Lazy Jacks

[Jeremyfisher]

I am coming to the conclusion that I am getting to old to be clambering around the cabin top raising and lowering sails!!

Has any one any experience of fitting lazy jacks with a built in sail cover and also bringing the main halliard and topping lift back to the cockpit. What, if any, are the disadvantages and what was used to bring the lines back?

Any advice welcomed and pictures.

Regds

Simon

[Jeremyfisher]

Any ideas, anyone?


Simon

[Sungem]

I have found Lines led aft don't always run that freely although lazy jacks do help with the initial drop. The sail still need considerable handling however to get it tidy and it often needs encouragement to actually drop too. Do you have the old style furling gooseneck? Whilst you do have to be at the mast, a very rapid and neat furl can be achieved by this method.

[Jeremyfisher]

Thanks for that. We do not have the furling goose neck. I had thought of the "sticky" drop. Sometimes the runners do stick, so I am considering attaching a downhaul line to the top of the sail, led back to the cockpit to assist in the lowering. How did you fix the necessary blocks to the cabin roof? and do the lines then tie off at a cleat, or sa clutch?

Regds

Simon

[Sungem]

The setup was on a previous boat and it had blocks and clutches through deck bolted. I think they are called line organisers- allowing three or four lines to be led aft, passing round a set of small blocks.

[jerryevans]

To Simon,
Re sticky drop, you may not need a down-haul after all.

I am about to service my mast and re-reeve my halyards after the winter layup, ready for Scotland at the end of next week. I want everything to run well.

To prevent the slides sticking my routine includes thoroughly cleaning the mast track and slides, taking great care to remove all dust and grime from the groove sides, edges and back. After that use dry lube or a silicone spray, treat slides and track with two applications to make sure. Cotton buds can help with this, in the groove especially. The difference is remarkable. I expect instant drop of the mainsail when the halyard is let go.

If the halyard tail is reference marked, the first and second reef can be set up quickly knowing just how much to drop the sail each time.

It took me two seasons to discover this the hard way when I first used slides. They stuck so badly that I thought they were the wrong size. (I was unfamiliar with them, always using sails with a luff rope with wood masts, up until then.)

No more sticky drop hopefully.

Jerry in Cumbria.

[Jeremyfisher]

Thanks for that Jerry, I will try that. Where are the blocks located on the roof?

Simon

[jerryevans]

Simon I use a pair of triple blocks between the forward part of the handrails and the hatch runners. If you look in the last page of the gallery, Tropical Kitt, Ready for the off and zoom in, you can see the port block.(Only a single line threadeded at this point,)

The port three lines which run through these sheaves are, main halyard, kicking strap and cunningham. The starboard triple is used for genoa halyard, topping lift, which is attached to the lazy-jacks. The third is for the spare main Halyard.

When I pull the topping lift, 2/1 ratio it also tightens the three lazy-jacks. Single string. Simple.

Jerry in Cumbria.

[Jeremyfisher]

Hi Jerry

I can see that on your picture, but it looks as though your halliards exit the bottom of the mast via a pully. On Jeremy Fisher the halliards all come out of the mast about three foot up which would give a bad angle to the pulleys. Did you re-reoute them and put a pully in?


Regds

Simon

[jerryevans]

Simon,

no I did not fit them to the the mast. It is by Proctor, is original I think with sheaves set in when I bought the boat. Your boat is much later than mine. You could simply fit turning blocks at the mast foot to feed the lines that way to the triple blocks. I have fitted them that way on an earlier boat. It is usual practice on bigger boats that I have worked on. I use much the same to turn other lines at the mast foot. The kicker for example.

Pleased to help, but going sailing in Scotland on Sunday. Get yourself up there and have some adventures! Get some deeper water under your keel. You know you want to.

Jerry in Cumbria.

[Haris]

Jerry
I enjoyed looking at your photos and your adventure.
May I ask what is the red sail fixed to the transom and what is the wooden pole aft on the port side?
Thanks
Haris

[Alistair Sim]

Hi Haris, Jerry did say he was heading off to Scotland for another Hebridean cruise so he'll probably not respond to your query for a while.

The wooden post you refer to appears to be a homemade self steering mechanism.
Look at his photo entitled between Rhum and Eigg, if you enlarge the image you can see it is connected to the via a chain to a peg on the tiller, I suspect a windblade will be just out of view at the top of the photo frame.

The red sail mounted on the transom appears to be a stay sail sometimes used with just the foresail to reduce weather helm if the main isn't being used.
It can also be used to reduce veering when at anchor by keeping the boat head to wind.
Hopefully Jerry will get a wifi connection and be able to confirm or otherwise.

First day of summer here and it's raining and sleeting here in Cumbria and snow forecast for Scotland, I love summer!

Regards, Alistair.

[jerryevans]

Hi Harris, I'm just back from 'Bonnie Scotland' and wanted to reply to your questions. Firstly I must thank Alistair for his intuitive reply, in my absence, in which he is quite correct.

The transom mounted mizzen mast, (from a Topper), with a Drascombe Lugger tan mizzen sail is sometimes used if the boat needs steadying at anchor or to balance the large genoa if the main in down.

The hardwood mast mounted on the port quarter pushpit rail is indeed a home-built horizontal pivoting self steering gear. The design is taken from Bill Belcher's book Yacht Wind-Vane Steering published in 1982, by David & Charles. The foreward by Blondie Hasler states 'that he would gladly go to sea with any of the gears described'. More than good enough for me!
My main reason for building it was to experiment with an alternative to my greedy electric tillerpilot. As all my battery power comes from just the two 20 watt solar panels I must be as efficient as possible. From these I run led lighting, a 5" chartplotter, VHF radio and Autohelm tiller pilot. as well as charging mobile phone and radio batteries. Conclusion, it is easier to set up for windward sailing where wind speed over the vane is greater than when the wind is over the stern. Unlike the Tillerpilot, one cannot move around the boat without disturbing the trim.

I will try to upload a photo to clarify, if I can!

Jerry in Cumbria.

[Haris]

Thank you so much gentlemen
Fascinating!
I have experimented with a simple tiller-to-sheet self-steering in the Aegean sea and it was ok for short periods of time.
Happy sailing
Haris