Batten attachment

[DevR375]

The battens on my ‘94 Legend 375 won’t stay in the pocket on the Luff of my main. There doesn’t appear to be a way to hold them forward at the Leech end, there’s just the Velcro closure. Are my battens too short or am I missing something to fix them at the Luff?
See attached sketch showing what the end of the batten looks like as well as the pocket on the Luff of the Main.

 

[Jackdaw]

Battens are generally held in place by closing the opening at the leech. The receptacle at the luff is just to hold it securely so it does not damage the sail. Something must be wrong at the Velcro end... if the batten is the right size, maybe it is missing a cap that makes it stay in place.

 

[DevR375]

I suspected there should be something at the leech but I couldn’t see anything. I’ll have to inspect the sail more closely when I get back to the boat in a few months. The pocket at the luff does appear like there may have been a fastener of sorts in the through hole. Thanks

 

[Jackdaw]

I suspected there should be something at the leech but I couldn’t see anything. I’ll have to inspect the sail more closely when I get back to the boat in a few months. The pocket at the luff does appear like there may have been a fastener of sorts in the through hole. Thanks

If there is velcro there should be strap with matching velcro designed to hold the batten in. Looks like this in some form. Battens are always secured at the leech.

 

[DevR375]

Maybe it’s all tucked inside. The holes in the batten ends and the pocket at the luff don’t line up so it’s got to be something like this. Thanks again.

 

[Dave Groshong]

Maybe this file from Doyle will help, hmmmm, or maybe not, I thought there was much more to this file.

 

[DevR375]

My main is manufactured by UK Sailmakers and it may be original. The velcro flap just closes off the end at the leech, from what I recall. I’m not sure that the battens are original. It will be a few months before I can check the sail more closely. Thanks

 

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[Will Gilmore]

There doesn’t appear to be a way to hold them forward at the Leech

I am not familiar with the Velcro solution, but this is a typical batten tie at the leach.

Other solutions I've seen include a drop pocket where the leach end fits fully inside the pocket and drops down below the opening to secure it with a tight fit and gravity.

Not my favorite design but usually works.

- Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Ken13559]

Could you have put the batten in the wrong way?

 

[DevR375]

Will, the leech on my sail is different but the battens would seem to be suitable for the tie system you show. The batten pocket in the second example are what I have seen on smaller boats, like the Lazer I had. I’m becoming more convinced that the battens are not original.

Ken, the battens look the same on both ends. The previous owner may have tied them at the Luff end to keep them from sliding out of the pocket.

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

#DevR375 you have the batten reversed in the first image (hand drawn). The narrow end inserts in the receptacle at the luff, and there’s usually a batten car attached to the sail track at each batten. The wide end is held in place by the Velcro at the leech. If that’s not clear I can post example images.

 

[DevR375]

Larry, as I mentioned previously, the battens looks exactly the same at both ends, like on my crude sketch. They do fit into the batten cars on the luff of the sail, that’s the other part of the sketch. Unfortunately I’m a few months away from a closer inspection. Thanks

 

[Captain Larry-DH]

Hmmmm, never seen that setup. Perhaps a call to the sailmaker would be best. Good luck.