Posted by katorpus (jrb@…>)
You could always replace your lazy jack cordage with a light
Spectra…heck…you can replace your LIFELINES with Spectra…
It might require wearing gloves when tightening up the lazy jacks,
however, but it would provide plenty of strength with less windage.
You really don’t need to “whale down” the mainsheet. My process for
dropping the canvas (two sails) on my F40 Cat Ketch is as follows:
First…tighten the lazy jacks on the main. I have the
cordage “marked” at the proper tension point where it’s wrapped to
the cleat.
Turn the engine on and put it in forward gear enough to make a little
headway dead into the wind.
Head into the wind and sheet the mizzen hard to the centerline. This
helps to keep the boat into the wind. Tighten the lazy jack on the
mizzen against the “already tight” mizzen sheet (not the other way
around).
Pull the main MOSTLY to center…allowing up to 2 feet of “swing
room” in either direction, depending on wave conditions. This allows
the “weathervaning” of the sail and boom to make up for minor errors
in heading into the wind and keeps the battens from hanging up on the
upper lazy jack blocks.
Release the main halyard from the cabin top stopper, holding it in a
single turn around the winch. Lower the main slowly enough that the
slides don’t jam up in the track. Don’t flake the sail at this time,
just let it stack up on top of the boom.
When the sail is down (or as “down” as it’s gonna get, center the
boom with the mainsheet, cleat it, and only THEN go forward with a
couple of sailties to hold the sail.
Repeat for the mizzen (not necessary to go forward).
When I’m back at the dock (or on the mooring), I remove the sail
ties, take the halyard off the headboard and move it to the boom-end,
and then “tug” the sail into some semblance of order on top of the
boom, starting aft and moving forward and applying sailties at
appropriate intervals to keep things neat. When I’m done, I release
the tension on the outhaul.
I frequently do this singlehanded, without an autopilot…in 17 to 20
knot winds. I’ve never broken anything doing this yet.
— In FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com, “ron barr” <rwhb@…>
wrote:
Yes that is more or less what we are doing now…however cranking
the boom
down on the main sheet to prevent it swinging while furling the
sail seems
to result in overstraining/stretching the lazyjacks. I’m not sure
they are
really designed for this given the light line. Obviously the
halyard has to
go on at the end of the boom after all furling which means there is
no
strong support until then. I miss the boom cradles I’ve had on
other
cruising boats!
Ron
Newport RI
From: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of twales@…
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 7:25 PM
To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [FreedomOwnersGroup] Boom Support F32 and Carolina
weather
Hi Ron,
You can spend the money on a boom kicker or a solid vang. However,
what I
do is to use the lazyjacks to hold the boom up while lowering the
sail.
Then, the main halyard becomes that topping lift to hold the boom
up when
at anchor or at the mooring. I have had no issues with this setup.
Good luck
TW F32 Anoush Koon
Original Message:
From: ron barr rwhb@… mailto:rwhb%40msn.com
Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2007 13:15:03 -0400
To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com
mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup%40yahoogroups.com
Subject: [FreedomOwnersGroup] Boom Support F32 and Carolina weather
Has anyone used the “Boomkicker” ( http://www.boomkicker.com
www.boomkicker.com) to support their boom? It seems to me that
lacking a
boom cradle or topping lift on the Hoyt F32, we’ve got a lethal
instrument
flying around when lowering the sail. I am reluctant to rely on
lazyjacks to
support the boom - thoughts and other solutions most welcome!!
Ron
Newport RI
PS Having just returned from taking a Hatteras 60 down to New Bern
from
Baltimore - I didn’t realize the weather was that bad per
rweeks6508 recent
post!! Our only real problem was the heat - had to keep all the
AC’s going
and steer from the inside saloon station. The icemaker in the after
deck bar
was also playing up which was somewhat annoying!!
mail2web - Check your email from the web at
http://link.mail2web.com/mail2web