How the lazy bag can be operated more easily with an endless line on the zip
A lazy bag has highly appreciated advantages: The combination of a sail dress that can be opened at the top and is firmly attached to the boom at the bottom with lazy jacks quickly tames the sail during recovery and also simplifies setting. The main job in both manoeuvres: closing and opening the zip. A simple task, you might think. However, the sprayhood usually gets in the way on the way forwards or aft. And when closing the zip, folds from a poorly positioned sail sometimes make the process even more difficult. A simple remedy is a Zeiser or Stropp on the zip, which can also be operated from a distance. There is an even more elegant way. A thin line is sheared from the zipper through a block or aluminium thimble, which is attached to the batten bearing, for example, with a short strop. The line is led aft, deflected there again and also led to the zip. With this endless line, the zip can be operated from any point on the main boom.
Roland Dunkel, Schwarzenbek
Unfolded
Many people know the problem: when the wind picks up, the lazy-jack furling lines turn the tranquil evening into a nerve-wracking rattling concert. To keep the two upward-running lazy-jack furling lines permanently away from the mast, a short strop is rigged to the eye fitting of the flag lines. This keeps the furling lines at a distance so that they no longer hit the mast in windy conditions.
Paul Wallek, by e-mail
One-handed lazy jacks
Two clamps are screwed to the boom near the boom nock. A line runs from the spreader through the clamps. Its length is dimensioned so that there is enough slack to pull the line parallel to the boom in the direction of the mast. Two blocks are tied into the line between the clamp and the spreader. A second line from the jib fitting also runs under the boom. From there it goes back to the lazy-jack and over a block inside to the nock. To put the lazy jacks through, pull the large loop into the clamps. When removing, release the clamps and pull the recovery line on the boom nock and thus the lazy jacks to the mast.
Felix Staudacher, Munich
Lower resistance
A lazy bag that sticks up gets in the way when sailing. That's why we had small tabs attached to the inside of the lazy bag along the length of the boom, to which hooks are attached with short rubber straps. Eyelets are riveted under the boom at the same height. Once the sail has been set, the lazy-jacks are folded and fastened together parallel to the boom. The sides of the pockets are then rolled up from the outside inwards and fixed to the eyelets with the straps.
Dieter Schmitz, Solingen
Do you have any advice for other sailors?
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