Lazy Bag doesn't fold the sail

[optimystic]

I have a SO 379 with full main and the lazy jack system. The dealer told me to just let the halyard go when furling the main. I tried this a couple of times and all I got was a jumbled mainsail with battens that were never inline with the boom. I tried to let it down slowly but the mast end of the boom is to high to reach and pull/fold the sail incrementally. Now I'm looking at how to modify the Jeanneau lazy bag so I can have better access to the sail.  Any tips would be greatly appreciated. 

[Don Reaves]

I also have the stack pack system on my SO35. The lazy jacks do a good job of keeping the sail from falling on the deck, but I still need to tug on the sail here and there to get it to fold neatly enough to zip it up.

For me, this isn't so bad, because the boom isn't that high on the 35, and I don't have a dodger to get in the way. But I think it's something you'll have to live with. It gets easier as the sail gets older. It will tend to learn where to fold so it will require less effort.

You might try putting some tension on the reefing lines, as these will encourage the sail to stretch out along the boom better.

Don

[MalcolmP]

I have never liked the way that the Jeanneau stack packs wrap around the front of the mast. It makes it harder to see what is happening when you reef, so initially I had the front cut off and fitted with a zipper - as shown in an old Hints and Tips article


A better solution that I now have on my new fully battened main (with Selden MDS sliders) is a full bonnet similar to the one shown below




Agree it can be hard to reach comfortably up to the gooseneck - I am planning to add a folding mast step like the one below - these were often fitted by the factory on the larger Jeanneaus



Alternatively you could try rigging a downhaul line from the headboard - but need to be careful that it cannot catch on spreaders etc

[optimystic]

I added caribers  to the port lazy jacks which allow be to drop one side of the bag and give me access for a reasonable folded sail. In addition to this when I dropped the main I had tied the forward lazy jack supports to the shroud giving a much bigger opening. Won't use this in high wind but it worked like a champ. I was able to drop the main and fold as it came down then drop the jacks and tidy things up at the dock. Returned the jack lines to the bag and the boom bag worked much better. 

[hoppy]

My lazy bag looks similar to the one in the hints link but without the mod to take the mast end off.

As a minimum, I always ease off the lazy jack lines and pull the front of the bag down the mast halving the height above the boom giving me good access to the sail.

However over the last year I have decided the best thing is to tie up the bag to the boom so it is only the lazy jack line holding the sail before I raise it (although it is easier to tie up the bag in light conditions once I am sailing) and it does it's job when lowering. I always hated the bag flapping around but most importantly when reefing I can see the reef lines at the mast when needed.

[MalcolmP]

Sept 4, 2014 5:51:53 GMT hoppy said:

My lazy bag looks similar to the one in the hints link but without the mod to take the mast end off.

As a minimum, I always ease off the lazy jack lines and pull the front of the bag down the mast halving the height above the boom giving me good access to the sail.

However over the last year I have decided the best thing is to tie up the bag to the boom so it is only the lazy jack line holding the sail before I raise it (although it is easier to tie up the bag in light conditions once I am sailing) and it does it's job when lowering. I always hated the bag flapping around but most importantly when reefing I can see the reef lines at the mast when needed.

Looks good Hoppy, but I presume you have re-rigged the lazy jack lines? as most Jeanneau's seem to have the upper jack lines permanently attached to the spreader, so that you can't adjust the length.  I have just gone up my mast and put in a small block and a longer lazy jack so that I can now alter the tension (Even Bavaria's have adjustable lazy jacks - so it seems quite mean that Jeanneau fit fixed ones at OEM)

[hoppy]

Sept 4, 2014 7:27:33 GMT MalcolmP said:

Sept 4, 2014 5:51:53 GMT hoppy said:

My lazy bag looks similar to the one in the hints link but without the mod to take the mast end off.

As a minimum, I always ease off the lazy jack lines and pull the front of the bag down the mast halving the height above the boom giving me good access to the sail.

However over the last year I have decided the best thing is to tie up the bag to the boom so it is only the lazy jack line holding the sail before I raise it (although it is easier to tie up the bag in light conditions once I am sailing) and it does it's job when lowering. I always hated the bag flapping around but most importantly when reefing I can see the reef lines at the mast when needed.

Looks good Hoppy, but I presume you have re-rigged the lazy jack lines? as most Jeanneau's seem to have the upper jack lines permanently attached to the spreader, so that you can't adjust the length.  I have just gone up my mast and put in a small block and a longer lazy jack so that I can now alter the tension (Even Bavaria's have adjustable lazy jacks - so it seems quite mean that Jeanneau fit fixed ones at OEM)

My lazy jack lines go through the spreader and then into the mast a meter or two above the spreader and then come down inside the mast.

It came like that, so one of the previous owners must have changed it. Fixed lazy jacks seem a horrible idea

[patryk221]

It won't work correctly if your sail hasn't got full battens, iv replaced my main to be a full batten one instead of the cheap ones Jeanneau uses and haven't got this issue

[touchngo]

We have the lazy jacks routed through a couple of blocks (one each side of the mast just below the spreaders) and then down to separate cleats, so that you can tension each side of the stack pack independently. Like Hoppy, I bunch up the bag and strap it up against the boom when sailing (we have a loose foot main, so this is easy enough). The downside with full length battens is that the leach end usually comes down quicker than the luff, resulting in at least one jamming things up every time we drop the main. Being able to lower one side of the stack pack with the lazy jacks still attached, means we can sort this out and easily tweak the sail after it has been lowered. The blocks are simply shackled to a saddle that has been riveted to the mast and the cleats are attached with self tappers. An easy mod.

Cheers, PT