lazy jacks

[mmmaged]

Proud owner of Horizon Cat #48. Getting down that monster sail is a chore. Had a '90 Pearson 27 with Harken lazy jacks and it worked great.
All suppliers of jacks use the foot of the sail as the guide for what size to get. They seem to ignore the fact that the mast is really short for this size foot. Any one out there with experience?

[Craig]

Mort,

Your boat is so new I believe you are the first to raise these questions.  Have you tried contacting the sail makers or the factory?  I'd be curious to hear what they suggest.

Craig

[mmmaged]

I am working with Harken now. Will post my results when I find a favorable solution.

[whitch]

Interested in what turns up. Own hull #12. The sail is a beast to bring down. Wife has been asking for lazy jacks.

Billl
"Siobhan"

[mmmaged]

Am using Harken middle sized lazyjacks. My marina people had to shorten the upper cable portion of the jacks to ten feet, otherwise the inverted V  sections would be too low to capture the sail and gaff. Since the rope section is ajustable it can be loosened enough you dont have to cut the sail cover. Just put on cover inside the jacks.
I had Gerry Huchins customize my Horizon Cat. They used something called Starboard in place of teak every where except the bow sprit and steering wheel box. Drop boards, gallows, eyebrow everything and it looks pretty good and no work. They used Stainless for the cabintop grab rails. I'm a sloppy teak oiler so less is best. I have an 8 horse Honda and it is fine, moves boat at hull speeed if I want to.

[mmmaged]

About the jacks- Position the legs of the inverted V 4 to 5 feet from the goosneck and the other leg about 9 feet from gooseneck. Essentially you are dividing the foot in thirds. According to Harken- It comes with a very specific set of guidelines where to mount them and then they say some experimentation may be needed. Sure, they are figuring a standard sloop rig and have no advice for gaff rigged cat boats. I studied Marshall and Menger cats w/jacks at several marinas to see how they handled the setup before I chose the way I did it.

[mmmaged]

The lazy jacks as described in my previous posting work like a dream come true. Make sure the boom is hauled in tight above the gallows so as it drops it will settle there and sail and gaff come down onto the boom. A slight tug on the leach of the sail insures proper placement. Sail can be neatened up once moored or docked. No fuss, no muss, no hard work, no upset bride!