Mainsail cover

[davejean]

Hello, I am ordering new sails for our new boat. On all of my previous boats I have used the tradition style of mainsail covers,the Sumbrella which lays ontop of the mainsail and fastens beneath the boom. Presently I am considering the "zip pack". It can either fasten to the foot of the mainsail or it can slide into tracks ontop of the boom. I "think" that my lazy jacks would connect to the Sumbrella cover. When the mainsail is dropped it would go directly into the cover,then the cover would close "ontop" of the sail. I am thinking about ordering my sails from Lee sails. I have puchased a jib from them in the past and the cronstruction of it was very good. They would also be making the zip pack mainsail cover if I go woith that type of cover. Does anyone have any experence with that type of mainsail cover? Do the lazy jacks fasten to the Sumbrella? Is the mainsail weakened at all by the cover being zipped along the foot of it? Any comments would be apreciated. Thanks, Dave

[thefantasea]

I singlehand 99% of the time. For fifteen years, I sailed a Catalina 30 with a conventional mainsail cover. I recently moved on to an Irwin 38 with a center cockpit that has a full enclosure. The only thing that makes it possible for me to handle what seems like an acre of mainsail is a system that is exactly what you describe. Mine is made by Mack Sails and they feature what they call The MackPack on their web site: http://macksails.com/mackpack.htm

Take a look. It will answer many of your questions. While it doesn''t work as perfectly as the model on the web site, I am perfectly happy with it. All it takes is a few pokes with a boathook to move any errant dacron to its proper place so that the cover can be zipped shut.

If I bought another boat that didn''t have this system installed, I''d get one right away.

[h37skipper]

Dave, did you ask Helen at Lee Sails? I also have dealt with Lee and they were always able to answer any questions.

The sail packs around my marina attach to the boom, not the mainsail. And the lazyjacks attach below that, on the side of the boom. I know that my retractable lazyjacks will work with a Mack Pack but I am unsure about the Lee design.