Fully Battened M'sails

[Windfall]

Fully Battened M\'sails

Hello

Me again! Still thinking about our new sails and trying to weigh up the advantages of a fully battened main. Sail maker keen, sailiing friend (guru) not so.

We have a She31b - tiny mainsail BIG genoa.

Can anyone offer any advice?

cheers

(one day I'll stop asking questions)

Sharon

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[Sammy]

Re: Fully Battened M\'sails

Went through all the arguments and ended up going for a standard main in the end. Fully battened main considerably heavier, more prone to problems re batten cars, a lot more expensive and very little gain if any with a small mainsail.
Ended up buying on line with Telesails (Kemps). Had no problems sail is good.

<hr width=100% size=1>www.BoatsThames.com

 

[jimi]

Re: Fully Battened M\'sails

Talk to the guy at Kemp's I had a long chat with him on that very subject. He reckoned thar a 3/4 battened sail gave you virtually all the advantages of a fully battened main with none of the disadvantages. 1)cost 2)abilitity to depower quickly.

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[LORDNELSON]

Re: Fully Battened M\'sails

Last year I went from a traditional main to fully battened. In comparison with our old sail, which was pretty well used, I would not go back! We sail closer to the wind, more power at lower wind speeds. centre of effort seems to have moved forward which in our case gives better balance. The sail dumps in its statpack on the boom very well(we use lazy jacks) and this is easy to zip up. I think you have to go the whole hog if you do go fully battened and I had the Facnor track put on the mast with ball bearing cars. Hoisting the sail is a little more effort than before. We have the same sail situation as you - Big genoa and small mainsail but a tubbier boat (Southerly 115). For a 37 foot boat the cost worked out at about £1996 complete with all fixings and I have been very pleased with its cut and quality (Crusader). The only downside is the the little jacket which fixes around the forward end of the boom and the mast, its a fiddle to fix it in position. Hope this is useful.

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[qsiv]

Re: Fully Battened M\'sails

I too have a fully battened main on current boat. It works very well - but we are almost the opposite to you large main (700 sq ft) and a blade jib (600 sq ft). The main is on (Rutgerson) cars and goes up and down like a dream (one sweating, one tailing about 20 seconds). I wouldnt want otherwise. The silence of a FB main is quite eerie to start with - but the stability and power are a real revelation.

If you do go the FB route - dont forget a spare batten or two - just in case you are unlucky enough to break a batten (not likely with such a high aspect ratio main).

The new boat (next year) will only have 2 full length battens, the others being shorties, the primary reason being weight reduction (it is a race boat). There should also be a crew to help stow it!

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[alan]

Re: Fully Battened M\'sails

I bought a fully battened main for my Oceanis 311 and am very pleased with performance, particularly with light wind conditions. This was from Crusader and uses Aquabatten boxes and normal sliders (sliders are bigger than with old main though), so no special track or cars. The big "disadvantage" I have found is that I have to go forward to pull the main up whilst the wife tails and steers (there is too much friction to pull it up (easily) from the cockpit; the sail only needs to get a little wind and the batten(s) 'ping' and the sail starts to power. Getting it down into the lazy bag is a dream - doesn't do it completely on its own but nearly!! If I was going to buy another main then I would probably go with a 3/4 fully batten or two full battens at the top and the rest 3/4.
I agree with another reply, talk to two or three sail makers and then try and weigh up the advice. BUT go for a full batten of some sort - you won't reget it!!
Good luck.

<hr width=100% size=1>Alan Cloke

 

[bigmart]

Re: Fully Battened M\'sails

I bought a new Main with a Stack Pack lazy Jack System at the boat show. I asked all the manufacturers I found about Fully Battened Mains & the advice varied. I think it depended on how much turnover they were seeking. The advice that I took was that for a small yacht (mine is a 26 footer) 9 feet in the foot of the sail 29 feet in the Luff, that Full Battens are uneccessary & just add cost & weight to the sail. I must say I am very pleased with the setup I purchased (Arun Sails). A larger boat would be a different matter.

Why not ask the Sailmakers?

Martin

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[Gordonmc]

Re: Fully Battened M\'sails

I have a main with six full length battens, the lowest of which is just short of the boom length. I inherited the system which was used to compensate for a relatively short mast.

The disadvantages all relate to stowing the sail. Even head into wind the sail holds onto a breeze and has to be pulled down by hand. Because of the length of the foot the lazy jacks can't cope with the topping lift in tension, so the aft end drops into the cockpit.

These minor downsides are worth it when the sail is up. I don't have a problem setting single handed from the cockpit thanks to four-wheel batten cars. Two turns on the winch will tension up sufficiently. The main never flogs and any slight flutter is dealt with by a luff rope.

As you will have gleaned, I don't race the boat and I had early trepidation about the massive battens. I wouldn't change now.

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[mikeb]

Re: Fully Battened M\'sails

I had a fully battened mainsail made for my last boat, a Sadler 29. The S29 has a large Genoa and relatively small main. Everyone who sailed on the boat remarked about the sail it was excellent. The disadvantages others refer to are true, we had good cars (Ruttgensen) but even with these you could not raise or lower the sail other tahn dead head to wind.

But it takes a few minutes to raise and lower the sail for hours of good sailing, closer to the wind etc

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[Peppermint]

Re: Not the only option

I would say, having sailed scads of big performance boats with FBM's, that the cost/benifits would be harder to find on a small main.

If you do go that way spend plenty on good cars.

I'm waiting for Doyles to cost putting a full top batten on my main. They've more or less convinced me that it'll improve the set enough for not many quids.

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[david_e]

Re: Fully Battened M\'sails

I have one on my First 31.7 with Rutgerson cars, find it stable and easy to handle, points well and when the large genoa is powering to the max, the backwinding on the main is easier to handle.



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