New Battens?

[Dave Crowley]

It appears that my new (new to me - it's a '97) Hunter has some strange agreement with the sea gods - I have to toss something into the water every weekend. Last weekend it was the winch handle (being replaced by a locking, floating one! ) This weekend it was one of my battens. Long story short - the topping lift 'flipped' the velcro open and before we could come about and get the sail down the second to the top batten went for a swim. They don't float for even a second, by the way. So - how do I got about getting new battens? I have the original sail with full battens but didn't see anything in the Chandlery or in the catalogs. Any ideas?Thanks,Dave

 

[Darren Mayes]

Cut your own?

Buy the stock from West Marine and cut to size...

 

[Dave Crowley]

Great!

Thanks Darren - I didn't see that in the search I did. Any tips on cutting fiberglass? (I don't know why, but I've heard it can be 'tricky' to cut -- could I just use a hack saw with a fine blade?)Appreciate your quick response to my original post!Dave

 

[Rick Macdonald]

More info in the archives

There was some discussion in the archives back in July about various ways to keep the pockets closed. Sewing shut, etc. Since my battens stick out about an inch I use cable ties to cinch them shut. The thread was "240 battens".

 

[Darren Mayes]

If you only need the one...

When I read the details of the link that I sent to you. You would basically put in the zie that you need and they would cut it to your desired length. You might just do a search on battens - they have both tapered and non-tapered - I don't know which you need.If you need more than one. The description on that link states to put the overall length of batten material that you need and then put specific sizes for each batten down in shipping notes or something like that.

 

[Randy]

been there recently

If it's the same as the 240 you'll want to purchase 5/8 protruded fiberglass. It cost about $1 a foot at west marine.I cut mine with a power miter saw just go nice and slow as you slice through it or it will want to splinter on you.I drilled to small holes about 1/2" apart on the trailing end of the batten to alow me to put a couple stitches through the velcro loop and keep them from coming out in the future.I also took a file and round off both ends of the batten to eliminate the need for caps. If you don't have caps or have the rounded off they can tear through the pockets.It seems like the 2nd batten down was 68 1/2" so you may want to add a couple inchs to that if the 260 sail is bigger than the 240.I hope that helps.

 

[Paul H]

Hey Dave!!!

Had to replace the battens in my sail a couple of times. Randy is right about the size of the battens. I used a mitre box and a file to bevel the edges so they don't catch on any thing. Then I used sail tape to cover the velcro flap. Viola!! haven't lost any -yet .Paul HS/V Linda Belle95 H26

 

[Mark]

A suggestion

When you make the new ones glue batten ends to them. This way you can tie them in as well as the valcro.Also make sure that prior to fastening the valcro make sure that you pass the valcro strip through the "pocket" at the edge of the sail and then fold over and fasten.

 

[Dave Crowley]

Thanks Mark

Thanks for the tips, Mark. I'm pretty sure I don't have the pockets on the leech for either the battens or the velcro strap, but I'll double check this weekend. My previous boat (a Tanzer 22) had very tight leech pockets for the battens, and while it was a royal pain in the butt to get the battens in and out, I can understand that sail design a lot better now!As always, I appreciate everyone's advice and help -- I have the new batten material on order and next season I'll just stitch, tie, tape and glue those suckers in there. ;-)Dave

 

[Bill and Nancy Berg]

Topping Lift cost us a batten, too.

We've lost a batten when the (eased) topping lift caught in the end of the fold over strap past the velcro. I sewed the others closed but thought the velcro with the strap would work. I plan to sew that one too. Rigid vang will solve that some day.