Batten Wedges

[stretch33]

All, A while ago l posted a question re fully battened mainsail - it would appear that there are some wedges that fit onto the battens, l'm scratching my head as to how they fit and what they do/how they work, any idea's folks
Phil

 

[Forbsie]

I'm afraid it's all greek to me but since you have not had an answer yet, this link may offer some assistance.
http://www.northsailsod.com/class/atlantic/atlantic_tuning.html

...on the other hand you are probably talking about something completely different. )

 

[Skyva_2]

I'm just about to put the battens back in my mainsail and as I do this only once per year its difficult to remember......but, on the main luff there should be a length of fabric tape about 1 inch wide. This goes round the end of the batten and back into the plastic wedge which should act like a buckle. The wedge fits into a stainless steel strap from forrard, with a cam that closes on the tape. This enables you to put compression on the batten and the tape retains the batten in the sail. Without knowing the type of wedge I can't guide you on the way the tape threads through, but a sailmaker would help you.

Not too much compression or the batten goes S shaped in light winds - not good sail shape.

I found it best to put some insulating tape round the cam to ensure they stayed closed.

Keith

 

[stretch33]

Thanks for the info, my batten wedges sound very similar to yours Keith so l'll have a play with them next w/e and see what happens. Will also have a look at the website suggested.