LAZY
JACKS
©
2014 Tor Pinney - All Rights Reserved
Dousing the mainsail
becomes easier, smoother and safer with lazy jacks
- and you can
make your own!
Lazy jacks are lines that
embrace and contain a doused sail until it can be properly
furled. It is surprising that so few sailboats have them.
Without lazy jacks, a dropped mainsail will tumble onto the
coachhouse, flogging in the wind and hampering the helmsman's
visibility until it is wrestled onto the boom by the crew and
lashed. With lazy jacks, the sail drops into a "basket" of lines
around the boom and lies quietly there until it's convenient to
furl it.
You can buy pre-made lazy
jacks from a marine chandler for a few hundred dollars or more,
but it's easy to make your own for a fractional cost. An online
search will provide various detailed instructions. There are 2
basic designs - the popular branching-line basket loops, and the
less common vertical-line loops - and numerous variations of
these. Securing the forward end of the lazy jacks' +/- ¼" lines
to the sides of the mast a little above or below spreader level
is a common practice. However, the smarter systems are
adjustable, their main lines running through small blocks or
padeyes mounted underneath the lower spreaders and then down to
convenient belaying points port & starboard within reach of the
deck, such as small cleats clamped to shrouds. Leading the lines
this way allows the lazy jacks to be trimmed and even lowered
altogether. It's best to mount the spreader blocks about a
quarter of the way outboard from the mast, both to widen the
basket and to prevent the lines from slapping.
Several feet abaft the mast
the main lines may split or branch to two, and those branch
again to two more, which then pass beneath the boom to form the
"lazy basket."
click to enlarge
 |
Alternatively, the main
port & starboard lazy jack lines may lead from the mast or
spreaders directly to the after end of the boom, with 3 to 5
long, vertical loops of line attached at intervals that run
straight down and pass beneath the boom. Either version
accomplishes the mission, to contain the sail after the sail
ties have been removed prior to hoisting, and again when the
sail is doused. |
click to enlarge
 |
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End ~
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