Vertical Battens on Furling Mainsail

[Lee Hadjiosif]

I'm in need of a new main and I'm exploring ways to eliminate luffing but still keep the furling option. My main has a luff line but I can never reach it to tension it while sailing since is over the bimini so It's useless to me. My sailmaker suggested that if I get a new sail to get it with vertical battens to gain some sail area plus eliminate luffing. Is there anyone who has done this and could share some thoughts? First hand experience please, not opinions!

 

[shemandr]

I had full length vertical battens on my H356 with Selden in mast furling. Let me tell you the ways that I hated them. No, the post would be way too long.
Those were described by my sailmaker (Not the OEM Sailmaker) as vertical battens 1.0. If you do get vertical length battens and there are good reasons to, get partial length vertical battens. And while mine were round, the last set my sailmaker gave me were almost flat but flexible enough to go into and not disrupt the in mast furling. The longest of my OEM battens approached 40'. They spent a winter taped to the rail in the passageway of the lightship Ambrose in Liberty Landing Marina. I should have left them there.
And that's not an opinion.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Our Neil Pryde in mast furling main came with vertical battens. There are 4 battens, each about 4’ long. Neil Pryde claims an in-battened furling main has 15% less sail area than a traditional main, and that the battens let them restore about half of that lost area.

The battens definitely do help keep the leech from fluttering. We had one get lost once and the difference was noticeable. With the battens the leech is as secure as a traditional main, although it’s still hard to get the same sail shape as horizontal battens give.

The batten pockets can be a weak spot. We’ve had to take ours to a sailmaker a couple times for repairs as the ends of the pockets tore. The last time the sailmaker seemed to do a better job of reinforcing the ends and they’ve been ok since them. Neil Pryde uses sewn pockets for the top and bottom of the pocket and Velcro along its leading edge.

We haven’t had any real problems with the battens furling. They generally go into the slot about the same as the rest of the sail.

 

[jssailem]

You are talking about Fluttering of the leach. Luffing occurs on the sail area along the mast, or the forestay.

Newer mainsails are rigged with a line to help tighten the leach. You can also get better cut sails that firm up the leach when the boom pulls down on the mainsail.

if you step out from underneath then bimini with the boom over the port or starboard side of the boat you should be able to reach up and adjust the leach tension while you hold onto the bimini frame to steady yourself.

 

[shemandr]

...The batten pockets can be a weak spot. We’ve had to take ours to a sailmaker a couple times for repairs as the ends of the pockets tore. The last time the sailmaker seemed to do a better job of reinforcing the ends and they’ve been ok since them. Neil Pryde uses sewn pockets for the top and bottom of the pocket and Velcro along its leading edge...

That was one of the things I hated about the full length vertical battens. There was so much compression in the batten that we couldn't make the bottom of the batten pocket strong enough to keep the batten in it. They would eventually pike through the pocket and create havoc on the deck. Carve up a dodger for instance?

 

[Davidasailor26]

That was one of the things I hated about the full length vertical battens. There was so much compression in the batten that we couldn't make the bottom of the batten pocket strong enough to keep the batten in it. They would eventually pike through the pocket and create havoc on the deck. Carve up a dodger for instance?

That does sound unpleasant. With the partial battens luckily the worst we had was just some unsightly spots.

 

[Davidasailor26]

My main has a luff line but I can never reach it to tension it while sailing since is over the bimini so It's useless to me.

The sailmaker should be able to run the leech line on the new sail through the clew ring, into a separate pocket along the foot, and terminate it near the tack. That’s how ours is done and it means you can trim the leech line even with the end of the boom inaccessible. Although the only time we needed to touch it was when we lost the one batten.

 

[DayDreamer41]

Our Sapphire (41DS) OEM had (4) 1/4" round carbon fiber full length verticle battens, we lost the first battan closes to the luff edge on her maiden voyage and never replaced it. When we had the new main made I had the loft add (4) vertical battan but only about 10' in length, it has not been an issue for going on (2) seasons, they certainly provide much better sail shape.

 

[capta]

Wow, I didn't think there would be so many against battens in IMRF. My first thought was don't do it. No, really, I can't think of any reason to screw up the best innovation since sliced bread. Most places I've sailed, if I wasn't racing, the bit of lost roach is nothing. For instance, in the Greater Antilles, very few people will leave the anchorage or dock without at least one reef. It's a hell of a lot easier to shake out a reef (though we rarely needed to) than tuck one underway.
When I bought Skipping Stone she had a tape drive (the worst idea in sail making since a spinnaker with a zipper), but it was tri-radial cut and it held it's shape pretty darn well even though it had holes in it big enough to climb through, when I ordered a new one. I got cheap when I replaced it and forever regretted not spending the extra few dollars.

 

[JamesG161]

First hand experience please, not opinions!

I have a luff adjust with tiny cleat on the sail.
I used to move the boom to adjust it, while others were at the Helm.

I got almost no improvement, thus not used anymore.

But...
My IMF main sail only provides ≈45% of my wind power.
Jim...