Battens or no battens?
- Thread starter Dr. D
- Start date
Are you more concerned about the furling of your sail, or the sail shape to optimize the boats performance?
Battens are an integral part of the sail’s structure.
Perhaps information is important… Check this out from a major sail loft.
www.quantumsails.com
Battens are an integral part of the sail’s structure.
Perhaps information is important… Check this out from a major sail loft.
The Lowdown on Battens
Battens are an important part of the sail structure, but with many different options and different use cases, it can get confusing. Here is the lowdow...
www.quantumsails.com
Thanks, but that is for standard mainsails. In mast furling has different considerations. Yes, I am concerned with furling. I have not had problems with my current sail, though reducing chances for problems seems worth thinking about.
Neil Pryde claims an unbattened in mast furling main loses about 15% of its sail area versus traditional main, and that battens allow about half that area to be reclaimed. We have partial vertical battens in ours and haven’t had any significant problems. The batten pockets tore a couple times in the first few seasons but then I brought the sail to Chesapeake Sailmakers who made some stronger repairs and we’ve had no problems since. The furling seems to work just as well in the battened sections as anywhere else. One day when I get a new sail I’ll definitely go with the same configuration.
I have had one for two seasons and the only issue I have is the first pocket catches when coming out but a little extra pull on the line clears it. North Sails is correcting that now. Made a BIG difference in performance. My sailing buddies hate it 
(that is the old sail in the pic.)
(that is the old sail in the pic.)