[Public-list] Lazy jacks

[Bill Burke]

A good sea furl is indisputable an invaluable traditional skill, but 
remember that lazy jacks have been used on everything from Gloucester 
fishing schooners to modern freestanding rigs with wishbone booms.  It's not 
a question of traditional skills vs something modern compensating for a lack 
of these skills...

For those with full-battened mainsails, a sea furl can be more time 
consuming.  The full length battens on the mast slides or cars do not roll 
as easily as a main with standard battens.  It works best if the sail can be 
flaked into the "cover" formed by a large bight of the foot of the sail, and 
lazyjacks facilitate this.

Another big advantage of my lazyjacks (yes, as you can tell I do have them 
on OSPREY) is that I don't have to head up into the wind to drop the main 
temporarily (ie to tie in a reef).  I can simply ease the sheet to luff the 
main while the jib is still drawing, drop the main onto the boom in the 
lazyjacks, sheet it back amidships to tie in the reef, ease the sheet back 
out and reset the main.  It can all be done without going dead in the water, 
keeping the jib drawing and without all the slatting, pounding and such that 
usually accompanies heading into the wind in reefing conditions...  As I 
often singlehand, it's also just nice to have them when I choose to use 
them, although that may be only a portion of the time...

My lazyjacks are very simple.  Two small diameter, plastic coated wires 
fixed to the mast 18" above the spreaders with a block on the lower end 3 
feet or so above the boom.  Each block has a line running from a small eye 
on the side of the boom, up thru the block and back down to another eye on 
the boom.  Both ends of these lines clip onto the boom eyes with small brass 
clips when in use.  To stow both clips are unhooked from the boom and 
clipped into a loop of bungee cord (about 1 ft high) on the after lower 
shroud turnbuckle.  The bungee cord tensions them just right to hold them 
out of the way alongside the shrouds.  Its a very simple system with no 
moving parts that you can't reach.  I think I have an old pic of my boat 
where the previous owner left the lazyjacks set up with the sail cover on - 
it shows the setup well.  I'll try to forward it to George to share.

Bill Burke
OSPREY #116 



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