Tapered vs. Non-tapered Battens

[Sailavie1]

Wondering if there are any performance benefits with tapered vs. non-tapered battens on a full battened main? My new laminate (full battened) main has non-tapered battens which work well to hold an effective foil shape at moderate and heavy winds. However, during light wind conditions, I would like to see more draft forward by slackening the outhaul, but the stiff battens prevent that. Just wondering if tapered battens would allow more draft forward during light winds and provide some additional power?

 

[Jackdaw]

Ugg maybe. But with full battens your best option is probably to have two sets, a soft and a stiff. For max performance even boats with 2+2 or 2+3 setups do this.

Tensioning the battens will also induce camber. Hopefully in the right place. Experiment.

 

[thinwater]

You're not going to get much shape adjustment with a laminate sail, unlike a polyester sail. Draft forward is more a matter of built in shape and mast prebend. Also, the stiff batten that supports the square top tends to keep it flat up high.

I would try increasing batten tension first. That will tell you if tapered battens might help. But mostly increasing tension will force draft. Beach cat sailors often adjust tension between races if the wind changes.

 

[Joe]

For that to be effective, you would need a way of ADDING tension to the battens in order to impart more draft. Otherwise, there will not be enough air pressure to bend the battens. My Nacra 5.2 has 10 full length tapered battens, the leech caps are designed for quick and easy tension adjustment. The adjustment is done on the beach as conditions merit, by simply tipping the boat over with the sail up. On the water might require practice. A package of 10, that are glued to your foam or fiberglass battens, is about $19.00 from Murrays.com.

By the way, tapered battens are intended to bend at the luff end and remain stiff at the leech. So as tension is increased, the draft position will stay forward of mid chord as the depth is increased. Fiberglass battens are "tapered" by shaving them thinner at the forward end, while foam filled battens (such as those on my Nacra) are tapered by trimming the width at the luff end.