Batten Length

[Paul H]

Interested in knowing if the batten should protrude out of the sail pocket or should it sit completely inside. At one time or another I've lost all my original battens and have replaced them. Yes, this time we are going to sew those puppies in. Thanks Paul HS/V Linda Belle95 H26

 

[Paul Akers]

Inside the Pocket

Yes, the battens should be inside the pocket. Also make sure that you have batten caps on the ends to avoid chafing from the inside. If you haven't got batten caps, then tape them with rigging tape to affect the same result.Also, you may be reluctant to poke holes in your sail by sewing the battens in. What I do is to close off the batten pocket with sail repair tape. It can be removed easily when it's time to take the battens out for the winter.

 

[Bill O'Donovan]

One more thing

People have tendency to jam the batten in no matter what. This can force the sail to buckle. Trim it a little if necessary to get a nice fit,but don't regard it as a bow-and-arrow exercise.

 

[Rick Macdonald]

Do sails shrink?

My 95 23.5 came with ony the lowest batten. The original owner lost the other three. I replaced them using measurements that I got from Hunter. They all stick out at least half an inch, including the one original batten.Do sails shrink?With the protrusion, I wrap the flap over the end and secure it by wrapping a small platic "zip" wire tie. I trim the end off and melt it with a lighter to get a smooth ball on the stub that's left. (The velcro doesn't hold well any more.)Is there any harm in all of this? I don't fancy cutting them all and putting new tips on.

 

[Wanderer138]

Battens and leech telltales

As mentioned earlier, battens should be snug but not tight. I drilled a hole in the outer end of each batten and melted a hole in the batten pocket/sail directly over it using a hot ice pick. A single tie with light line and that was it, no more lost battens. The nylon zip-ties sound like an even better idea!For the final touch, surveyors flagging tape tied to the end of each batten makes great leech telltales. The tape is cheap (a 200 ft roll costs about $1), light, flies well, comes in bright colors and is very easy to see. On a properly trimmed mainsail, all leech telltales should stream straight aft when sailing upwind. Every boat should have some.PeterH23 "Raven"