Spreader blocks location

[fred1diver]

Hello everyone.
Getting ready to install lazy jacks and flag halyards on my spreaders, for the lazy jacks they suggest about 6-8 inches from the mast but what about for the flag halyards? Any set rule on how far from the mast to install them?

 

[garymalmgren]

Any set rule on how far from the mast to install them?

Starboard spreader. halfway between mast and shroud.
You want a flag small enough that it doesn't flog against the mast or shroud.
Otherwise it will shred,

gary

 

[fred1diver]

Thank you

 

[FastOlson]

Getting ready to install lazy jacks and flag halyards on my spreaders, for the lazy jacks they suggest about 6-8 inches from the mast

Please do not attach the lazy jacks to your spreaders. This can potentially put a big side load on them, and they are totally designed -only- for compression loads.
While having the anchor points for the blocks further from the side of the mast will make it a bit easier to drop the main into them, you will learn to head up into the breeze more accurately and that's important.

Sometimes the lazy jacks will be inadvertently left too tight and someone will honk down on the mainsheet without realizing the risk, or... someone will grab at the boom while on the house top and temporary depend on it to support their 225# when the boat lurches. Yikes.....

Is your vang a soft (line tackle) or a rigid vang, at present? Or do you also have a topping lift line waving around? Our boat has a spring return vang and no top. lift, which does reduce the clutter aloft, and we are careful to set the lazy jack lines so that we can sheet-in hard. Or.... we retract the "jacks" to the sides of the mast if we are going to be sailing for a while.

Ours are combined with a split sail cover, and the whole scheme is nice. I do like not having a ton of main sail spill all over the house top when getting ready to dock.... I can leave the sail in the 'jacks' until back at the dock or at anchor and then zip up the cover.
Lazy Sailing, but it suits my, um, 'style' at my age.

 

[fred1diver]

I do not have a topping lift, I just purchased a boom kicker to support my boon and I do have a soft vang.
Good to know about the lazy jacks on the spreaders, I read that it was the optimal place, but I will attach them to the mast.
For the cover I plan on making a stack pack later in the season, made one for my previous boat and just loved it.

 

[Tally Ho]

My jacks utilize a block mounted on each side of the mast, above the spreaders…maybe 6 feet.

The jacks are very stout, even with the small plastic blocks.

I don’t think I would mount them to the spreaders.

Greg

 

[jssailem]

I attached my lazy-jack blocks to the sides of the mast beneath the spreaders.
I drop the lazy-jacks on one side when I am at the mast to raise the main sail. With the lazy-jacks in tight the main sail is captured on the boom when it falls.

No problems experienced.

 

[bartpkelly]

I attached my lazy-jack blocks to the sides of the mast beneath the spreaders.
I drop the lazy-jacks on one side when I am at the mast to raise the main sail. With the lazy-jacks in tight the main sail is captured on the boom when it falls.

No problems experienced.

Do you mean the bottom spreaders? I have blocks on my mast just below the bottom spreaders and I am thinking they are from a prior sailpack and hoping to use them for a new sailpack. I currently don't have one. never used one and they seem quite handy.

 

[sailme88]

I just replaced our Jacks.. The coated cables had sun damage that would catch the threads on the main. Having just ordered a new main, I didn't want the jack to cause any premature damage. Had to move the straps on the mast up a tad as one of the retaining screws sheared during removal,, Now new cables on the mast. Utilized the old blocks and got new lines.
The forward line that drops vertically from the block has a figure of 8 loop about 2 feet above the boom. The bitter end continues down thru a loop on the stack pack where it attaches with a brass hook when sailing. This puts slop omg the system so that the main will not be encumbered..End of the day after the main is in the pack, the hook is moved up to the loop to take the sag out...

 

[colemj]

There is no problem with lazy jack lines mounted out on the spreaders a bit. If mounted completely at the end of the spreader, there is no side load at all. Doing so really helps with raising the main and recapturing it when dropping. Our previous boat came from the factory with the jacks halfway out on the spreaders, and our current boat has them at the end of the spreaders (shorter spreaders than the other boat). The side loads on the spreaders is relatively inconsequential, and any "error" like having the lines tight and cranking down on the mainsheet has little effect because 1) the canvas they attach to has a lot of stretch, and 2) the jacks don't go at the end of the boom, so they are not seeing the direct force from that. Setup correctly, the back jacks go through a slip ring or small block and adjust to this, while the front jacks see very little movement.

If one is concerned about the jacks pulling on the spreader when the boom moves side-side, then put a bullseye on the front of the mast and run a continuous lazy jack line through it and the spreaders. That way they self-adjust as the boom moves.

I've seen many boats rigged with jacks out on the spreaders, and I've seen countless warnings in forums about doing this, but have never seen or heard of a spreader failure caused by it. It may sound good, but there is no evidence for it.

Mark

 

[colemj]

I just replaced our Jacks.. The coated cables had sun damage that would catch the threads on the main. Having just ordered a new main, I didn't want the jack to cause any premature damage. Had to move the straps on the mast up a tad as one of the retaining screws sheared during removal,, Now new cables on the mast. Utilized the old blocks and got new lines.
The forward line that drops vertically from the block has a figure of 8 loop about 2 feet above the boom. The bitter end continues down thru a loop on the stack pack where it attaches with a brass hook when sailing. This puts slop omg the system so that the main will not be encumbered..End of the day after the main is in the pack, the hook is moved up to the loop to take the sag out...

You have coated cables as lazy jacks? That doesn't seem right. Make them out of 4mm dyneema - cheap, strong, no chafe.

Mark

 

[sailme88]

You have coated cables as lazy jacks? That doesn't seem right. Make them out of 4mm dyneema - cheap, strong, no chafe.

Mark

I simply replaced OEM components. I am a strong advocate of Dyneema and use whenever I can.. In this instance, the original look is appreciated..