Iliade
Well-known member
Just don't stand on the stowed sail lest you pop a batten out of the car...
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.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.
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.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
Like my pics in #10. Full batten in full length batten, not its method of transport up the mast.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?
same here , even then it is a major painMy major problem is that I have to be almost dead head to wind to raise it or lower it - which can be a pain.
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.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.
Gosh! How Luddite...!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.
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?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
Slugs with wheels!a car for each batten with 4 nylon wheels that run on the mast