First Solo After Four Years

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

I'm still confused with what your suggesting.

I, on my boat, 'cannot' reef on all points of sail. I definitely can't on most points in fact. Yes, I do need to be head to wind.. Why do you suggest not to be head to wind?

When reefing head to wind your foresail will be luffing and with your boat in irons you will have no control. By sailing close hauled / close reach you maintain control.

If you are single-handing, use an autopilot or tiller tamer to maintain course. If you lack those, heave-to to reef.

Lazy jacks are only necessary when lowering a sail. Once your main is down, stow the lazy jacks against the mast.

In this picture the lazy jacks are hooked on the cleat just below the gooseneck.

[Stu Jackson]

RC, you can also Google "jack lines" for mainsails. This is a different jack line than safety lines. It allows the main to be reefed at the luff without removing the track stop. Easier to get mast gates, IMHO.

Lazy jacks? Try this:

Lazy Jack Trick
Many folks complain about full battens getting caught up when raising the mainsail. They then spend a lot of time moving BOTH sides of the lazy jacks to the mast.

We developed an easier way with our lazy jacks.

We have a small cleat on the forward starboard side of the boom. When we put the halyard on the headboard, we move ONLY the starboard side of the lazy jacks forward and snug them under the forward side of the horn of this cleat.

Then, when we raise the mainsail, instead of going exactly head to wind, we bear off a tad to starboard so the wind is coming from the port side of the bow.

We then raise the mainsail and it doesn't get hooked on the lazy jacks even though the port side jacks are still there.

Been working for 16 years.

Yes, we have to go forward again to unhook the starboard lazy jack for dousing the sail if I forget to do it right when the main is raised, but there's never any hurry. The drill is: after the main is raised, I unhook that starboard lazy jack, so they're both ready to go when we drop the sails at the end of the day.

So, for those of you with lazy jacks, consider doing only one side.

Your boat, your choice.



C:\Users\Stu\Stu\Boat\Lazy Jack Trick.doc

[Cheechako]

Well, you had a good reefing lesson! Now you can work on the details of reefing and reefing setup. There are many ways.
-I like to have a line thru the tack cringle to pull the sail down with.
-Separate line for reefing the clew
-You can reef by just heading up as much as possible and dumping the main sheet so the main luffs to the side in most conditions.
-As mentioned, mark your halyard helps.
-Lazy jacks can be handy but they are a PITA especially when singlehanding. Often catching going up as well as coming down.
- you can eliminate the sail coming out of the track by closing the track and having less sail slides on the bottom 1/3 of the sail... that way the stack up isn't so bad when reefed... of course everything is a compromise. This works pretty well though, as you only have the lower 1/3 of the sail up when the wind is lighter anyway!

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Snowpetrel

To help the slugs slide easier (if thats what you have rather than flat slides) lots of silicone spray works. Watch it dosn't get on the deck because it makes repainting very hard.. Best to go aloft and spray it into the track with the tube to minimise overspray.

..and, if your can of silicon spray came without the little tube (like mine did), pinch the tube from a can of WD40.

I find it lasts about 3 or 4 months on our boat before needing another shot, which worries me now because I wonder where it is all going. Probably on the *(#$@# deck.

Matt

[GILow]

Originally Posted by jackdale

Lazy jacks are only necessary when lowering a sail. Once your main is down, stow the lazy jacks against the mast.

In this picture the lazy jacks are hooked on the cleat just below the gooseneck.

How does that work when the lazy jacks also keep the boom bag under control?

[JPA Cate]

RC,

"heave to [in order] to reef"

You're already hove to, you cast loose the main sail sheet so it (and the boom bag) are more or less aligned to leeward, but luffing, you can then lower the halyard to the first whipping (for the first reef), get the tack on the horn, re-tension the halyard, return to the cockpit, sheet in the main, gybe around, and off you go. Or, you can tack the jib, whichever works best for you. In our boat, we don't do it this way, but sheet in the jib so it'll hold us into the wind, then do the rest as described. For us, reefing downwind is a big pita.

The European sailor who wrote about it (maybe actually a Swede) described it much better than I did. Maybe someone else could figure out how find the link for you....Something like "heaving to to reef".

Ann

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

RC,

"heave to [in order] to reef"

You're already hove to, you cast loose the main sail sheet so it (and the boom bag) are more or less aligned to leeward, but luffing, you can then lower the halyard to the first whipping (for the first reef), get the tack on the horn, re-tension the halyard, return to the cockpit, sheet in the main, gybe around, and off you go. Or, you can tack the jib, whichever works best for you. In our boat, we don't do it this way, but sheet in the jib so it'll hold us into the wind, then do the rest as described. For us, reefing downwind is a big pita.

The European sailor who wrote about it (maybe actually a Swede) described it much better than I did. Maybe someone else could figure out how find the link for you....Something like "heaving to to reef".

Ann

Ok I get you. Yes, that's what I do. heave to and then reef.

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by GILow

How does that work when the lazy jacks also keep the boom bag under control?

It does not, which is why I dislike stackpacks.

By stowing the lazyjacks at the mast you can use a regular sail cover.

On one race boat on which I sailed, the lazy jacks were stowed at the mast and the sail cover was rolled and stowed along the boom. The lazy jacks were attached to the boom, not the bag. Nifty system.