# Full or partial battens?



## islands50 (Dec 4, 2007)

I am in the process of buying a new mainsail for cruising. Full or partial battens?


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

Had two sails with full and went back to top two full & the rest partial..

Personal choice really but I do prefer the tweak-ability with partials vs. full..


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## FSMike (Jan 15, 2010)

I prefer full battens (additional roach, no flogging, easier reefing), but be aware you will probably have to buy cars, track, etc. in addition to just the sail.


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## sharedwatch (Aug 9, 2008)

Maine Sail said:


> Had two sails with full and went back to top two full & the rest partial..
> 
> Personal choice really but I do prefer the tweak-ability with partials vs. full..


.......same here. The top batten can support the extra roach and with partials towards the bottom you can shape your sail better in my opinion.


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## tommays (Sep 9, 2008)

Watch out for the extra roach as when you get just enough to hang on the backstay it becomes a PITA


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## Michael K (Feb 27, 2006)

I hope no one minds me piggybacking this thread with a related question..

As an owner of a 30' x 17' one-off amateur built cruising catamaran I've become accustomed to finding solutions through experiments and settling for less than perfect outcomes. I've been pretty lucky for the most part, rarely having to re-work a part or a system. Everything functions well enough now but improving certain things would have a measurable payoff. Overall, the boat is a bit rough and does not merit a brand new mainsail. 

Currently I have a masthead rig and a pin top mainsail. When I fly the self-tacking jib the weather helm is non-existent to oh so slight. When I fly the 130 Genoa the lee helm is equally, if not a bit more than, slight. This leads me to believe I could replace the current pin top with a square top, move the CE a bit aft and gain more power in the process.

A typical full-battened main is cut to suit some pre-bend in the mast, yet my masthead rig has no pre-bend at all. As such, I'm thinking of buying a used too-tall pin top, cutting it down, and adding just one or two full battens. With just two battens hopefully I can forego battcars etc. Is this approach completely ridiculous?


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## pdqaltair (Nov 14, 2008)

*I think there may be more shaping possibilities with battens that are commonly known.*



sharedwatch said:


> .......same here. The top batten can support the extra roach and with partials towards the bottom you can shape your sail better in my opinion.


Many classes that use full battens are raced extensivly, and they have certainly learned all of the tricks. When you see full battens on and AC boat, we can say that they are slow.

Tapering to match the sail is one trick. Sail Delmarva: Search results for battens. It is easily done, but most sailmakers don't do it because it takes time and is best done after the sail is delivered and set. The leach was sagging 6" to leeward before; it was hard to look at. Without full battens it was a throw-away.

Full batten sails:
* cost more
* flog MUCH less
* catch on back stays
* generaly hold shape better
* chafe more, but only on the batten pockets, which can have guards added
* set better in the absense of heel
* generaly last longer
* are heavier
* don't tweek as easily in light air
* don't flop as much in light air
* are easier to flake
* are harder to store
* have unique hoisting problems (batten friction) when over ~55' luff

Thus, they suit cats very well. Monohulls I cannot speak to. A compromise (a few full battens) seems rational.

That batten taper subject remains valid.


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## Talyn (Feb 8, 2010)

*battenless sails for cruising*

Personal preference is no battens, period.

Especially for cruising, you want to keep cost and maintenance down as much as possible.
Any sail loft will show you the mountains of sails waiting to be repaired because the batten pockets have chafed through.

Performance wise, you're not loosing a significant enough portion of your sail area to be noticeable.. you might loose from 1/10th to 1/3 of a knot...

Another advantage is that a battenless main will always come down, which brings me to a small point only slightly off topic: particularly for short-handed cruising you want to be able to strike sail area in a hurry with no fuss.

cruising main with 3 reef points with properly reinforced clews, tacks, and reefs + a small (1/4" even) downhaul line spliced to your halyard.
with a preset slab reefing system you can bring down sail alone no problem in 3 quick moves and no battens will catch on shrouds, stays, or spreaders.


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## zz4gta (Aug 15, 2007)

You will get better performance and longer sail life with full battens. Chafe at the pockets are from battens being installed too tight.


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## puddinlegs (Jul 5, 2006)

Talyn said:


> Personal preference is no battens, period.
> 
> Especially for cruising, you want to keep cost and maintenance down as much as possible.
> Any sail loft will show you the mountains of sails waiting to be repaired because the batten pockets have chafed through.
> ...


With due respect, you need to talk to a sailmaker to get things straightened out. There are a number of very good reasons for battens in mains. I don't have time to go into detail at the moment, but maybe others will have time.

_(Battened mains, in my experience, have always come down without a problem. For short handing, sail handling systems, i.e., lazy jacks, etc... address the more critical issues as boat size and wind velocities increase.)_


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## jackdale (Dec 1, 2008)

tommays said:


> Watch out for the extra roach as when you get just enough to hang on the backstay it becomes a PITA


One option is a backstay whip.










It will probably require that the backstay be made a high modulus core, such as Spectra.

I have used one on a Beneteau 36.7.


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## Talyn (Feb 8, 2010)

puddinlegs said:


> With due respect, you need to talk to a sailmaker to get things straightened out. There are a number of very good reasons for battens in mains. I don't have time to go into detail at the moment, but maybe others will have time.
> 
> _(Battened mains, in my experience, have always come down without a problem. For short handing, sail handling systems, i.e., lazy jacks, etc... address the more critical issues as boat size and wind velocities increase.)_


Battens started appearing sometime around IOR if I'm not mistaken. It was an easy and cheap way to increase sail area given fixed JIPE measurements.

Over time it evolved to full cord battens to try and give the most aerodynamically efficient sail shape based on CFD (computational fluid dynamics) calculations (which makes one wonder about junk rigs). It in itself is a difficult feat as CFD only measures a particular shape at a particular time, not over time, as a sailboat's parameters are seldom the same from one moment to the next.

And don't get me wrong, the increased sail area, or anything that can added even a hair of a knot to a sailboat's speed is a fabulous feature for racing boats.

And yes, I have had a discussion with two British sail makers about batten chafe. And yes, someone I know with full battens on his main has had trouble getting it down because an odd angle can jam the (roller bearing) car on the track unless he's in irons (wind +/- ~20 deg).

However, the person asked about a cruising main, and unfortunately any mechanical part does eventually fail; the more its used, the sooner something is likely to happen.
If the object is not long distance or long term cruising but "weekend cruising", then the subject of cost and maintenance is not as important.


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## pdqaltair (Nov 14, 2008)

*I don't understand the fixation with jamming.*



Talyn said:


> Battens started appearing sometime around IOR if I'm not mistaken. It was an easy and cheap way to increase sail area given fixed JIPE measurements.
> 
> Over time it evolved to full cord battens to try and give the most aerodynamically efficient sail shape based on CFD (computational fluid dynamics) calculations (which makes one wonder about junk rigs). It in itself is a difficult feat as CFD only measures a particular shape at a particular time, not over time, as a sailboat's parameters are seldom the same from one moment to the next.
> 
> ...


I have spent 25 years on cats from 27-36', all with full batten mains and all with simple slug arraignments. I could always drop the main in any wind angle (that did not pin the sail to the spreaders) by releasing the main and letting it drop. I've never had to work hard to pull a main down.

As for wear, the main on the Stiletto was 31 years old when I sold it and I sailed it a lot and hard. It had wear many places, but none around the batten pockets (there were proper wear patches where it rested on the spreaders).

Maybe its maintenance. Maybe sail design. Maybe batten car systems aren't better unless the boat is quite large - critical maintenance.

I think this is not always a valid comparison point.

I think what I like best is that they never flog. Easy to pinch up in the gusts, or to travel way down.


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## Talyn (Feb 8, 2010)

pdqaltair said:


> I have spent 25 years on cats from 27-36', all with full batten mains and all with simple slug arraignments. I could always drop the main in any wind angle (that did not pin the sail to the spreaders) by releasing the main and letting it drop. I've never had to work hard to pull a main down.
> 
> As for wear, the main on the Stiletto was 31 years old when I sold it and I sailed it a lot and hard. It had wear many places, but none around the batten pockets (there were proper wear patches where it rested on the spreaders).
> 
> ...


wow, that is pretty awesome I have to say. We have a 10 year old main with 3 roach battens and I curse the damn things because they keep wearing holes in the cloth around the pocket.

It could be as you say, the better systems are designed for bigger boats.

It could also be, I think, something to do with designed obsolesance.
Just as with tools I have had from Germany and England that are older than I am, and the ones that you buy today are all made in China and they're cheapie disposables.
Its likely that similar things are done with all hardware you buy today, unless you pay the premium for it to be made like it was 20 years ago -designed to last.

I can definitely appreciate the no flogging aspect of it, I would get rid of the battens and recut a hollow in the leach to stop the sail work hardening itself to shreds from flogging, but I haven't the coin.
I guess I will just have to wait until the main corks it.


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## puddinlegs (Jul 5, 2006)

Talyn said:


> Battens started appearing sometime around IOR if I'm not mistaken. It was an easy and cheap way to increase sail area given fixed JIPE measurements.
> 
> Over time it evolved to full cord battens to try and give the most aerodynamically efficient sail shape based on CFD (computational fluid dynamics) calculations (which makes one wonder about junk rigs). It in itself is a difficult feat as CFD only measures a particular shape at a particular time, not over time, as a sailboat's parameters are seldom the same from one moment to the next.
> 
> ...


Your friend who couldn't get the main down... there's much more involved than just full battens. What car system were they using? There are a huge number of variables you've introduced in the equation. Baby, bath water, that sort of deal. Conversely, I'm not a fan of in mast furling, yet there's plenty of evidence it works very well.

For anyone who's interested:

battens

Kind of covers a number of the questions asked here.


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## Talyn (Feb 8, 2010)

*not trying to prove a point one way or the other...*



puddinlegs said:


> Your friend who couldn't get the main down... there's much more involved than just full battens. What car system were they using? There are a huge number of variables you've introduced in the equation. Baby, bath water, that sort of deal. Conversely, I'm not a fan of in mast furling, yet there's plenty of evidence it works very well...


He is using Harken ball-bearing sliders on an external t track, it seems that the force exerted on the bat-car by the batten at an odd angle actually stops it from moving up or down.

There are definitely pros and cons to any feature, piece of gear, and technology. 
Definitely more pros when everything works well.


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## pdqaltair (Nov 14, 2008)

*Given the rouble I've had with traveler cars, expecting a whole stack to be ...*



Talyn said:


> He is using Harken ball-bearing sliders on an external t track, it seems that the force exerted on the bat-car by the batten at an odd angle actually stops it from moving up or down.
> 
> There are definitely pros and cons to any feature, piece of gear, and technology.
> Definitely more pros when everything works well.


... trouble free is a stretch!

Really, they are designed for a straight-out pull. I'll stay with slugs.


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## FSMike (Jan 15, 2010)

The only worry I've ever had lowering the main is remembering to keep my fingers out from in between the cars, which tend to come down very rapidly if we blow the main halyard.


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## jmolan (Sep 5, 2009)

This from the designer of my boat John Marples. This is how he designs all his sails for charter and cruising boats. Both of which are really "work" boats.

_ Our mainsail for the Pacific cruise was battenless, with a slightly hollow roach. After 2 years and 20K miles, it looked like new - no chafe, no failures. It was loose footed with a D ring and without a headboard. It had a smaller area than the battened main, but it could be dropped on a downwind course, in heavy wind, without hanging up on the spreaders. I prefer battenless mains for that reason._


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## paulk (Jun 2, 2000)

We've had sails with a variety of batten combinations: full, short, and part both. Our mainsail hoists with the luffrope running up a groove in the extrusion; no cars or slugs. The full-batten sails are easier to handle and seem to last forever. Our current sailmaker repaired a ripped seam in our full-batten main last month. We'went racing in 30+knots, and reefing put additional stress on the leech when we cranked in the sheet and vang, so the seam tore open. He remarked that the outfit that made the sail went out of business about 15 years ago. He agreeed to repair it because it still seemed to have life left in the dacron. Since we're planning more cruising next season, getting the sail fixed seemed like a good idea. We thought about installing a track system when we got new mains for racing (twice, now) but have found we haven't needed it. Dead calm to 50 knot squalls, the sails come down when we need them to. Hang-ups that others have with their mast grooves may be a function of the angle of the batten in the sail; I don't know. The advantage of a track with cars or slugs would be having the luff of the sail attached to the mast so it would be less likely to flog around. The additional roach that longer battens up top allows can cause hangups on the backstay and additional chafe. Your sailmaker can adjust things to avoid this. Currently, our racing sails are full-battened on top, for additional sail area, and short battens on the bottom, to save weight. Battenless sails end up being more expensive because they flap themselves to death and need replacing sooner. They're also next to impossible to set properly. We raced to Bermuda with a battenless main, and out of the 635 miles felt it was well set for about half an hour: about 3 miles, all told. Dismal performance under sail means you turn on your engine, adding fuel to your expenses too. For long-term cruising, full battens seem to be the right choice.


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## Talyn (Feb 8, 2010)

paulk said:


> ...Battenless sails end up being more expensive because they flap themselves to death and need replacing sooner. They're also next to impossible to set properly. ...


A battenless, headboard-less main with a slight hollow cut in the roach will not flog and they set quite nicely.

Flogging in battenless mains could be cause by the existance of a headboard, which doesn't provide adequate support to the roach, a straight roach as opposed to a slight hollow, and quite possibly slipstream from overlapping headsails.


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## puddinlegs (Jul 5, 2006)

I'm sure batten-less would be fine for sailing off the wind, but I don't believe for a moment that it's a good choice for going upwind. I'm sure you'll let me I'm wrong Talyn... if so, we'll have to agree to disagree. I'll follow the rest of the lemmings and stick with battens.


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## zz4gta (Aug 15, 2007)

Ask any sail maker or pro racer. There's a reason why ALL of them use battens. If you're worried about batten chafe, talk to your sail maker and they'll help you prevent it. 

The pluses for full battens have already been stated. If someone is having trouble with dropping the main, then there's another problem. That's like breaking a shroud and blaming the mast for breaking. It's not the masts fault.


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## pdqaltair (Nov 14, 2008)

*I wonder why rudders efficient are eliptical...*



Talyn said:


> A battenless, headboard-less main with a slight hollow cut in the roach will not flog and they set quite nicely.
> 
> Flogging in battenless mains could be cause by the existence of a headboard, which doesn't provide adequate support to the roach, a straight roach as opposed to a slight hollow, and quite possibly slipstream from overlapping headsails.


... and not a triangular shape with a hollow? It's not a very efficient shape. Acceptable shape for a 150% genoa that has to get around the mast and perhaps furl. I've had smaller jibs with battens (added them to one, even) and they worked fine.

With few exceptions, those who have used battens would NEVER go back. I hear the vote to be about 5:1. It depends on whether the boat was designed for full battens. It depends on whether the sailor took the time to learn the tricks. I'm sure it depends on the sail maker, too. The trend is 100% clear for multihulls, where weight aloft means much less.


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## Talyn (Feb 8, 2010)

guys,

I'm not trying to prove anyone wrong, nor that I am right.

...speaking of lemmings.... that's how all design trends have evolved over the last 25-35 years. Racers try out a new technology or a new gimmick, it sticks and manufacturers start putting it in left, right, and center.

I am not disputing there are additions to the sail or rig that can make it more or less efficient on any particular course.
However, I disagree that battens add so much to sail shape for on and off wind performance that you so-absolutely-have-to-have-them or you'd be going nowhere without them.
Yes they add a little bit more shape control and give a nudge to improve performance upwind.

I tried to point out earlier that my opinion is based on pure, long-distance, hardcore, off the beaten path cruising. An environment where anything that adds maintenance (cost) or a potential for failure is a detraction from your cruising and could send you home much earlier.
Yes, all RACERS use battens whether full or partial, but they don't care about maintenance or cost - someone else pays the bills.
You can start a discussion about autofurlers and say the same things, it adds performance or not on a particular course blah blah, then take the racers that pay 10-15k on their furling gear, yet after more than a few transpacs and fastnets - only 1 out of 10 on average comes through without failing or jamming.

As for efficient shapes, that's a whole other discussion.
Saying that a roach (making the luff of the sail oval, from a 2D perspective) adds to aerodynamic performance is a misnomer.
It adds to sail area when off the wind - an advantage.
However you can argue that it detracts performance upwind; how? well there's more lift generated at the top of the sail then without the roach increasing the heel and thus reducing the amount of undisturbed air that the sail can transform into power. Conversely, if you add ballast to counteract the increased heel you've just made your boat heavier and therefore slower - again, detracting "performance".

An efficient sail shape (from a 3D perspective) is controlled by the cut of the individual parts and how they are assembled. Talking about an efficient 3D sail shape has to do with laminar airflow on both sides of the sail and including the effects of the slot effect when using headsails.

Basically, if you have *additional* luff (roach) - you *have*  to use battens to control the shape of it (since its unsupported by the basic geometric shape of the sail) otherwise it would disturb the laminar flow and create too much induced drag thus slowing you down, and again reducing "performance".


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## puddinlegs (Jul 5, 2006)

Talyn,

_"However you can argue that it detracts performance upwind; how? well there's more lift generated at the top of the sail then without the roach increasing the heel and thus reducing the amount of undisturbed air that the sail can transform into power. Conversely, if you add ballast to counteract the increased heel you've just made your boat heavier and therefore slower - again, detracting "performance"._

I'm curious, do you have any racing or high performance boat background? The very simple answer to your question about a full roached main upwind is 'twist'. And having to add weight are a bit odd. It sounds like you're applying all of this to a full keeled or shoal draft cruiser.

_ "You can start a discussion about autofurlers and say the same things, it adds performance or not on a particular course blah blah, then take the racers that pay 10-15k on their furling gear, yet after more than a few transpacs and fastnets - only 1 out of 10 on average comes through without failing or jamming."_

Very few race boats use furlers unless they use something like a code O, or in the open classes, and maybe some one design classes. 15k for a furler? Only on very very large boats. Sure, the open 60's, VO 70's, TP 52's, Maxi's, Mini-maxis might spend this kind of $$$ might be true, but these boats are pushing all performance envelopes vis a vis loads and size. The typical Transpac boat doesn't have furling sails. Regarding those that have genoa, staysail, or code zero furlers and the idea that only 1 out of 10 comes through without failing is just silly. If their failure rate was that high, no one in any class would use them for anything.

_"Yes, all RACERS use battens whether full or partial, but they don't care about maintenance or cost - someone else pays the bills."_

No... I do care about durability/workability/reliability precisely because I (and every other local racer around here) pay my own bills.

Where I draw the line is sail material, not battens. They work, they function as advertised. They also work to control leech shape on non-overlapping head sails... #3,4's, and 5's all have them and for good reason.

...ahhh, but why argue? If you're happy without them, more power to you. 

Cheers!


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## mitiempo (Sep 19, 2008)

I disagree with Nikolay. The shape of the luff at the top particularly of a mainsail adds to lift. Lift is created because the pressure is greater on the windward side than the leeward side of the sail. Not a misnomer but basic aerodynamics. The top part of a mainsail is not very efficient to windward because lift is lost much sooner than it should be. The lack of efficient sail area creates a vortex off the top of a mainsail. The more effective sail area there is at the top of the sail the more lift and therefore less drag. Of course there is a limit because of the constraints of the backstay but battens will give the sail some of this effective area that is lost if they're absent. Below is a diagram from Aero-Hydrodynamics of Sailing by Marchaj clearly showing the disturbance caused by this disturbance in the airflow. As long as the shape can be controlled by battens the more area at the top of the sail the greater the lift created. Lift = speed. This doesn't mean everybody should do this but there is a definite aerodynamic advantage to a large roach over a hollow cut main without battens.


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## olson34 (Oct 13, 2000)

Full Batten Mains became a fad in the early 80's. While they let the sailmaker use cheaper cloth, they also introduced chafing problems downwind. Hoisting and dropping then required reducing friction in the track, too.

Lots of racers adopted them at that time because anything new must be faster and cooler... 

The market evolved. To protect the sail from 90% of flogging damage, the top two battens are the most important, and in the last decade the best all-around solution seems to be the "two plus two". Two full length for the top and long battens for the lower half of the main. This also avoids the expense of adding a special low friction track-and-$lide system like the Tides or Harken system.

Any sailmaker will sell you anything that you insist that you want. So ask several for their honest recommendation and see what they say.

One thing for sure, _any_ style new maim will make your boat sail a lot better than it probably does now with an old baggy one! 

Regards,
L


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## HeartsContent (Sep 14, 2010)

I can say that a full battened sail with a big roach is powerful. Especially off the wind.

Loved the full batten main with a big beautiful roach on my Hobie and was able use the battens to tune it for the conditions. It was somewhat terrifying downwind as you really couldn't de-power it! They call it the wild thing flying a hull downwind. :O

As sails get bigger, they are more trouble to deal with.

Had partial battens on my Macgregor - there are a bunch of them on the bottom of the gulf around Clearwater if you want to dive for them!  Will never go that route ever again - partial battens suck.

Sailed on a great variety of "cruisers" and they all had full battens with the exception of the ones with roller furling mains. There must be something to that.

The roller furling mains have the cut out hollow that was mentioned earlier. It hurts performance and you really can't tune it very well. Funny enough, roller furling mains use vertical battens to try to add support to remove the hollow. The Selden Roller furlers seem pretty bullet proof but I suspect that a baggy sail could cause trouble in a roller furler.

I unless you have a roller furling main and the convenience that it provides, it really makes no sense to have a poor performing main sail with a cut out hollow. But I know many cruising sailors that power just about everywhere they go and rarely sail. Eventually, they buy trawlers.


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## JimsCAL (May 23, 2007)

Is there a reason why this 2+ year old thread was resurected?


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## RichH (Jul 10, 2000)

I design, loft and make my own sails.

My preference for a cruising Cross-cut or 'radial' cut high aspect dacron mainsail is:
1. two full batten + 2 long tapered battens + _3 auxiliary battens_ ( between two full battens and the head). 
Reason: 
The full battens will lessen flogging at the top section, where the proper amount of twist is already 'set'/designed into the sail. 
The long tapered lower battens makes it easier to reef and are subject to less chafe when reefed. 
The short aux. battens help support the sections between the head and battens #1 & #2 & #3 'when' the leech _inevitably_ become stretched (from aggressive mainsheet pressure as when 'power'-pinching, etc.). Chafe cover 'under' all reef clew position. (chafe patches along where the main hits/rubs on runners and aft shrouds.

2. "over the top" leech line control - leech line along the leech to a cheekblock on the headboard to a sleeve along the luff ... jam cleats at ALL possible reef positions: allows the all important leech tension to be adjusted from the base of the mast (can be arranged for adjustment from back in the cockpit). No need to hang over the side when the boom is 'out' to adjust the leech. 
All the reef position luff and leech 'cleats' so arranged/angled so that any tension 'from below' that position automatically 'releases' the 'above' cleat. - a safety consideration and "sail life" consideration --- if the leech is fluttering its destroying itself and its stitching.

3. "Extra length" (10-12") of luff boltrope, 'stored' at the headboard - enables easy DIY boltrope adjustment when the boltrope inevitably shrinks (hysterisis) due to cyclical halyard loads (the chief cause of 'baggy'/blown-out mainsail) ... such will enable easy restoration of sail SHAPE, by cutting the sail twine binding, remeasuring to the 'as designed' luff, hand sewing with sail needle, palm, and sailmakers twine. Dacron sails when used 'hard' typically need boltrope adjustment at ~200 hrs. or at least 'seasonally'. Dont do this and you wind up with a draft-aft, over-drafted, sail with a too tight leech. Sail lofts dont like to do this, as they sell far less mainsails because of this. 
When buying a 'new' dacron sail ... affix the head to 'something fixed', slightly raise the tack and hang a ~15lb weight to give constant tension to the luff .....'carefully' measure and record the luff length, so you know how much to adjust that bolt-rope when ultimately that boltrope shrinks.

4. Triple stitching on all seams with GoreTex Tenara PTFE thread - immune to UV damage, costly but cheaper than a 'restitch' job.

5. Reinforcement (small) triangular 'patches' at all panel seams at the leech -- thats where all stitching begins to break. Lessens the potential of having a 'zipper' occur during 'blammo' wind conditions. I also prefer to use PECO double sided sailmakers seam tape 'between' all the panel seams (belts and suspenders, in case the stitching does break - the PECO tape 'may' hold the sail together until proper repair).

All the above will double or _even triple_ the working service life of a woven dacron sail used for extensive cruising. My preference for distance cruising is high mod. woven dacron in a cross-cut config.: for more shape adjustability and 'service life' and is much _easier_ to 'correct' when a 'restitch' is needed.


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## Brent Swain (Jan 16, 2012)

My first mainsail was falling apart by the time I first crossed the Pacific with it. I had the roach cut off ,and got another 3,000 miles out of i, without popping a stitch. Battens are responsible for 80% of sail repairs. I havent had a mainsail with battens since the early 70s.
Two boats with full length battens came thru Fanning Island a while back. When I asked them what they thought of full length battens, they said " Battens suck." After they had sailed to New Zealand and back to BC, I asked them again, and they said" "Battens still suck"
The best cruising mainsails have no battens.


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## HeartsContent (Sep 14, 2010)

Brent Swain said:


> Two boats with full length battens came thru Fanning Island a while back. When I asked them what they thought of full length battens, they said " Battens suck." After they had sailed to New Zealand and back to BC, I asked them again, and they said" "Battens still suck"


Well that changes everything!


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## blt2ski (May 5, 2005)

this looks like an ignoramous thread, that is when threads get dug up that are some two to three years old........ignoring!


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