Home Made Lazy Jack System

[teddius]

I am putting a lazy jack system on my boat (Harken wants nearly $600 for theirs in a bag! ) I am going to make my own. So I have a Hardin Seawolf/Formosa/CT/Islandtrader 41. I was wondering if anyone has experience with these boats and setting up lazy jacks and if they know the proper dimensions for my lines or ratios of mast height to placement and length of line, etc.

Thanks

[PBzeer]

You might want to check this thread.

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-m...or-person.html

[US27inKS]

I bought one of these and installed it on my boat 2 weeks ago. I like the way it works, but you do have to move the lines forward when sailing.

SailCare

[brak]

I made my own lazy jack system (copied PO's really) by using thin line (can't recall the size, probably 1/4" or less) with thimble eyes on the end (instead of usual blocks). One advantage of this is that the whole thing is so light that it doesn't really need to be removed while sailing (though I usually do it anyway - but really it does not interfere and can barely be seen).

[marcusn]

I copied this from someone else on another thread thinking I'd try it this summer. I can't vouch for it (yet).


_______________________

I made my own using only line and a couple of SS eyes. My lazy jacks do not retract, and this has not been a problem. The way I installed my lazy jacks was keeping it simple. I ran a line around the mast over the top of the spreaders and brought each end to within 30" above the boom at its midpoint. Tied a bowline at each end. Then I tied a line to the bowline and went under the boom thru an eye that I installed and back up to the other side to the other bowline and terminated that line. I did this two more times so that I ended up with 3 triangles, alongside the lenght of the boom. The lines are not tight but relatively slack. I have been doing this now for 5 years with no problems.

[brak]

This is approximately how my system is set up, though it does have two small cheek blocks on the mast.

[BreakingWind2]

Here is a well explained article on homemade lazy jacks. Inexpensive too!

Tips - Lazy Jacks

Dave

[EO32]

My PO had purchased a "Home made" Lazy Jack system with PVC loops and wads of shock cord, knots and line. I took me an hour to untangle it and lay it out to even figure out what it was.

It also took about a hour to put it up, using the spreader halyard cord, and it was just a mess.

Looking at various designs I came up with this.



I tried it out this weekend and it works great.

10 Pad Eyes $5
1/8 shock line $5
100 ft 3mm cord $25
6 clips $10
About $40


I drilled and tap my boom to install the pad eyes with #10 SS screws.

The Red lines are the 3mm cord and the blue lines are shock cord.

The Alpine loops are a very nice loop knot.

I had spreader blocks so I used those, but you could put pad eyes or cheek blocks on the mast. I also had "Aladen" cleats on the shrouds.

Two bonus features.
1. The two main lazy jack lines can be unclipped and used as sail ties.
2. The two unclipped shock lines can be attached to halyards when cleated to the shroud cleat to pull the halyards from banging on the mast.

The very aft spring line is attached and also acts as a sail tie.

[Boasun]

Now if I had made the lazy jacks it would have been professionally made.
But considering that most sailors in the old days had made & repaired their own gear & sails. You are not doing any less then they did in their time.
Have Fun and enjoy life.

[sailingdog]

Instead of drilling and tapping the boom, I would have used stainless steel or monel pop rivets. It isn't very likely that you'd need to remove a padeye, since they really don't need to be maintained, like a line clutch or a winch would, and pop riveting is probably better on a spar, since you don't have sharp screws sticking out into the interior to chafe/snag/rip the lines running through the spar.