Securing a Sailbag that is Hard to Reach

[Wanderlust]

I'm looking for a better solution for the zippered sailcover with lazyjacks on my Lagoon 410.

After I drop the sail, I lower the boom a little so I can reach up to the end of it just aft of the bimini, where I reattach the zipper to the sailcover. After starting the zip, I then clip a light line to the zipper pull, lead the line to the mast and pull it forwards to close the bag.

While this works OK if the sail has dropped neatly, sometimes I need to adjust the folds/lift up the zip before it will close. Getting onto the cabin roof to do so isn't a problem, but I can only reach the forward half of the boom before needing to stand on the bimini. Not a problem if in sheltered waters but I would not want to do so otherwise.

On a separate thread about flybridge cats Roetter said:

"We use lazy bags with cover-flaps. On the edges of the cover-flaps are lines with weighted ends. Throw the weighted ends over the top and tie the ends to the boom"

That sounds like a good solution to me and I have asked Roetter to have a look at this post and give more details.

Does anyone else have a good solution I could easily adapt?

[Wanderlust]

Any suggestions? Surely there are many boats where it is difficult to reach the sailbag.

What innovative ways have you overcome this?

[Benz]

Perhaps you should only cover the sail when in benign conditions; if on passage, and it's rough enough that you don't want to step on the Bimini, why not leave the sail just stowed in the lazy jacks, with a sail tye or two placed where it's easy to reach? I only put sail covers on after I'm decently anchored.

Regards,
Ben Zartman
zartman cruising dot com

[Wanderlust]

Thanks Ben

I do as you suggest on those occasions I don't want to get up there. But then the sail is exposed to the sun and may look messy as well.

I am planning to replace the sailbag in a few months and wanted to eliminate the need to get up there on most occasions.

So, I'm still looking for design suggestions.

[sy_gilana]

A permanently attached loop of line to the zipper, lead around a pulley at front and back of bag, attached to the batten.