Lazy Jacks or Dutchman? - The argument for the Dutchman

by Des Ryan on 9 Mar 2009 Most cruising sailors sail short-handed, and there is many a sailor who rejects in-mast or in-boom furling. Here we look at alternatives, and give the argument for the Dutchman Sail Flaking system over Lazy Jacks.

The Dutchman Sail Flaking System uses vertical control lines laced through fairleads fastened to the sail. This enables the Dutchman to collect the sail on the boom with no need to secure the intermediate reef points. With lines led aft, you can operate the system entirely from the cockpit, very valuable if you are short handed, even more valuable if you are sailing single. Relatively inexpensive, the Dutchman works with both conventional and full-batten sails, and you can easily retrofit it to your existing main.

The lines are attached to the topping lift and at the base of the sail, and don’t move. The sail slides up and down on the lines like a Roman shade. As you drop the sail, the lines guide the main down to alternate sides of the boom. A few seconds straightening, and you’re done. One person can perfectly flake pretty much any size sail in under 20 seconds. Many owners don’t even bother with sail ties.

Offshore sailors particularly like how easy it makes reefing. The system collects the sail on the boom with no need to tie in the intermediate reef points. If your lines are led aft, you can reef entirely from the cockpit.

The Dutchman System has the following advantages over lazy jacks:

The sail can’t get caught on the Dutchman lines is it is raised or lowered. Lazy jacks catch often, particularly in a sloppy sea. Lazy jacks were developed for gaff or junk rigs, which the Dutchman can't work with. With such rigs, the leech is always behind the jack lines, so they never catch the sail. Many people find it annoying that lazy jacks always catch the leech as you raise and lower a modern sail, even if you're head to wind. Imagine hoisting the sail between a web of lines about one foot apaart, with the leech moving back and forth. No wonder it catches.

There’s no need to head into the wind to raise, lower, or reef the sail. Just left the sail luff. The Dutchman lines pass through the fairleads in the sail every 2 to 3 feet, so they can’t chafe the sail.

The Dutchman tabs automatically slacken the control lines after the sail is raised. Adjust it once and you’re done. Lazy jacks have to be adjusted or moved forward and back every time you raise and lower the sail.

More importantly, the Dutchman works better with today's stiffer sails. Lazy jacks were fine with the soft sails of 30 years ago that you rolled up, but do not offer enough space between the lines to make nice, big, loose folds with today's stiffer sail fabrics.

The control lines are about 2mm (1/16th inch) in diameter, and the 'hole' in the sail is really a vertical slit just wide enough for the control line to pass through. There is virtually no performance loss.

When you raise the sail, the Dutchman tabs sewn to the base of the sail stand up, lessening the control lines. When the sail is dropped, it pushes down on the tabs, tightening the control lines. There’s no adjusting needed, unlike lazy jacks, which need a lot of messing with.

To reef, use normal slab or jiffy reefing. However, since the Dutchman holds the sail on the boom, you don’t need to tie off the intermediate reef points (the ones in the middle of the sail). Many owners, especially those who sail offshore, comment on how much easier this makes the reefing.

The best idea is to use a sailcover which is split along the top, and fastened to either side of the boom. Unroll and snap each half to the control line, then use Velcro to fasten together. Be sure your sailcover fits loosely. A tight cover makes sharp creases, which will shorten your sail’s life.

To learn more about the Dutchman system, go to the website of the inventor Martinus van Breems