Fitting a jib with leech battens into a headsail bag

Apex · Sep 9, 2020

edit sorry, misread: how hard are the battens to remove? Normal m.o. is to leech flake the sail. The leech of the sail is stacked on top of each other, while luff works its way back. All battens are then on top of each other, and That will allow you to fold teh sail in thirds once flaked and in it's bag.

DougM · Sep 9, 2020

Usually the battens are removable. Standard practice would be to remove them from their pockets, then fold and bag the sail. I cannot imagine that the battens would bet permanently stitched into the pockets. Then, I have never owned a boat with a hanked on jib, or a jib with battens

shemandr · Sep 9, 2020

I think he's gonna need a bigger bag. If the sail is only around 100% a larger bag might be workable. Otherwise it sounds like the 5 hank solution is about as good as it's going to get.

FastOlson · Sep 9, 2020

My North 97% RF jib has three vertical battens and they remove for sail storage. Some racing boats do use horizontal jib battens - and once dropped to the deck, they would have to be removed for storage.
Are the ones in question sewn in? FWIW, the sail builder provided the bag, and presumably also advised how to introduce the folded jib to it. (?)

ps: props to you for sailing a J-24 in the open Pacific in Hawaii!

If you get blown beyond the 'slot' you may end up taking an unintended thousand mile voyage...

Jackdaw · Sep 9, 2020

Lots of questions left

Are these battens horizontal or vertical. I'm assuming horizontal of the sail is hank-on. PS - I see sewn-in battens all the time.

I'm also assuming this bag is the type that is left on deck to store the sail, which is why you want the hanks to remain on the forestay.

I'm assuming you are not racing your J24 One Design.... that sail would be illegal.

Now the real question, why use that sail in the first place?? Battens are allowed on JIBS, which unlike genoas are allowed to have positive roach under most rating rules. Using a 'hundo' with roach is a smaller rated sail than a 110%, but with about the same area. In effect, a rule-beater.

So if the 110 and 100 are about them same area, why not just use the 110% that goes into the bag just fine?

DrJudyB · Sep 9, 2020

G0ri11@ said:
I have a Harken headsail bag that I've used for my 110% in the past, but am now trying to use with a jib that is actually smaller, but has 3 partial length battens along the leech. Unfortunately, the configuration is such that the battens overlap, so it's not really possible to roll or fold it front to back to fit it in this bag, which is quite a bit shorter than the full length of the sail.

I've managed to get it into the bag by undoing the top 5 or so hanks so that I can fold the first 2 battens over and overlap them with the third. This works, but I wonder if anyone knows a better way. Just trying to make things as convenient as possible. Reattaching 5 hanks is better than reattaching 13, but not as good as reattaching 0.

From your description, I assume the sail has horizontal battens. There is no “ better way” than what you’re doing, with a bag that’s wasn’t designed for what you want to do.

Get a longer bag, with the length equal to the LP. ( this will work only if the battens are perpendicular to the luff. If they are perpendicular to the leech, the sail may not fold easily with all the hanks attached.

Or take the battens our every time you store the sail if you want to use a bag that wasn’t designed for battens.

Alternatively,remove the battens permanently and recut the leech so it is hollow.

JudyB
Sailmaker

Jackdaw · Sep 9, 2020

DrJudyB said:
Alternatively, remove the battens permanently and recut the leech so it is hollow.

Spoken like a TRUE sailmaker!!! ;^)

Jackdaw · Sep 9, 2020

G0ri11@ said:
Yes, the battens are horizontal. I’m not sure the exact % for this sail. I think it actually is for a smaller boat. With the main reefed, it seems more manageable than the 110 when it is just my wife and I going for a casual sail with the wind 15-20 kts. You may be right that the approach is illogical, but we’re still pretty new to this.

The boat will never be raced one design; there are only a couple other J24s here and they are basically parts boats.

Getting a larger sail bag is probably the best solution. Any recommendations on manufacturer/source?

Removing the battens is more of a PITA than removing the 5 hanks. Guess I’ll stick with that until I find a bigger bag.

Thanks, everyone.

What you need a a long deployment bag for your headsail. I have a 15' long North bag... this one designed for rolling. True deployment bags would have zippers, but if your're not in a hurry you could use something like this. If you're interested I'll send it to you for $20+actual shipping. It's been sitting around for awhile in my 'loft'! ;^)

If you wanted to be real clever, you could open the long seam and and velcro pads or snaps... true deployment!

shemandr · Sep 9, 2020

You could design and make a bridle for it so the jib halyard would keep the bag a more or less even height off the deck and mostly flat.