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Without main battens how much does the lack of battens effect sail efficiency. How many of you are sailing without battens? If battens are an indispensable accessory could someone suggest a source

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J

Never heard of any advantage in not having battens. Stock ones aren't much and fall out all too easily. I replaced mine at Westmarine. You'll need 3 No. 30" tapered fibreglass battens (Item 206151) and 1 No 24" (item 104067).
Happy sailing

Sailing without battens will do two things:

1. Ruin the sail as it will accelerate stretching.

2. Decrease performance dramatically.

If you are sailing without them now and do not notice an appreciable difference, the sail is probably shot.

Regards,

Art

I did not use battens for the first two years I had my X boat and was learning about sailing. If was my first boat of any kind. The trailing edge, or leech, of the mainsail was often flapping. I thought it was because of the loose leech tension line that ran along the leech. I snugged that line like crazy until the mainsail looked like a bag. I was just learning all I could about sailing and I thought battens were just an added touch to the sailing sport, like lifting your pinkie while sipping tea.

At the end of my second season, I began to use battens and the flapping stopped. Lessoned learned. They are definitely useful.

But, as I was still learning, and slowly at that, I got into several unintended gybes that shot several battens out of their pockets like rockets. I replaced them with WM battens at maybe $15 or so each. After losing more batten before learning how to tie off the main to prevent the bad gybes, I decided to make my battens out of strips of oak on my table saw. I have been using oak battens ever since. I cut them just tight enough that it is a struggle to put them in and I break them sometimes when I bundle up the sail at anchor and forget to take them out. But, it works for me.

My $.02

Battens move the draft of the sail forward, thus keeping an aerfoil shape. The air then exits the leech along a straight line with no turbulance. Without them, the lift pulls more to leeward (and not-so-much forward) and there is a lot more drag overall. As Art said, it's really hard on the sail and will wear it out more quickly.

~Bob

They certainly help the shape of the sail, but their main purpose is to support the extra fabric on the leech of the sail. If the sail was a pure triangle you would not need them, but since the leech is curved out beyond the triangle shape it needs the battens to support that section of the sail. Without them it just flaps around. Why would you not want to use them? I see no advantage to leaving them out.

The power/lift of the mainsail is released at the leech. Not having battens spills that power, causes an annoying leech flutter and takes a toll on the sail, as Art and others pointed out. Only battenless sails I'm aware of are those designed for roller furling mainsails... the type the furl at the mast. The later versions use vertical battens which are not as effective, but better than nothing. Bottom line, get some battens! Virtually all quality sails are designed with batten pockets that keep the battens from coming out. The Mac OEM sail is not. They pop out all too easily. I had to replace an entire set. Stitching up the batten pockets resolved the problem. I found that the west marine replacements were not quite right. Your Mac dealer can get you a full set of OEM battens. If you go that route, stitch up the pockets right after you install the battens.

fair winds,
L.

BigNige wrote:Never heard of any advantage in not having battens. Stock ones aren't much and fall out all too easily. I replaced mine at Westmarine. You'll need 3 No. 30" tapered fibreglass battens (Item 206151) and 1 No 24" (item 104067).
Happy sailing

OR

Buy a length of batton at WM (or where ever) and cut your own. I used to seal the end of the battons in with sail tape and never lost one.

Rick Less

I bought some 5/8" batten stock from Sailrite to make replacements for our X. I used the square batten end caps and haven't had any problems with battens coming out since. Keeps them firmly in place, yet easy to remove at the end of the year for bag storage.
http://www.sailrite.com/Batten-End-Caps-5-8

I kept losing battens as they fell out they sank immediately so I made a set of battens out of some scrap teak stock. I sealed them with a couple of coats of varathane. works great

I like full battens! Have converted two mains to full battens. Ordered my new main with them. (loose foot too, btw) Love it!
SK

Very interesting, I have not paid attention to this on a Mac. I assumed that the battens tied in on the leach end like you do on a Hobie sail. Otherwise, how do you tension them to get the correct sail shape?

Jim

Jim,
If your question is to me:

When I added full battens to the first sail, the battens, indeed tied into the pocket at the leech. They could be tensioned quite a lot. I found this a good system, but the battens are very limber for this type of sail and a lot of tension is not really necessary. It is more of a support issue than a shape changing one.

On the next sail, I used a velcro closure on the pocket end. This worked okay, but a little more tension would have been better.

My new mainsl has an ingenious pocket end that is sort of automatic. I'll try to explain it:
There is a strip of webbing, around a foot long, sticking out directly behind each pocket. This webbing has a small pocket built into the end of it and has one side of a velcro strip sewn onto it. It also has a loop of cord sewn to it's end (like leech cord). The inside of the batten pocket has the other side of the velcro strip sewn to the inside of it. You slip the batten into the pocket, being sure to engage the luff end into the plastic slot thingy (old salt language ) at the slug. Now you insert the batten tool into the little pocket in the end of the strip (the batten tool is like a short batten itself that is tapered and has a loop of webbing on one end). You then shove the tool, with strip into the back of the batten pocket. The velcro engages when you pull the tool out. This tensions the batten and secures it in place at the same time. What is left is a small loop of leech cord, just sticking out of the back of the pocket. To remove the batten, You hold this loop and shove the tool down into the pocket, which breaks the lock between the velcro. Then pull the loop and out comes the strip and the batten can be removed.

And btw, this is the most secure batten pocket closure I've ever seen. They never slip or come loose.

If I can remember, I'll take some pictures of this setup and put them online.

The battens are no bigger than the stock battens (maybe slightly thicker). They just run the full length from luff to leech. You can tighten them somewhat by pushing the tool in farther before locking the velcro. I think they are perfect for this type of main. They provide great support to the sail, but they never refuse to pop to the other side when tacking (well, the very top one has a couple of times, as did the top one on Stars and Stripes that time I sailed her). Life is rarely perfect even for the pros.

If you want, pm me to remind me you want pics. I'll also take a couple shots of the batten slugs too.

I have to say again too btw, I really like the loose foot. The only reason I can think of to have a captive foot on your mainsl, is to gather rain water when you're out in the middle of a passage. (which is not likely in a Mac 26.)

Best breezes,
Steve K

Steve, I agree, a loose foot is the way to go. I like full battens too. I have two at the top of my sail. The other two are 60% and 40% girth. If I had to do it over again, I would probably have 3 full. I like the bottom one partial to take advantage of the loose foot when you want draft in the sail.

Very interesting, I have not paid attention to this on a Mac. I assumed that the battens tied in on the leach end like you do on a Hobie sail. Otherwise, how do you tension them to get the correct sail shape?

Jim

The stock sail has not batten tension adjustment. The end towards the luff hits a rubber band type deal. The leech end is in a velcro pocket. Not a good system. My Quantum sail has loops of strong, thin line sewn to the leech where the batten pockets open. A plastic fitting slips over the batten at the pocket and the loop wraps over the fitting. Then a screw is tichtened on the fitting which pushes the batten to control the tension, also making the loop tight. It is an excellent system where the batten simply can't come out unless something breaks.

Leon