battened jib sails

[walt]

Im wondering why more racing type boats dont bother with battens in the jib sail? Hobie cat jibs typically do and if its a hank on jib, I dont think the battens would be too much hassle to deal with.. Seems its hard to even find someone who makes a battened jib. Is there just too little benifit if the non-battened jib is trimmed correctly?

 

[ITMaster]

I was wondering along these lines recently as well

about battens and the use of "air battens" so that they could be used with roller furling systems, for both the head and main sails. Didn't get a lot of response to it, but my buddie that races a lot out in California was telling me about them and how much more efficient I could sail. Course, I am not motivated enough about it to replace what I have right now, that hopefully has lots of life left in them.

 

[kendall]

Re: I was wondering along these lines recently as well

Been curious about that myself, I've been checking out the posts I find about battened jibs, but haven't found much information.

My feeling is that they'd have potential issues when tacking, I have two jibs that use battens, one is about right on at 100% so I can't see the battens causing any problem, but the other is a 140 or 150, and I can see where there is potential to hang up. Haven't flown either of them, as the boat came with a very nice jib and genoa, the battened ones came in a bundle of other sails I picked up that were the right size for the boat.

Ken

 

[Joe]

battened jibs

you said you were wondering why more racing boats don't use jib battens. My suggestion is that they are unnecessary for the headsail application. The main function of a batten is to support the roach and keep the leech from fluttering. Headsails aren't usually cut with a roach built into the leech. Fully battened headsails have to have the resistance of the mast/luff so tension can be applied to affect sail shape. That is impractical with a headsail, especially a hank on. Sail changes would very difficult and negate any other benefit. Full battens for shape would be impractical, partials for leech support unnecessary.

But the obvious reason is that the chances for breaking a headsail batten are very likely in a racing situation whenever the boat tacks. Just too much opportunity for failure for a limited benefit.

 

[Alan]

Battens in racing sails

My #3 blade jib has three battens in it. These short battens help to stabilize the leech in heavy air. This sail is very powerful in heavy weather and it has remarkable pointing ability. Because it is a non-overlapping jib it tacks quickly and easily and the battens are no problem at all.