Dear All:
Thanks for all the feed back. I do think Roger’s lazy jacks are
terrific and may have shot myself in the foot by tying them off at the
reefing horns instead of the cleats on the boom as Roger suggests. I have
re-sent below an e-mail to Denis and Tom discussing my sail chafe concerns
and mods I am making to deal with fouling my full batten main on
hoist…if anyone else wants the drawing, let my know and I will send
it direct to keep from plugging up everyone else’s computers with a 1 Mb file.
Best regards…Tom
Dear Denis and Tom:
Here is Roger’s drawing. If this .bmp file won’t open for you,
let me know and I’ll re-send in a different format.
I am using the lazy jacks as most other people do…as topping
lift and for reefing. I did use 3/16" thimbles as Roger suggests but still
got the chafe at on the mast. I have a full-batten main and, when sailing
off the wind at all, I cannot slack the leeward set enough to have it off
the sail…I worry about chafing the batten pockets… That is why I
store them against the mast unless I think I am going to have to reef. If
I think it is going to be a reefing kind of day, I keep the weather set
taught (to be ready as a topping lift), run the leeward set as loose as
possible, and pull the leeward set taught when I go to the mast to pull a
reef. I’m not sure I’d want to go for days (3 is about the best I can do in
one direction on The Great Lakes) with the leeward set rubbing on the sail
I also store them there when the boat is in the slip. On the
hook, I leave them up to hold the sail with the cover off in case I have
to hit the road in the middle of the night. Aside from my mast chafe, they
are great (and cheap to make!)
Here are some changes I am going to try:
**May just use spliced eyes, no thimbles. My mast comes down every fall so
I can easily check for chafe…Or…keep the thimbles and always tie
them off at the cleats on the boom just aft of the goose neck, as Roger
suggests, so they angle away from the mast I was tying them at the reefing
horns on the goose neck…I have to think about this some more as I want
to be sure about avoiding sail chafe.
**I have already moved the last eye strap on the boom about 18"
forward and adjusted the location of the others to keep from fouling my
battens when hoisting. It didn’t quite work so I may try making the top
line (1) longer and shortening everything else to make the angles more
acute so the battens will clear. Only concern is enough leverage to still
use as topping lift. I think it should work.
Hope this is useful…Tom
Tom Harrer
S/V Whitewings III