I am getting old to fold a main alone

[dreamingwet]

I love sailing and racing alone, but I am getting old to keep folding my mains the same old way.
The boat is a J122e with no lazyjacks and I am looking for a better technique than mine.
When it is not too windy I fold on the boom, but many times I end up having to drop and then fold.
With my nice 3Dis I use a large PVC pipe to roll as I drop.
How do you do it?

 

[MagentaLine]

Just fold the luff as you drop. Fold the leech at the mooring. Stop worrying about neatness and the life of the sail when you miss a crease. Life is too short.

 

[Marty Gingras]

The 80+yo guy down the dock solo-sails his Cal 40 1-2 times a week. He uses lazyjacks. He marked both the luff and leech where the folds go.

 

[Snowden]

Put the reefs in sequentially, alternating which side you stow the folded sail. When you run out of reefs, roll from the head along the luff.

Replace your toggles with snapshackles to hold the upper tack points in place.

 

[dreamingwet]

Some pretty good ideas, thank you so much.

 

[kinardly]

My last boat had the Dutchman flaking system. Takes a little practice to get the correct speed to lower the halyard but it works a treat.

 

[Bump-n-Grind]

on the 35 my main is on slugs. when I drop it, I control the decent with foot pressure on the halyard and I alternate the folds between the slugs and let the rest fall where it may. when it's all down I can go to the end of the boom and just pull on the leach and it pretty much flakes itself.
with 2 sail ties around my neck I can usually have it flaked and tied down in less time than it always takes a crew to do it. whenever I have full crew on board they;re always trying to flake it on the way down and invariably fuck it up and haul it back up again

 

[longy]

^^^ What I used to do on a Swan 65 sloop (so big, heavy dacron main) after the guests tried to fold it, and we got docked & all left. Drop it all back down on deck. Made sure luff was alternating properly (I usually ran luff myself on drop) Pull body of sail forwards/outboard. Go to boom end, tie boom off sideways so it couldn't move. Check which side luff started on. Grab appropriate length of leech & drag it up over boom while pulling aft hard. This would follow the fold on the luff. Make sure that the fold ran all the way to the luff, no sail material left behind. Leave appropriate length of leech on 'feed' side of boom, grab leech, lift/pull/swing over boom. Continue until done. Kept me in shape doing that twice a weekend, but got main folded right, no wrong creases, fit into snug sailcover.

 

[Snowden]

@longy I'm struggling to understand your method from the description.

Is the sail flaked on the deck or in a big heap?
When putting a new flake, in how do you get it to fold at the luff end and avoid pulling the existing flake off the boom?

I wonder whether this technique only works for a very heavy sail with deep flakes that have quite ingrained creases.

 

[Alaris]

Highly recommend the Dutchman.

 

[Mid]

Highly recommend the Dutchman.

 

[longy]

Method only works if luff has slides. Luff is folded on the way down. Then work up the leech. Use lots of sail ties to keep folds on boom. A loose luffed main is a different story - much will depend on how stiff the fabric is.

 

[El Borracho]

^^^ What I used to do on a Swan 65 sloop (so big, heavy dacron main) after the guests tried to fold it, and we got docked & all left. Drop it all back down on deck. Made sure luff was alternating properly (I usually ran luff myself on drop) Pull body of sail forwards/outboard. Go to boom end, tie boom off sideways so it couldn't move. Check which side luff started on. Grab appropriate length of leech & drag it up over boom while pulling aft hard. This would follow the fold on the luff. Make sure that the fold ran all the way to the luff, no sail material left behind. Leave appropriate length of leech on 'feed' side of boom, grab leech, lift/pull/swing over boom. Continue until done. Kept me in shape doing that twice a weekend, but got main folded right, no wrong creases, fit into snug sailcover.

Yup. I use a Sharpie to mark the luff with P and S between the slugs so the weary sailor can get the flaking going the right way. The leech is also marked with Sharpie dots to mark where each flake it positioned atop the boom. The dots are placed with precision while berthed. Main is dumped on the port side deck. Luckily it cannot reach the sea. Flaking is much easier if it always folds in the same place. Gasket each 2 flakes. Only the first few are difficult.

Rather sucks if a ship has a huge dodger. But if that is important then maybe a spiderweb of lines, Park Avenue, or RF is appropriate.

Having the sailmaker place the battens parallel to the boom can help.

 

[Snowden]

Method only works if luff has slides.

Ah got it, was imagining boltrope luff.

 

[Mid]

Yup. I use a Sharpie to mark the luff with P and S between the slugs so the weary sailor can get the flaking going the right way.

OCD much

 

[Sidecar]

^^^ What I used to do on a Swan 65 sloop (so big, heavy dacron main) after the guests tried to fold it, and we got docked & all left. Drop it all back down on deck. Made sure luff was alternating properly (I usually ran luff myself on drop) Pull body of sail forwards/outboard. Go to boom end, tie boom off sideways so it couldn't move. Check which side luff started on. Grab appropriate length of leech & drag it up over boom while pulling aft hard. This would follow the fold on the luff. Make sure that the fold ran all the way to the luff, no sail material left behind. Leave appropriate length of leech on 'feed' side of boom, grab leech, lift/pull/swing over boom. Continue until done. Kept me in shape doing that twice a weekend, but got main folded right, no wrong creases, fit into snug sailcover.

Except, if you organise your reef lines to run as per the indicative diagram below, and pull in the reef lines as you drop, you have control of the whole sail, pretty much like a lazyjack system without the strings, bags and windage.

When you get back to the dock and want to do it properly, then do it the longy way. I have never bothered. Get a bigger sail cover.

 

[MagentaLine]

 

[3to1]

OCD much

sounds like method as much as 'OCD'.

 

[Rainy Day Sailor]

What about a stack pack? Love mine second boat with one. So so easy single handed or
With the wife. If you have friends out you don’t have to bury them in the main when you drop it. Have some webbing straps and buckles sewn in to make rolling it up east while sailing. Good luck lots of good options.

 

[The Dark Knight]

What about a stack pack? Love mine second boat with one. So so easy single handed or
With the wife. If you have friends out you don’t have to bury them in the main when you drop it. Have some webbing straps and buckles sewn in to make rolling it up east while sailing. Good luck lots of good options.

Yes,

I roll it up when sailing so I can see the foot of the sail and the lazyjack still do their job if needed.