Stackpack or mainsail cover?

[jonno]

Hi All

What are your views please, for a BRe, on a stackpack vs a mainsail cover?

Thanks

John

[Peter Cockerton]

John

Can comment only on how pleased I am with the stack pack on my BR20,
If you go this route ask the yard to put an extra "triangle" in the lazy jacks as the standard is one, the second lowers the strain on the pack and the four cringles used on the pack.
My second suggestion is to have the zip installed on the pack so it starts from the aft end, this way you can aid the main flaking as you drop and tidy the sail and zip and close the pack as you work your way forward.
The hardest part when rigging the pack and boom is raising the pack to a position where you can start feeding the sliders into the track, this is helped with the extra triangle in the lazy jacks to keep the pack level, a topping lift is also helpful to lift the pack, don't forget to ask the yard to fit an extra block on the mast if your considering a topping lift.
I also had a carbon fibre boom fitted on my new BR 20, the stack pack securing Velcro straps hold very well on the this type of boom, raising and dropping sail into the pack is very easy when single handed, reefing is also fast and easy with the permanently rigged reefing lines installed as part  of the stack pack.

Please raise any other queries and I will get back to you.

Peter C

[R and J]

Hello Jonno and Peter,

We have received delivery of our new BRe 'Sparkle' in Autumn after a Furlough delay and have not sailed her yet.

We have experience on previous boats but not Sparkle of; no lazy jacks, lazy jacks and separate sailcover and lazyjacks with stack pack.

We ordered lazy jacks with single triangle cascade, wooden boom and sail cover for our new boat Sparkle.

With respect to a topping lift, Matt when questioned suggested that the lazy jacks should be set to support the boom when the sail us down but not interfere with the sail when raised. I trust this works including when reefed. First move will be to make these readily adjustable if it is not to our satisfaction. We went with Matt and didn't provide for a separate topping lift.

The fully battened mainsail on this foot length left us deciding to not add to the cascade. We have the wooden boom so this can be easily changed if required.

We intend to dry sail and hope to get practiced at quick launch, recovery and packing for trailing. This puts into context the effort to put a cover on versus a zip and stack pack.

In our view Peter is right in that zipping from the outhaul end is likely best and the way we worked.

Peter makes a valid point re feeding luff cars. On our previous boat we had an additional cover removing the need to remove luff cars from the mast track. We expect to leave the sail on the track uncovered if not recovering the boat and overnighting. If leaving for longer we will remove the sail from the track.

I wonder how much the cloth of the stack pack affects the efficiency of the sail and the set of the foot. The cover we have is removed entirely.

Reefing worked well with the stack pack holding folds of sail in the unzipped pack. We will have to get used to lacing as that is what is available without a stack pack.

Well, there are our reasons for our decisions.

I believe how you use the boat is important when considering stack pack versus boom sail cover. If we were leaving the boat rigged especially on the water then a stack pack may have been favoured when weighed against the efficiency of the mainsail.

I look forward to other contributions and possible explanations of decisions made. They will inform along with our experiences on the water how we change things in the future. We may end up over time with a topping lift, extra triangle in the cascade as Peter suggests and a stack pack. We shall see.

Rufus

[jonno]

Many thanks for these excellent, detailed replies.  Plenty to think about!

John