife release the halyard and get most of the main down. The sail is still stiff after 5 years of use and will resist flaking at the reef points. So I wait until we anchor, get a drink, and then pull the boom to the side of the bimini so I can adjust the cloth as I zip up the sailpack. As long as the zipper closes I call it good. We were nose into the wind most of the time last year leaving Maine and didn't raise the main sail until we got outbound from Beaufort, NC. c'est la vie
When Maia was new to us there were no lazy jacks and I got pretty good at dropping and flaking the main onto the boom in settled weather, if it was stinky though it became a fight that I often lost. I had our local sailmaker build us a bag system 2 years ago and it has changed my life for the better. The best part is that getting every thing put away is a much faster process allowing me to get to the important part of the day, cocktails, much earlier!
We make large folds when we flake our loose-footed main, so that they hang down on each side of the boom. We start with a pocket on one side, then pull the sail over to make a fold on the other side so that the first reef cringle rests on top of the boom and the pockets on both sides are even. The next fold puts the bottom batten on top of the boom. The next fold has the second reef cringle, and after that it's pretty simple to match the depth of the folds with what's left of the sail.
On my last boat (34' catamaran) I dropped it and covered it. It mostly flaked due to full battens and lazyjacks, but I didn't fuss with it. Life it too short. I speced a cover large enough that I did not need to crumple it. Easy.
My F-24 rolls around the boom, nice for a laminate sail.
My F-24 rolls around the boom, nice for a laminate sail.