Lazy Jack

[TJAY]

Suggestions for a good Lazy Jack installation on a 26M?

Thanks,
TJAY

[Oskar 26M]

This thread has a diagram on the ones I use. A search for "lazy jacks" will turn up a lot more discussion.
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... k*#p135323

[TJAY]

Thanks Oskar I'll check it out...TJ

[live2shift]

I have some Sail Caddy Lazy jacks 8" new in the box if you want to buy them, send me a PM I bought them for my Mac 26

[hart]

One thing to keep in mind: The boom and the mast on the Mac's are narrow. Unless I'm pointed exactly into the wind the battens have a tendancy to hang in my lazy jacks. Mine are a home made mod and I'm thinking about relocating the upper portion to the spreaders to get it wider.

If you're looking at prebuilts you might look at the design to see how wide the "slot" ends up being.

[TJAY]

Thanks Hart, I'll keep that in mind while doing my research...TJ

[MSN-Travelers]

Suggestions for a good Lazy Jack installation on a 26M?

Thanks,
TJAY

I installed the Model 202 lazy jacks available from Sail Care. http://www.sailcare.com/sailcradle.shtml

The nice thing about them is they stow out of the way, on the mast, until you need them.

[Oskar 26M]

One thing to keep in mind: The boom and the mast on the Mac's are narrow. Unless I'm pointed exactly into the wind the battens have a tendancy to hang in my lazy jacks. Mine are a home made mod and I'm thinking about relocating the upper portion to the spreaders to get it wider.

If you're looking at prebuilts you might look at the design to see how wide the "slot" ends up being.

TJ:
They're not shown in my diagram, but I have two one metre pieces of light shock cord with a clip at either end connecting the lazy jack on each side to its respective outer shroud (above the upper small block on the jack and below below the spreader connection on the shroud).

These keeps the "slot" between the lazy jacks open and reduces the risk of a batten fouling in the jack when raising the sail. The shock cord gives easily and does not have any noticeable influence on the movement of the mainsail or boom.

[c130king]

Also make sure you consider some way to "disconnect" the LJs from the end of the boom so that you can pull them forward to allow you to put on the sail cover.

My first set, installed by the PO, was a "single-line" LJ that terminated at the end of the boom on the port side. To pull the LJ's up you had to pull through about 20 feet of line leaving a big wad of line that I had to secure to the end of the boom with a small bungy cord. And then when ready to put the sail cover on I had to pull that 20 feet of line the other way through the blocks and fairleads to slack up the LJ's so that I could pull them forward, up against the mast, and then to be covered up by the sail cover.

I mod'ed this system to two lines with small carabiners at the boom end and at the mast end. I can easily disconnect the caribiners at the boom end and pull all the lines forward against the mast to be covered by the cover. No more wad of line at the end of the boom when sailing.

And I agree with Hart and Oskar about widening the slot. Mine are attached to the shrouds but occasionally I still get the battens hung up when raising the sail. But it normally is quick/easy to overcome this...lower about a foot, shake the leech if necessary and then rehaul. Pretty much must be directly into the wind.

But as a single-hander I can't imagine not having LJ's. The sail would go all over the place when coming down. If I ever get a "bigger" boat I would definitely love to have one of those systems that have the sail cover integrated into the LJ's. Just lower the sail and then zip the integrated cover closed. Doyle Cradle Cover

Just something to think about.

Cheers,
Jim

[TJAY]

Oskar, live2shift, hart, msn-travelers and c130king... Thanks for the info and tips. I should have the boat in the water by the end of April, so need to figure which method will suit my needs. TJ

[TAM]

I purchased a Doyle Cradle Cover from KellyHanson. Once I get to try it out I'll let you know. My only concern is battens catching, but hopefully won't be an issue. It will be nice to be able to reef without having to tie up the main, just pull down the outhaul and the cover will catch the sail.

[AWKIII]

Hi Tam.

You should have no problems with the battens catching.

I decided to have a Cradle Cover custom designed by Doyle for the Max 26M and 26X after I had one build for my 40 footer. It is a wonderful product and cannot believe how easy it is to raise, lower, reef and stow the main.

Pricewise, it is a bargain.

[parrothead]

Art,

We saw a short "display" version of the Doyle Cradle Cover at the boat show in Boston. Its operation looked appealing, but the lazy jack lines seem to be incompatible with the use of a boom tent. Am I right about that?

Doug

[Bluecrab]

I like the idea but have a couple of questions. What do you do with the lines when you take the mast down and trailer? Does the Cradle Cover stay up as in the picture or drop down when not in use and does the it affect sail performance?

Thanks,
Wally

[Indulgence]

I'd like to respond to Bluecrab's comment about sail performance.

Our charter boat had a big Doyle sail caddy, shown here with only one reef.
That's gotta cut down on sail to wind exposure, whatever it's called...



which was fine when you're livin' on the water for a week. I wouldn't want it interfering with day sailing though.
Our Mac with it's new KH C-2000 sails is far more frisky than that Beneteau. I was kind of disappointed in
it's sailing performance but don't know if it was due to blown out sails, the sail caddy, or simply our own lack
of skill.

It would be ideal if you could mount these sail caddys for extended cruising; take them off if you didn't
want them. Just use your lazy jacks the rest of the time. Like all things sailing I suppose; we compromise and
decide what we want most.

KH's website displays the Doyle sailcaddy sporting a Moorings logo. We had one on a Sunsail (I know- same company
now) and saw them on so many others. I personally think they are a great thing to have on a charter boat.
Wouldn't want one on my Mac unless away from home base for a very extended cruise.

Like CSN&Y title said; FWIW,
Laurie.