The sail box can hold four rigs (two No.1, one each No.2 and No.3), two on one side, two on the other, with the two long edges of a side taking a mast each.  In each side, the smaller rig is positioned below the larger, and is positioned higher in the box so that its booms are at a different level.  I have a sheet of bubble wrap between each sail, with one edge of the wrap stapled to a box side, otherwise it blows away in the wind.  The box stands well when opened 90 degrees by "leaning" forward a little, because the bottom box edges are at 80 degrees to the upright.

My masts all have forward pre-bend.  They can't be stored in this way with the sails bent to them, because the sail will distort.  So they are stored in the box against a "spacer" or packing piece which forces the mast into its "correct" bend.  The sails can then live quite happily on the mast indefinitely.

The booms and jib heads are held in place by lengths of "roach pole" elastic.  I've put hooks on the end of my elastics, but a number of skippers prefer to terminate their elastic with a plastic ball which can "catch" into an appropriate place.  The masts are stepped into small rubber "cups", the sort that are put on the ends of the steel tube legs of stacking chairs.

To hold accessories, I've placed clothes pegs inside the box in "open" areas.  This one is holding a wind indicator.

For my next box, design and construction will be similar (using the SailsEtc special wood sections), but will have a little more room.  The box will be a little taller, and a little wider, so that I don't have to push the jib counter weight back into the boom for storage, and the leech telltales don't get scrunched up at the hinge.

2005-12-18

©2024 Lester Gilbert