Fully battened mainsails

[Iliade]

Just don't stand on the stowed sail lest you pop a batten out of the car...

 

[Kelpie]

Have had both, but not on the same boat so hard to compare performance directly.
We find that you have to be absolutely head to wind when raising or dropping sail, and you need to drop some halyard to depower. We did a few pirouettes around our mooring buoy before we worked that one out.

 

[geem]

We got new sails last year and we went for full battens for main and mizzen.

Our objective was to maximize sail area. We were able to increase the area of the mizzen by 20% for example and the main by 17%.

They give the sail a perfect shape and each batten can be individually adjusted for correct camber.

The first thing I did was to install lazy jacks on both main and mizzen to help containin the tings once they were down - folding new sails is like folding corrugated metal and of course the old sail covers fit like dress shirts after Christmas.

The improvement in performance has been staggeringly impressive.

My only worry is that, after sailing some 1300 miles with them, I suspect they might be more susceptible to chafe where the batten contact the lower shrouds.

Overall I'm very happy with them.

The trick with solving the chafe problem on a full batten mainsail is sail the boat for the first season. By the end of the season you should have some black marks from the lower shrouds on the batten pockets. Take the sail to your sailmaker and he can remove the batten pockets and sew webbing along the pockets at the chafe points. The webbing is super effective at stopping chafe. Alternatively, specify webbing on the pockets at the time you order the sail. You will likely end up with move webbing than you need but wont have the hassle and cost of the future modification.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Not so easy to get them up or down but overall in favour. Stack pack or lazy jacks required for me.

Less feedback when trimming compared to conventional main. On older styles, pockets can take a hammering.

 

[MoodySabre]

My f/b Crusader main is 10 years old and still looks great. My boat is also 31ft. They use(d) Sailman 3000 cars (the batten attachment is on a slug) and not the expensive Harken type. The only slight pain was having to change the sail gate to accommodate the cars. I'm very pleased with it and would buy again, but I'm hoping this one will see me out.

 

[geem]

Dan
I'm another much in favour of fully-battened. We also have a stackpack, which makes dropping in a hurry really quite easy. We also have Harken batt cars which I suggest are a vital part of the package. My main now 15 years old and looking good for a few more years. (Hope that isn't a fatal incitement to a big split!!)
Peter

Your post doesnt really help much does it? We dont know if you do 5nm sailing a year or 5000. A 15 year old sail kept in a cupboard would look pretty good. One that been around the world a couple of times might look a tad different.
My fully battened mainsail is 5 years old. Its done 20,000nm and will need replacing before next season. I could get a bit more life out of it if I was sailing around the coast of the UK but an old sail that needs maintenance can be a pain in the bum if you are offshore or far from a good sailmaker. All the batten cars are in good condition so we may well recycle those on a new sail.

 

[fredrussell]

Lots of references to batten cars - my main has battens that run full width of sail but no cars, just the usual slugs/ sail slides arrangement. Is it still a fully battened main or do you need cars to claim that?

 

[LadyInBed]

Lots of references to batten cars - my main has battens that run full width of sail but no cars, just the usual slugs/ sail slides arrangement. Is it still a fully battened main or do you need cars to claim that?

Like my pics in #10. Full batten in full length batten, not its method of transport up the mast.

 

[fredrussell]

Thought so. Mine is boats original main sail so 27 years old, but to my inexperienced eye it still sets ok.

 

[cherod]

My major problem is that I have to be almost dead head to wind to raise it or lower it - which can be a pain.

same here , even then it is a major pain

 

[Boathook]

My fully battered main has a car for each batten with 4 nylon wheels that run on the mast. They are held in place by sail slides that are part of the car. A bit of a halfway house compared with some but it works. Like others I ideally need to be head to wind to get the sail up and down but can reef as long as I depower the sail.

Edit. Managed to add a picture of the batten car.

 

[stuartwineberg]

Very much a fan of FB. Our old Moody points much better, sail shape is better. Agree it is heavy and us elderly (and small) people have invested in a winchrite. Like the comment in one post about new sails folding like corrugated iron, so true. The boom is very high on our centre cockpit boat and for me getting the sail zipped into the bag is quite a tussle. We do have lazy jacks. Also true you need to be dead to wind to raise and lower but we just set the autopilot to sail to the wind and let it get on with it. If you get it right the sail drops like a brick. We do have the Selden (used to be Rutgerson) ball cars. Sail by Sanders highly recommended.

 

[johnalison]

Very much a fan of FB. Our old Moody points much better, sail shape is better. Agree it is heavy and us elderly (and small) people have invested in a winchrite. Like the comment in one post about new sails folding like corrugated iron, so true. The boom is very high on our centre cockpit boat and for me getting the sail zipped into the bag is quite a tussle. We do have lazy jacks. Also true you need to be dead to wind to raise and lower but we just set the autopilot to sail to the wind and let it get on with it. If you get it right the sail drops like a brick. We do have the Selden (used to be Rutgerson) ball cars. Sail by Sanders highly recommended.

If you had something hi-tech, such as a tiller, then all you need to do is stand astride it and raise the main while steering head-to-wind. Rutgerson cars, or similar, highly recommended.

 

[zoidberg]

If you had something hi-tech, such as a tiller, then all you need to do is stand astride it

Gosh! How Luddite...!

You won't pass your Day Skipper with clever-dick tricks like that...!

Some rude fellow will be along soon and suggest you can stick the stick between the cheeks.... and waggle appropriately.

 

[ashtead]

My only concern is time taken to rig sail after cleaning but if covered you might only do this after a few years. The cars for the batten pockets have stupid small screws to open the seldom batten holders so if you have a calm day and steady dock it’s fine but loads of moving parts to lose when assembling . Otherwise once on they make life much easier but I guess add to sail weight somewhat .

 

[Joker]

Gosh! How Luddite...!

You won't pass your Day Skipper with clever-dick tricks like that...!

Some rude fellow will be along soon and suggest you can stick the stick between the cheeks.... and waggle appropriately.

Wheels are for cars - not boats.

 

[Stemar]

Wheels are for cars - not boats.

Can I remind you about that when you're coming back from Cherbourg in the pissing rain and a rising 7 and a boat with a wheel under its doghouse wanders by helmed by a bloke in a tee shirt?

Do agree, though, that a boat with a wheel out in the open is the worst of all worlds.

That should do it, I've upset pretty much everyone but the motorsailers

 

[zoidberg]

Can I remind you about that when you're coming back from Cherbourg in the pissing rain and a rising 7 and a boat with a wheel under its doghouse wanders by helmed by a bloke in a tee shirt?

Could be worse - 'a boat with a wheel under its doghouse wanders by helmed by a pretty girl in a tee shirt

Do agree, though, that a boat with a wheel out in the open is the worst of all worlds.

Have you considered the 'worserer of all worlds' of a boat with TWO wheels..?

That should do it, I've upset pretty much everyone but the motorsailers

Keep up the good work!

 

[LadyInBed]

a car for each batten with 4 nylon wheels that run on the mast

Slugs with wheels!
Good idea, could be home made using GHA's silicon mold technique

 

[ashtead]

6 wheels better than 4