"Lazyjacks" ,and chafe.

[highseas]

Just installed lazyjacks on full batten main,what a treat!One thing that concerns me though is dacron rope ,block chafe.I have the Harken system.Has anyone noticed this to be a problem?Dont want to trash my sail.I realize everything is a trade off.Sail drops onto boom perfectly,reminds me of my junksailing days,very convenient.

[AnchorageGuy]

we always move the lazyjacks forward to the mast so they don't chafe on the sails. Not so much the dacron lines as the rings, blocks, etc. We move them back in place once the sails are ready to come down. After everything is secured with sail ties we move them forward again so they will be out of the way the next time we raise the sails.

[Pblais]

You need to set the tension so the sails don't push on the lazy jack line. I got ours a little too tight on the trip home after the purchase survey and in gale force winds we blow out an upper lazy jack line. That basically blew out the whole port side. Dumb mistakes are the best ones.

I leave them up all the time (since I can't take them down) so I can dump the main without going forward. I've never found the chafe issue to be serious. They should be loose enough so there don't chafe on the leeward side. That is very important.

We don't have them on halyards on this boat but we did on the last boat. Raising the sail with the jacks in place is just a trick you learn with a full batten main sail. You need to work the first two battens around the jacks. This usually involves yelling at the the helmsman's to get the boat into the the wind and the helmsman's saying I am into the wind. You practice until the yelling stops. Yelling won't move the boat.

[Reality Check]

You will probably always have some chafe. You can reduce it but just a minor change in wind or helm can scrape the sail up or down the jack hardware and ropes.

I really don't like them but have them. They are handy when you want to drop your sails for a bit without actually packing them in. All I have ever seen on boats have some tracks visible on sails when you inspect them closely.

[johneri1]

The term 'necessary evil' describes my Lazy Jacks (Harkin). I use bungie cords to hold them forward and away when raising the sail ('cause we can't get past the yelling). BUT: last month when I broke a backstay, it was really, really good to have them!

[roverhi]

I store them forward against the mast except when dropping the sail. All mainsail strings are run aft except the lazy jacks so it's the only time I have to get out of the cockpit for activity involving the main. Takes about a minute to deploy which I do single handed in the Oakland Estuary without any problems despite the narrow channel and lots of traffic, some of which are reall really big. Storing them forward is not an issue, lowering the main single handed is a big deal.

aloha
Peter O.

[Auspicious]

I have to pull my lazy jacks forward to the mast to put the mainsail cover on. It's easy to raise the main with the jacks forward and then set the jacks before heading back to the cockpit. Singlehanded with autopilot the biggest issue is having enough time in traffic to get everything done.

[Alan Wheeler]

I have just set up lazy jacks on my new mast/boom and I didn't use blocks. I fitted two jack halyards at the front of the mast and through eyes up the mast and back down to a ring and I whipped each lead to the ring. I have three "legs" running down to a bridle on each leg end. So I have 6 attachment points using just three eyes under and along the boom. This set up is just temporary as I am in the process of making myself a "stackpack" system that the lazy jacks will attach to. The stacpack will have a rod along the top edge and so I can aford to lose the middle leg section once I get it all on.

[Pblais]

I rebuilt mine last week but don't have the halyards. the uppers come down to a small Harken block and then like you I have three strap eyes under the boom. I run on each side a line up and through the block and end that line in another block. The two middle lines tie together under the boom. The last line runs from the end of the boom through the last eye into the block and back down through the middle eye up the other side and back to the end of the boom. You tie off one end but the other is attached to a cleat. You can now control the tension of the jacks all from the end of the boom.

You could still use the same thing with a halyard on the uppers too. I can't move the jacks all the way forward but almost. I don't find the need to have them all the way forward to raise the sail. It just takes a little more patience.

[Simes]

We have a gaff rig, so the lazy jacks are spliced into the topping lifts (One lift for each side of the sail) so as the topping lift is eased to allow the sail to draw the lazy jacks are also eased away from the sail (Got the idea from Brion Toss's book). Nice system and could also work for a Bermudan sloop.

Simes

[roverhi]

I don't see why most of the lazy jack systems have blocks. Rings work just fine, have no sharp edges to cause chafe, are lightweight, and CHEAP.

Aloha
Peter O.
Pearson 35

[Alan Wheeler]

I agree Peter. I fact I couldn't get the things to sit where I wanted when they slipped through blocks. The ring and erminating each leg exactly where I wanted was much better. I tried every scenario I could find on the net and this system of mine seems to work the best for me at least. I'll take a photo today if I remember.

[maxingout]

We have had lazy jacks on board Exit Only for fourteen years, and no problems with chafe.

I suspect the reason that chafe hasn't been a problem is twofold.

1. The sailcloth is nine ounces with triple stitching.
2. The lazy jacks use plastic thimbles rather than small running blocks, and the tiny plastic thimbles probably cause no more chafe than the lazy jack lines themselves.

Our first mainsail lasted eleven years and took us three-quarters of the way around the world. The mainsail eventually died from rot, and we never noted any chafe from the lazy jacks.

When we first started our trip, I loosened the leeward lazy jack to make sure chafe would not happen. Eventually, I adjusted the lazy jacks so that they were always relatively slack, and this must have worked ok because we didn't have chafe problems that we noticed in those eleven years. This worked for us because we had a topping lift on our boom, and the tension on the topping lift was adjusted so that we did not have to tweak the lazy jacks all the time.

We were lazy, but it didn't seem to damage the sail.

Lazy Jacks made us lazy. How's that for an excuse!

[delmarrey]

I too use the ring method and pull them forward when the sail is up. It gets them out of the way and one doesn't get that slapping sound when just motoring. See link Lazy Jack

[S/V Antares]

Mine have small blocks and have not shown much chafe but I am thinking about some elkhide. Anyone try this? Please let me know