Sail handling techniques for when you are still hanking on?

[Renegde_Sailor]

Howdy everyone!

I have a Spencer 42 that is a fantastic sailing boat, but the one thing I am finding myself up against is dealing with my Jib is a bit of a bear.



The foot of the sail is about 25' long and considering the sail is 50' on the leading edge, it is a huge piece of canvas to deal with when it comes down.

Right now I have taken to lashing it to the rail, but that is a bit of a process, what I was thinking of doing is sewing up a long "sausage" bag in the style of a stack pak that I could hook to the rail with caribbeaners, then drop the sail into and zip up.

I have thought about going to a Harken Mark IV but between that and a new head sail I am looking at spending north of $10K and that is just not money I want to throw at this right now.

Any thoughts here would be greatly appreciated.

[Mal Reynolds]

Originally Posted by Renegde_Sailor

Howdy everyone!

I have a Spencer 42 that is a fantastic sailing boat, but the one thing I am finding myself up against is dealing with my Jib is a bit of a bear.



The foot of the sail is about 25' long and considering the sail is 50' on the leading edge, it is a huge piece of canvas to deal with when it comes down.

Right now I have taken to lashing it to the rail, but that is a bit of a process, what I was thinking of doing is sewing up a long "sausage" bag in the style of a stack pak that I could hook to the rail with caribbeaners, then drop the sail into and zip up.

I have thought about going to a Harken Mark IV but between that and a new head sail I am looking at spending north of $10K and that is just not money I want to throw at this right now.

Any thoughts here would be greatly appreciated.

Yes to the sausage bag. Blow the halyard and flake the sail down onto the sausage while it's still hanked on. Once flaked you can zip up the aft end towards the bow, then unhank the luff and finish zipped. Then fold into thirds and slide down the hatch. You have to watch where the battens are though, so may only fold in half.

You can also have the sail cut down or replaced with a smaller one, maybe with a high clew for better reaching.

[Jim Cate]

On our previous boat we used sausage bags - two of them- that never went below. Made from sunbrella with full length zips, they just lived on deck. We used jib hanks to secure them to the perforated toe rail and they stayed put, even through heavy weather. On that 36 foot boat storing a 150 and 120 genoa below took a lot of room, plus dragging them up and down was a chore. The bags were simple to construct and lasted for over a decade of full time cruising. OUr #4 and storm jib lived in regular bags and below decks under way... but they were small enough to handle easily.

All in all, a good solution when furlers are not in the picture.

Jim

[Renegde_Sailor]

Originally Posted by Mal Reynolds

Yes to the sausage bag. Blow the halyard and flake the sail down onto the sausage while it's still hanked on. Once flaked you can zip up the aft end towards the bow, then unhank the luff and finish zipped. Then fold into thirds and slide down the hatch. You have to watch where the battens are though, so may only fold in half.

You can also have the sail cut down or replaced with a smaller one, maybe with a high clew for better reaching.

I also have an 85% yankee which is my heavier weather sail, the problem I have been finding is that in it's current hank on bag, the genoa doesn't want to fit into my sail locker.



I feel like the sausage bag would fix this by going in like a ribbon rather than a lump.



I have a feeling this is what I need to do, just get the sailrite and make it happen.

[Renegde_Sailor]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

On our previous boat we used sausage bags - two of them- that never went below. Made from sunbrella with full length zips, they just lived on deck. We used jib hanks to secure them to the perforated toe rail and they stayed put, even through heavy weather. On that 36 foot boat storing a 150 and 120 genoa below took a lot of room, plus dragging them up and down was a chore. The bags were simple to construct and lasted for over a decade of full time cruising. OUr #4 and storm jib lived in regular bags and below decks under way... but they were small enough to handle easily.

All in all, a good solution when furlers are not in the picture.

Jim

I am thinking this is what I need to do, right now I use the port side cockpit locker as a sail locker, going to a sausage bag would make them a lot easier to stuff down the hatch and pull back out.

That is good to hear they lasted so long, I think between this and a stack pack it will be a night and day difference on how the boat is enjoyed.

[JPA Cate]

You don't need a Sailrite...those sausage bags we made were sewn with an old Pfaff 130. If you're going to go for on deck stowage, make sure the zips are covered by a flap for sun protection, otherwise they UV degrade, even the good YKK #10 ones. Also, I suggest using ptfe thread: it will last as long as the Sunbrella.

Our genoa was a 165, and it had to be folded in thirds to get into the sausage bag. I see you have a narrower plan in mind. I think if you do it that way, it is going to take up way more space than you're planning on, even if you use nylon for the bag. Perhaps your sail locker is big enough.....

Ann

[Renegde_Sailor]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

You don't need a Sailrite...those sausage bags we made were sewn with an old Pfaff 130. If you're going to go for on deck stowage, make sure the zips are covered by a flap for sun protection, otherwise they UV degrade, even the good YKK #10 ones. Also, I suggest using ptfe thread: it will last as long as the Sunbrella.

Our genoa was a 165, and it had to be folded in thirds to get into the sausage bag. I see you have a narrower plan in mind. I think if you do it that way, it is going to take up way more space than you're planning on, even if you use nylon for the bag. Perhaps your sail locker is big enough.....

Ann

Right now I can get the sails into the sail locker, but it requires a good bit of stuffing action.

I had not thought about folding the sail in half before putting it in the bag, I am going to do that, that is a good idea.



It will give me what I want, a slimmer bag that fits through the opening without having to use brut force to get it in there!