Vertical battens w/furling main

shemandr · Dec 26, 2016

Yes. I did have problems with the sail vertical battens and the Selden in mast furling. Focusing on the battens the originals were full length, round and would not go easily into the mast slot. At the suggestion of my sailmaker, we shortened the batten pockets and got new battens which were a little flexible in the fore-aft dimension but still stiff enough in the vertical dimension. After that the in mast furling worked much better. There has been a lot written on these forums on the subject of in-mast furling pro and con.

Jeff Jellick · Dec 26, 2016

RWSlater said:
This question goes out to any of you that have a selden furling main, and a Doyle (or any other) sail with the vertical battens. Do you have any issues with the sail "hanging up" coming out of the mast? The owner of the boat I recently bought said he had the issue and then removed the battens and now the sail unfurls and furls fine with no difficulty. I can't believe Selden would put the combo together (Doyle full battened with the in-mast furling) if it caused a problem. This is on a 45CC. Thoughts?

Ron

Ron,
I have the same problem with my 2005 Hunter 45 CC, Doyle Main Sail, full length round battens. In the later 45 CC's (maybe 2 to 3 years after ours) they went to the much shorter battens, and that seems to have solved the problem. Not sure if the shorter battens are flat or round.

Jeff

stuartsw · Dec 26, 2016

I have round verticals on our H36. I have heard of others who have changed out the batten shape with success. I decided to work with them, and after a year of reefing and shaking out in various conditions, discovered the best techniques to employ. Any problems that I now encounter are due to halyard tension issues. Use of the rachet system for fueling and reefing is critical in wind conditions above 15kn.
A battened sail is cut to be used with battens. The roach sags terribly without them.

Ronald Roman · Dec 26, 2016

If seldon could make that slot a half inch bigger I think it would solve 80% of the jam ups.

shemandr · Dec 26, 2016

I'm sorry I didn't explain very well. The full length battens were round. The new shorter ones were flatish. The shortened batten pockets started at the leech and extended maybe a 1/3 the way down the sail. It didn't appear that ending the battens in the middle of the sail was much worse than ending horizontal battens in the middle of the sail. Without battens the leech would sag badly.

stuartsw · Dec 26, 2016

Yes on the halyard. I had a racing partner who subscribed heartily to the concept of bagging the mainsail (I.e, slacking the halyard) for downwind work, a questionable advantage on a B&R rig. If he or I ever forgot to haul her back up tight before our upwind work, the furling would inevitably jam as a result.

stuartsw · Dec 26, 2016

Ronald Roman said:
If seldon could make that slot a half inch bigger I think it would solve 80% of the jam ups.

And likely allow for more sail folding issues on the intake, IMHO.

stuartsw · Dec 26, 2016

RWSlater said:
The leech line I'm sure won't make much difference in that

True. Been there, failed there. It's an issue of how the sail is cut, not how she is adjusted.

Patrik · Dec 29, 2016

I have three short round battens and have not had and problem with furling or unfurling the main. Se attached Picture
.

gfrazzle · Dec 30, 2016

This subject has been covered in the past but I'll repeat our experience.
We initially had the same problem with jamming when furling or reefing. We tried removing the battens but sail shape was not good. Replaced the battens with new ones but no help. We finally solved our problem by simply adjusting the rigging and modifying our reefing/ furling procedure.
When furling, adjust the boom with the topping lift so that the sail retracts parallel to the mast (reefing stripes equal distance at top/bottom of mast ). Once you find the right trim, mark the TL. Always turn directly into the wind when furling or reefing unless winds are very light.( Not a big deal unless you are racing ). We found that having the wind just to starboard so the sail rides against the port side of the mast slot works best. Keep very slight tension on the outhaul as you furl with the furling line. Winching is not required. This is easiest with two but can be done single handed as well. We have been using this technique for several years and it works great for us.
Our boat came rigged by the dealer with the reefing lines backwards so the sail furled the wrong way into the mast so check that first! Good luck.