In the past there has been discussion about losing battens with North Sails. I agreed to contact North Sails and find out what is going wrong. I did send an email to them but got no reply. The following is the email I just sent to James of coustomer service, North Sails, San Francisco. Hi James, I have a Hunter 216 with stock North Sails sails. I threw two lower battens (that is, I lost them while underway as they worked their way out of the pocket and flipped out into the water) before I finally drilled a hole in the end of each batten and sewed them into the batten pockets. Naturally this cost me some money as I purchased my replacement battens directly from Hunter. I have been on the hunterowners.com web site and the problem of throwing battens appears to be universal with Hunter 216 owners and other Hunter owners with North Sails. It appears as if their may be a design flaw in the batten pocket design??? I agreed to contact North Sails to see what your organization has to say about this. Is there a design flaw? What do you propose to do about it in the future? What do you propose we do about it now (sew them in like I did or what)? Sewing them in has the associated problem in that they are difficult to remove if one has more than one set of sails and wants to use the same battens for all sail sets. I personally have two sets of North Sails for my boat but I also have two sets of battens so it is not a problem for me. Others on hunterowners.com are waiting for your organization's answers. If you cannot address the issue, would you please forward this email to someone that can address the issue. Please be aware that I am not angry and the others on hunterowners.com do not appear to be angry...although most of us have spent money replacing lost battens. We all just want to make sure you are aware of the problem and we would like suggestions as to the best method of securing the battens so they will not work loose...and it would be nice if future purchases of North Sails had battens/batten pockets that did not throw battens.
Losing North Sails Battens
- Thread starter Ranger Paul18580
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Riggiing Tape
I have had this problem on other Hunter Sails and discussing the problem with the old heads. The conclusion, is what you have described and in addition,after installing the battens, making sure the insert openings are fully closed and secure, place rigging tape over the closed opening. I have done this on both the 212 and the 216 and have not lost a batten since.
I have had this problem on other Hunter Sails and discussing the problem with the old heads. The conclusion, is what you have described and in addition,after installing the battens, making sure the insert openings are fully closed and secure, place rigging tape over the closed opening. I have done this on both the 212 and the 216 and have not lost a batten since.
Never a Problem with North Main
Never had a problem what so ever with our HL-35 North main. And no leach hook either!
Never had a problem what so ever with our HL-35 North main. And no leach hook either!
I am angry!
I'm not angry at North Sails so much as at Hunter for paying so little attention to details in the design and specifications of this potentially good boat and then continuing to not pay much attention to fixing and assuring continuing satisfaction for the boats that are already in the hands of customers. It is Hunter's responsibility to deal with North as their supplier whether Hunter failed to write adequate specs or North failed to deliver. Aside from that, I think that if the batten ends on the lowers were the same design as the top one, the problem would not exist. I think that what happens is that the front of the batten slips off the elastic and then the batten is loose and subsequently finds it's way out. I told this to someone at Hunter at least a year ago.
I'm not angry at North Sails so much as at Hunter for paying so little attention to details in the design and specifications of this potentially good boat and then continuing to not pay much attention to fixing and assuring continuing satisfaction for the boats that are already in the hands of customers. It is Hunter's responsibility to deal with North as their supplier whether Hunter failed to write adequate specs or North failed to deliver. Aside from that, I think that if the batten ends on the lowers were the same design as the top one, the problem would not exist. I think that what happens is that the front of the batten slips off the elastic and then the batten is loose and subsequently finds it's way out. I told this to someone at Hunter at least a year ago.
Batten down the Battens
Don't feel so bad about "North Sails" not responding to you for a solution to their poor batten retention design. I have written no less than 15 e-mails to "Doyle Sails" looking for a similar solution and asked where I can get a replacement set of the factory style battens as my Hunter 23.5 was equipped with when new. Poor design also, the battens shake loose and pop out of the pockets. I have never yet received one answer from Doyle Sails and most of my e-mails were sent to them during their "slow" season. Hey- battens are not a big money maker,so, what the heck - they got our money for their sails when we bought the boats, so why should they be bothered with a better design ? They can keep selling us more batten$$$
Don't feel so bad about "North Sails" not responding to you for a solution to their poor batten retention design. I have written no less than 15 e-mails to "Doyle Sails" looking for a similar solution and asked where I can get a replacement set of the factory style battens as my Hunter 23.5 was equipped with when new. Poor design also, the battens shake loose and pop out of the pockets. I have never yet received one answer from Doyle Sails and most of my e-mails were sent to them during their "slow" season. Hey- battens are not a big money maker,so, what the heck - they got our money for their sails when we bought the boats, so why should they be bothered with a better design ? They can keep selling us more batten$$$
Battens
The battens pop loose in our 25.5. Frustrating to say the least. I plan to sew then in this year. Couple of loops of heavy dacron thread ought to hold. That would be easy to cut later.
The battens pop loose in our 25.5. Frustrating to say the least. I plan to sew then in this year. Couple of loops of heavy dacron thread ought to hold. That would be easy to cut later.
Batten Expense
I lost a batten from the Doyle main on my 240. I ordered a replacement from Doyle. I lost it too. I don't remember how expensive the replacement was, but I do remember it was too expensive to keep replacing. So, being the tight wad that I am, I bought an 8-foot piece of cabinet molding (I'm not sure of the specs, but it was about the skinniest stuff that Home Depot had), and I cut it into sections equivalent to the original batten sizes. I drilled a hole in the end and sewed the replacement in place. I'm sure that I'm losing something due to the fact that these are made of low tech wood, but I don't race so what the heck right. The total cost is a bit more than a buck a batten and I have a small stack of spares on board if one should break (hasn't happened in two years of use) or another one should work its way loose (also hasn't happened since sewing them in). I don't blame people for being hacked off since it seems like a common design flaw that should have a simple solution. Anyway, that's my two cents on the subject.
I lost a batten from the Doyle main on my 240. I ordered a replacement from Doyle. I lost it too. I don't remember how expensive the replacement was, but I do remember it was too expensive to keep replacing. So, being the tight wad that I am, I bought an 8-foot piece of cabinet molding (I'm not sure of the specs, but it was about the skinniest stuff that Home Depot had), and I cut it into sections equivalent to the original batten sizes. I drilled a hole in the end and sewed the replacement in place. I'm sure that I'm losing something due to the fact that these are made of low tech wood, but I don't race so what the heck right. The total cost is a bit more than a buck a batten and I have a small stack of spares on board if one should break (hasn't happened in two years of use) or another one should work its way loose (also hasn't happened since sewing them in). I don't blame people for being hacked off since it seems like a common design flaw that should have a simple solution. Anyway, that's my two cents on the subject.
Batten Loss - North Sails Contact Update
I have had several very nice and helpful emails from the customer service rep for the San Francisco North Sails dealer. He escalated the issue to corporate and I have not heard from them yet. I did get an email from Hunter saying my email had floated up to them. I'll keep everyone posted. Personally I don't think it is a Hunter problem. Why any sail loft would make batten pockets such that the battens flogged out is beyond me...unless they don't know this is happening...which could be the case! The San Francisco guy offered to fix my batten pockets at no charge if I brought him my sails. Of course, for me this is a 3.5 hour drive and impractical but he didn't know that!
I have had several very nice and helpful emails from the customer service rep for the San Francisco North Sails dealer. He escalated the issue to corporate and I have not heard from them yet. I did get an email from Hunter saying my email had floated up to them. I'll keep everyone posted. Personally I don't think it is a Hunter problem. Why any sail loft would make batten pockets such that the battens flogged out is beyond me...unless they don't know this is happening...which could be the case! The San Francisco guy offered to fix my batten pockets at no charge if I brought him my sails. Of course, for me this is a 3.5 hour drive and impractical but he didn't know that!
Batton source
I lost 2 battons of my own stupidity( Trying to install them on deck while motoring). I ordered replacement batton material from sail-rite. My doyle sails have a strap which folds over batton end and then tucks through a webb loop and the tail has velcro to hold it in place. This also is the tension adjustment for the battons. No trouble here.
I lost 2 battons of my own stupidity( Trying to install them on deck while motoring). I ordered replacement batton material from sail-rite. My doyle sails have a strap which folds over batton end and then tucks through a webb loop and the tail has velcro to hold it in place. This also is the tension adjustment for the battons. No trouble here.
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