[C320-list] Dutchman versus stack pack?

[Jack Brennan]

I’ve had lazy jacks, Dutchman and Mack Park (a variation on Stack Pack) on my sailboats. It’s really just a matter of personal preference. All three have their pluses and minuses.

I personally like lazy jacks the best. Because they interfere with air flow and catch the mainsail when it’s going up, I always stowed them until I was ready to drop the main. I would then go forward, tighten them, point into the wind and drop the main with no problem.

The problem with the Mack Pack was that when you stowed the lazy jack lines, you had the sail cover drooping all over the place on the boom. I had an endless loop for zipping it up. Nice, except when UV started making the zipper hard to use. The cover also wore out more quickly due to the tugging.

The Dutchman I kind of like, but I probably don’t have it adjusted correctly, as others have noted. Because I have a large bimini and dodger (I’m in Florida …), it’s not that significant. Any drooping sail just sits on the bimini until I return to the dock.

A good autopilot is most important for easy dropping of the main, especially when singlehanding. 

Jack Brennan
Sonas, 1998 Catalina 320, no. 528
Tierra Verde, Fl.
Dolphin Cruising Club of Tampa Bay







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