Lazy jacks are a type of rigging

Rigging

Rigging is the apparatus through which the force of the wind is used to propel sailboats and sailing ships forward. This includes masts, yards, sails, and cordage.-Terms and classifications:...

 which can be applied to a fore-and-aft rig

Fore-and-aft rig

A fore-and-aft rig is a sailing rig consisting mainly of sails that are set along the line of the keel rather than perpendicular to it. Such sails are described as fore-and-aft rigged....

ged sail

Sail

A sail is any type of surface intended to move a vessel, vehicle or rotor by being placed in a wind—in essence a propulsion wing. Sails are used in sailing.-History of sails:...

 to assist in sail handling during reefing

Reefing

Reefing is a sailing manoeuvre intended to reduce the area of a sail on a sailboat or sailing ship, which can improve the ship's stability and reduce the risk of capsizing, broaching, or damaging sails or boat hardware in a strong wind...

 and furling

Furling

Furling may refer to:*Furling , characters in the series Stargate SG-1*Furl , to gather a sail*Furling , to manipulating an airfoil*The Furlings, characters in the 1993 film Once Upon a Forest...

. They consist of a network of cordage which is rigged to a point on the mast

Mast (sailing)

The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...

 and to a series of points on either side of the boom

Boom (sailing)

In sailing, a boom is a spar , along the foot of a fore and aft rigged sail, that greatly improves control of the angle and shape of the sail. The primary action of the boom is to keep the foot of the sail flatter when the sail angle is away from the centerline of the boat. The boom also serves...

; these lines form a cradle which helps to guide the sail onto the boom when it is lowered, reducing the crew needed to secure the sail. Lazy jacks are most commonly associated with Bermuda rig

Bermuda rig

The term Bermuda rig refers to a configuration of mast and rigging for a type of sailboat and is also known as a Marconi rig; this is the typical configuration for most modern sailboats...

ged sails, although they can be used with gaff rig

Gaff rig

Gaff rig is a sailing rig in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar called the gaff...

ged sails and with club-footed jib

Jib

A jib is a triangular staysail set ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bow, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast...

s.

The oyster

Oyster

The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....

 dredging sailboats of the Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

, bugeye

Bugeye

The bugeye is a type of sailboat developed in the Chesapeake Bay for oyster dredging. The predecessor of the skipjack, it was superseded by the latter as oyster harvests dropped.- Origins :...

s and skipjacks, were inevitably equipped with lazy jacks, as their huge sail plans, combined with the changeable conditions on the bay, made it necessary to be able to reef quickly and with a small crew. Of late they have been revived as a feature of pleasure yacht

Yacht

A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...

s as an alternative to roller reefing and furling. The latter methods can distort the sail, and are not compatible with batten

Batten

A batten is a thin strip of solid material, typically made from wood, plastic or metal. Battens are used in building construction and various other fields as both structural and purely cosmetic elements...

s in the reefed or furled portion of the sail. Lazy jacks are also cheaper, and can be easily applied after-market. However, they are not without disadvantages. The extra lines provide something else for the sail to foul upon when it is being raised, particularly if it is battened, and the lines and the connections between them can chafe and beat upon the sail, shortening its life and making unwanted noise. Also, unlike the roller systems, some crew member(s) must be on deck to secure the sail.

It is generally claimed that the name has its origins in the colloquial reference to British sailors as "Jack tars". "Lazy jacks" would therefore point to reduction of manpower and effort that lazy jacks provide.