Boom Bags and Loose Footed Main

[tdw]

Dropped our main into the sailmaker yesterday for some much needed maintenance. Have just got off the phone from him and ...well.....they took it out the back and shot it didn't they....told me it was for it's own good.

Seriously....despite having lived under a sail cover when not in use the entire leech is severely UV degraded, the foot is stretched beyond redemption and and and.....no wonder I have problems with the set of the thing.

So it's new sail time. Ouch...expensive little suckers aren't they ?

Two questions arise....

1. Loose footed or no ?

2. SailCover or BoomBag ?

I am leaning towards Loose Footed and Boom Bag but I am wondering how a boom bag works with a loose footed main ?

All help and advice appreciated.

[Vitesse473]

I have a stack pack with lazy jacks made by Quantum Sails (about $1k for my B473). I have a loose footed full main and absolutely love how this thing works. For long distance sailing, I roll up the bag at the boom and secure it with the built in straps so it's totally out of the way with no flogging in high winds. I then pull all the lazy jack lines forward and secure them along the mast. For day sailing, the pack is awesome! When dousing the main, you simply run into irons and blow the main halyard. Once the main is down, you zip up the pack and forget about it. The days of using sail ties in a 30kts SF Bay blow followed by the draping of the sail cover are gone for good!

Note: when leaving the boat for extended periods, I always strap a sail tie around the stack pack at the clew so our winged creatures stay out. That's the only downside I've seen thus far.

[Omatako]

Yeah, I support stackpac with loose-footed fully battened main. That's what I have, wouldn't change.

[patrickrea]

Loose footed main is the way to go. Better sail shape, easier reefing.

I have sail cover. It works for me as it does cover the entire sail all the way to the end of the boom and that's what came with the boat. If I were to redo it, I would go with a Stack Pack just for the convenience when daysailing.

[sailingdog]

Definitely loose footed main... as for sail bag or cover...personal preference... Boom bag is simpler IMHO.

[PalmettoSailor]

I just had new full batten main and I went with a loose foot. My sailcover is in great shape and I have a lot of other items to address to get this boat where I want it, so I decided against a bag at this point though I may go that route in the future. I'll be installing retractable lazy jacks and using my sail cover until then.

I am upgrading my outhaul with a heavier wire and a 6 to 1 in boom purchase to make sure its up to the extra force on the clew.