What should a stack pack/sail pack/ lazy bag cost?

[dougweibel]

I have just a little sewing experience but I just completed the Sailrite sailpack kit and it came out great. I used their 19' boom kit that was $381 and spent no more than an additional $20 - I used my existing lazy jacks.

Their instruction video is great and you could easily DIY using that. Also, I'd give them a call and see if they will do a modified kit for you - 19' boom is their largest off the shelf kit. Or you could just work out the bill of materials from the video.

[CptJ-GS50]

Originally Posted by mrybas

I have a 63' mast and 21' boom....currently the mainsail has a labor intensive cover that is no fun to put on if the winds up. Any ideas what a bag system should cost? Is it possible to diy?

I have a 50' Gulfstar Ketch-- year ago I got a quote locally (Portland Oregon) at $4.50 per boom foot for the stack pack construction, though I would be responsible for the mast monkey work to do myself or hire out as he would only to the Pak Creation..
Hope it helps.

[JPA Cate]

Hi, mrybas,

Yes, you can make one yourself. The fabric, zip, PTFE thread and webbing is the main cost. You could do it on a home machine, although I gotta admit, I had the hots for an LSZ-1, got one used, and justified the cost to myself that what we saved by doing it ourselves paid for the machine. It is all straight stitching, so fairly easy. If you've never sewn anything, first find some fabric scraps, and practice sewing straight lines, using regular thread. Then, practice some with the PTFE thread. It bothered me to waste so much, but it took a little fussing to get the tension adjustment correct.

Our mast is 65 ft., boom is 19 ft., so similar size. Our boat is our only home at this time, and so we needed a marina with a wide dock to do our layout. It was sewn below, in the saloon.

Ann

[CptJ-GS50]

Sailrite is a good direction to go. For my other boat I bought their video and then purchased the bits and pieces. Some from Sailrite and others locally. In hindsight I think I would have been better off to buy the entire kit from Sailrite. My ((now X-Wife)) did all the sewing and it was a piece of cake. The sewing is not difficult at all. It is like anything else... Pay attention to your layout and move slowly step by step.

[mrybas]

Thanks for the encouragement, I think I'll go the sailrite route. I always wanted to learn how to sew anyway!

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by mrybas

Thanks for the encouragement, I think I'll go the sailrite route. I always wanted to learn how to sew anyway!

Great outcome! Good on ya, mate!

Ann

[zboss]

I really wish we had battens in our mac pack. It looks like a sock that won't stay up.

[dougweibel]

A nice thing about doing it yourself, with or without a SailRite kit, is you can make modifications as you please. My peave with the SailRite instructions is you end up with a pack that is "thick" at mid boom. This is necessary (with their directions) to accommodate the large volume of sail at the mast as the top of the pack is cut to be a straight line. However I like a more svelte look.

I changed the design so that the batten pockets are still straight, which makes getting your lazy jacks adjusted properly much easier, but made the top portion of the pack that normally all lies horizontally on top of the sail such that it is curved to add volume in the meter or so nearest the mast. It was pretty satisfying to DIY and end up with a "custom" product.

[lamadriver]

Get a quote from Zoom sails ( Jamie from totem / and Phil Auger) . They make them at the sail factory in Srilanka where they produce their sails using what ever material you want ( sunbrella/weather max ) and tenara thread . Mine is beautiful and super well made , fit perfectand designed b guys who use them..... plus support cruiser sailmakers !

[JPA Cate]

lamadriver,

What was the cost, for your boat? (obviously, a bigger one will cost more.) Thanks.

Ann

[phoenix-marie]

Originally Posted by mrybas

Is it possible to diy?

I did mine a few years back for an 18' boom. I made some changes to the sailrite instructions for a more robust solution. Larger boats or offshore use seem to suggest a more robust design would be helpful. Unless you really want to do a lot of patching together the base cost for 60" sunbrella is about $21 to $25 a yard. Say 15 yards min for yours. So you are probably close to $500 just for materials.

My notes are here:
http://www.sailingphoenix.com/sewing-sail-pack-1/

[phoenix-marie]

Originally Posted by mrybas

I have a 63' mast and 21' boom....currently the mainsail has a labor intensive cover that is no fun to put on if the winds up. Any ideas what a bag system should cost? Is it possible to diy?

Materials will run you about $500 for your size boom. I made some adjustments to the sailrite version to make it more robust. My notes about the process are here: http://www.sailingphoenix.com/sewing-sail-pack-1/

[ObracJ]

Following up on Sailah's post, which I find it to be quite rich, I'll share with you one of the blueprints I used at my sailoft. It's a simple "guideline" to get the measurements just right for a lazy bag.

Tip: I used to wrap the inside of the lazy bag with SKAY (how it's know in spanish) or Vinyl, especially where the battens would go, to reinforce the inside so when the battens would move and the scrapping of the fiberglass would be with a rough cover and not on the sumbrella, or fabric, itself. This helped prevent unnecessary repairs along the way.

We also made the haging tips of the lazy bag out of vinyl as well, this helped the lazy jack's hold on the bag. We made sure these jobs were reinforced, here in the Canary Islands the tradewinds can be a big pain, when they aren't being lovely, more so the position of the islands has created acceleration zones all throughout the archipelago, causing more stress on these sort of things aboard a yacht.

So as a rule at the sail loft we made sure to reinforce these areas, when your sailing with force 6 or above, that's a "normal" thing here, the boom's, and mast, constant vibrations, would strain the lines and eventually they would rip on the stitching.

Here, the cheapest Lazy bag would go for 350+€, more or less. Hope that helps.

[Markhunter1097]

I wrote a blog post about boom bags/stack packs a while back, just my opinion, but I do get to see a lot of mainsails http://www.vacuwash.com.au/blog/boom-bags

[JRSHAW]

First time I ever heard of the things you mentioned
Would you mind explaining some things to a novice like me
What is the continuous zipper?
Leaving the halyard live on the headboard?
Boom wings?

Thanx
Signed the Rookie

Originally Posted by Joli

We're 80' something by 22' and use a stack pack, the first one we bought, the second one we made. It's an easy project and makes handling a big sail manageable. If you have a continuous zipper line and let the main halyard live on the headboard setting or striking the main only takes a couple minutes. You may also want to consider adding boom wings or hay racks to widen the base. We're 36" tip to tip across the boom wings, this prevents a heavy mainsail from falling over the side of the boom, it's as big a help as the stack pack and lazy cradles.