the new Lazy Foresail - self-tacking foresail

[mediran]

anyone here, who knows this self-tacking foresail - system?
Sail-Smart Lazy Foresail.

[billknny]

I have always liked club-footed self taking jibs.

They are very handy for sweeping unwanted crew members off the boat when I tire of them.

But seriously, how well they work depends on the boat. Some boats get most of their power from the mainsail, and the small jib works great. Other boats are primarily driven by jib/genoa and the little jib needed for self tacking is a real handicap.

This one is a new design, but I don't see any dramatically new ideas in it.

[Discovery 15797]

These are also called 'club-footed jibs,' 'self-tacking jibs,' and 'jib booms.'

They are also called deck-sweepers and widow makers.

There are a few boats that provide them as standard equipment like the Island Packet sailboats.

Some claim they provide better sail shape of the jib, and make tacking a cutter brain-dead simple.

In my personal opinion it is something I would not want on my boat. I think they clutter the foredeck, and could be dangerous if needing to go forward in adverse conditions.

[sailormed]

I have the impression the boom is longer then usual and can’t pas the mast. To get it past the mast they lift up the boom. Looks rather complicated.

[Orion Jim]

I see nothing new.....

[frozenhawaiian]

so it's a club footed staysail. been on boats for well over a century....

[DocBrauer]

I own a Cabo Rico and its standard equipment, club footed staysail. Sailed around the world with it and it's been useful. Never a problem. I've been on deck in very heavy weather conditions with no issues. Been living on her since 2005.

[mediran]

I'm picking up this thread again. Sail Smart Lazy Foresail. Do I understand this correctly: the hauling point of the jib sheet adjusts itself automatically on the jib boom? Does that mean that this self-tacking jib can be operated and reefed entirely from the cockpit? And on aft courses is the jib fully extended? Shouldn't it be possible to install it on every furling system? Thank you for your assessments.

[Bowdrie]

The pics in the website show what's basically a self-tacking system that's not all that different than one of those in-mast furling set-ups where the clew is pulled out along the boom.
Such a staysail/forestaysail can work pretty well if the traveler has a good reach to each side, and if the sail is cut for the application.
Yes, it is a staysail/forestaysail boom, as it is attached to the forestay.
A true "club foot" is a freestanding device only attached to the "foot" of the sail, they are widow makers, thankfully long gone, (except the nomenclature seems to persist).
A "jib boom" is an extension of a bowsprit, although the term has been bastardized with regard to modern language.

[fourlyons]

Originally Posted by mediran

I'm picking up this thread again. Sail Smart Lazy Foresail. Do I understand this correctly: the hauling point of the jib sheet adjusts itself automatically on the jib boom? Does that mean that this self-tacking jib can be operated and reefed entirely from the cockpit? And on aft courses is the jib fully extended? Shouldn't it be possible to install it on every furling system? Thank you for your assessments.

Yes, it appears it can be reefed from the cockpit, in the usual way, by rolling the luff. But it also has an outhaul that is adjustable from the cockpit. The website also says you can tilt the boom up to clear the fore deck. Kind of clever.

[Manateeman]

One line on the end of the boom breaks...what then. You have to be Roy Rodgers to lasso that critter. Too fat and old to be “jumping over the broom”.
We’ll pass on this improvement.
A very happily married manatee