On furling the main...

[CapnK]

I am beginning the process of building a set of lazy jacks, and ran across the following while doing research.
It was a Comment in regards to an article on/in the GOB site/mag, and I thought it worth sharing.
In particular, the Red / Green marks at luff & leech seems to be an *excellent* idea - simple, cheap, and fast. Right up my alley. ;D

Jerry Powlas and Karen Larson, of Maple Grove, Minn., wondered "how complicated does all this have to be?" Our 20-foot Flying Scot had a longer boom than our C&C 30. With such a short boom, our high-aspect-ratio mainsail couldn't get in much trouble when we dropped it. It was not control that we needed, it was order. We wanted the main to flake neatly over the boom. Obviously a neat flake has alternating panels to port and starboard. We made a very neat flake in calm conditions and then marked the luff of the main with red and green permanent markers to show which side of the boom the sail should fall on at that point on the luff. We did the same for the roach.

Now when we lower, the person at the halyard at the base of the mast guides the panels to port and starboard as they fall. The roach can be made neat at the same time by another person or later by the same person. Once the luff is laid down correctly, the roach can be made to follow with minimal effort. The main was soon so well-trained that it almost always falls correctly and unaided. We think the sail is too small to require extra gear to control it. We use the same red-green markings on our heavy 110-percent jib to help us get it flaked prior to bagging it. It works so well, we will probably mark all our jibs that way.

[SailorTom]

Humm.... I think someone is pretty persnickety to do that on the small Flying Scot mainsail. I race a FS and it's dirt simple. Put the crutch in place, drop the main letting out of the track, two folks roll it up. Then either remove from the boom or tie it down. I'll bet it's quicker for the two of us to complete the roll then that flaking ritual 8)

[Captain Smollett]

Tom,

I have observed that a lot of sailors over-complicate simple tasks and seek "complex" solutions.  At the end of the day, it seems to me, that more energy goes into the "solution" than just doing the simple thing itself.

But, that's just me, I guess.

;)


PS: I have also concluded that to some, and I fall into this category occasionally, that's part fo the fun...coming up with "ways" to do things.  So, my above comment is not meant as criticism so much as just what I find to be an interesting observation.

Too, I think similar trends occur in other activities; it's not unique to sailing.

[SailorTom]

Capt Smollett,
I've been down the rat hole of complexity too many times. I can't count how many times my wife just looks at me and says "give a mouse a cookie" giving me the knowing look.

[CapnK]

I like the idea because so many times I've gotten things flaked at the luff, and then the leech, only to find that the what I *thought* were the same folds, weren't... ;D