I have always had a miserable time threading the jackline, but the last couple of sails I have finally figured out a way to speed it up. I do it per Rick West's site - Sail Preparation - but I have always had trouble getting the wire to go back into the luff pocket on the other side of the 80 lb swage and also had a terrible time getting it thru the stitching at seams.

What I do is take a 2-56 pushrod and stick the plain end up into the luff pocket inserting it into the next cutout and running it up to the one I am about to work on. At the "working-on" sail cutout the rod is just aft of the cutout. Know what I mean? So that opens up the luff pocket and gives a nice hole to shoot into.

I also get the wire to aim the right way by flipping the whole tail of the wire around until the curve of the working end of the wire is aiming up slightly up and toward the leech. That way the wire does not try to sneak under the sail instead of going into the hole and it runs along against the 2-56 rod instead of possibly trying to poke thru the front of the sail as you push it along.

I hope this helps anyone who might be having problems with this fun job.

Scott

You are right, Scott, it has been a pain in the bippy for a long time.

John Rowley, in FL, uses a Lei needle. I could not find one here but did locate a 5-1/2" needle at one of the chain fabric stores. Whereas, my sail hanks are set for 4-1/2" on center, this addition to my toolbox is super. I carry one on the road now too. No more gluing Spectra to SS wire with CA...Argh!

The building site will get this and other items added to the Tips sections during my building sessions this winter.

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