Tuning/adjusting sail battens.

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fredrussell

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New sail has screws at the luff for adjusting batten tension. There doesn’t seem to be advice re this on their website, and googling points towards tight for lower battens, looser for top ones. Anyone care to share their wisdom on this matter?
 
This also depends on...
  • Wind conditions.
  • Sail type. Lots of roach or no, and square top or no?
  • Batten type. Tapered?
Wrinkles out, of course. After that, it depends. In general, tight battens support the roach and increase draft.
 
BabaYaga said:
You will know they are too tight, if you tack in light wind and they do not flip over into the right shape…
Click to expand...
Agreed. When I had a new Sanders sail, the only thing Peter Sanders told me to watch for was that people overtighten them because it creates a nice looking shape but as you say, they then struggle to flip when you tack. Once you have it right, mark the batten box so you can get back to the correct setting each year without messing about
 
BabaYaga said:
You will know they are too tight, if you tack in light wind and they do not flip over into the right shape…
Click to expand...
stuartwineberg said:
Agreed. When I had a new Sanders sail, the only thing Peter Sanders told me to watch for was that people overtighten them because it creates a nice looking shape but as you say, they then struggle to flip when you tack. Once you have it right, mark the batten box so you can get back to the correct setting each year without messing about
Click to expand...

No, not really.

a. If the sail does not tack, either give the boom a flop or bear off a few degrees so the wind hits it harder. You could loosen the battens, but then you would have a flatter sail, which is probably not what you want in light air.

b. The batten tension will change as the sail stretches with use. The cloth will grow and the leach will need more support. It is quite unlikely that the exact same settings will last for more than a year. Mark them, but that is only a starting point.

Agreed, though, that some will over-tighten in the quest for a smoother sail.
 
If the battens are adjusted to a full shape it can be difficult to de-power the sail enough to stop at a mooring buoy, MOB, etc. Also, you can be caught out by a sudden gust and tipped over to some extent if you are not quick enough in dumping the mainsheet. Better to err on the side of a slightly flatter sail.
 
IME, the whole "pop over" and "too full" thing is really only a problem with aggressively pre-bent and/or rotating mast rigs. With more conventional rigs, unless severely tightened, they do not force that much shape, at least not down low.

If you tighten them just enough to take the wrinkles out you will be OK. If speed matters to you, then study the topic.
 
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