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Removing or replacing battens at sea

  • 04 Sep 2012 00:43
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    Reply # 1063595 on 1056321
    Deleted user
    After tying a million square knots and twice that many stopper knots I'm beginning to see the wisdom in batten pockets.
  • 03 Sep 2012 10:56
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    Reply # 1063249 on 1056321
    Deleted user
    I think Graham's problems arose from his yard being under spec'd. When the yard went, the upper battens followed suit. So it helps to get the yard scantling right in the first instance. With your EasyGo, Robert, I think you have strong yards.

    I'm using a 100mm x 3mm x 4.7m alu tube for our yard, hope it is enough. There are no fabricated bits on it. We've ditched the schooner sail plan btw, this is for a sloop with 49.6 sqm sail.
  • 03 Sep 2012 09:58
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    Reply # 1063243 on 1056321
    Deleted user
    In many thousands of miles of Ocean passage making our one inch x 1/8 inch alloy battens have behaved themselves very well. Bending did occur in hurricane force winds but we left the bent battens, the top two on the main sail, in place until we arrived at our destination. Using a cleat and a block of wood they were gently returned to their original shape and moved down in the sail plan. Two part batten pockets make a great deal of sense for changing battens at sea.
  • 02 Sep 2012 20:25
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    Reply # 1062880 on 1056321
    Anonymous member
    Personally, if going offshore... I want my battens sized so that they do not bend (or break) in the first place. Even if that means they are on the heavy side for coastal sailing (LC's battens are 50x3mm T6 for the top three, 50x1.5 H8 for the rest. Both foresail and main use the same sections). Cause they have not been tested yet but we'll get there.

    If they are going to misbehave however, I think I'd prefer them to bend. I can nearly always make a plan to straighten them (at sea or on shore). A broken batten I may or may not be able to repair. Should the bend be so bad that I cannot straighten it, I could always cut it out and then splice it. Just as one would do for wood. To that end I'll carry tubing that I can use to splice with.

    I think aluminum battens actually offer more repair options than any other alternative. Of cause you would need to carry suitable spares and equipment to make use of those options but if you are going offshore, you'd do that...  (I hope).
  • 02 Sep 2012 02:54
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    Reply # 1062532 on 1062500
    Anonymous member
    Annie Hill wrote:The other thing to bear in mind is that if you can lash the broken batten to the whole one above or below and sail for thousands of miles like that, if you want to, so there is really no reason to think about it too much!  We used straps rather than batten pockets on Badger, which also made it easier to insert the battens.

    Maybe that's a good argument for wooden battens, Annie, or perhaps carbon fibre ones, especially for offshore boats.  My alloy battens bent, which meant I would have had to remove and straighten them if I wanted to sail to windward.  Given the sort of coastal sailing I am going to be doing for the immediate future, I will just wait until I get into sheltered waters before sorting it out, as I did on the last occasion.  I still have a deep sea mentality though and always look at things through an offshore voyager's prism.
  • 02 Sep 2012 01:23
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    Reply # 1062500 on 1056321
    Anonymous member
    The other thing to bear in mind is that if you can lash the broken batten to the whole one above or below and sail for thousands of miles like that, if you want to, so there is really no reason to think about it too much!  We used straps rather than batten pockets on Badger, which also made it easier to insert the battens.
  • 26 Aug 2012 12:02
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    Reply # 1056844 on 1056321
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Stavanger, Sunday

    Gary King’s idea of splitting the batten pockets in the middle of the sail sounds so good to me that I will adapt it in all my future designs. Then, when inserting the battens, I will no longer depend on a helping hand feeding the battens in from the dock. We just feed them in either direction through that new gap in the pocket. What was meant to be an emergency method could then well be the standard way of doing it!

    BTW, since the load in the batten pockets is so low, I would not be afraid of producing that pocket gap in a finished sail just by using a hot solder iron or hot-knife. I would just take care to not poke the iron through the sail or touch any of the seams.

    Arne
  • 26 Aug 2012 10:42
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    Reply # 1056804 on 1056321
    Anonymous member
    Gary and Gary, both of your solutions sound good.  I do have gaps in my batten pockets for the parrell attachments, not in the middle but it would be much easier doing it Gary King's way even so.  It never occurred to me!  I believe some people have used loops like Gary Pick with good results too.  Hooray, one less job to do! 
  • 26 Aug 2012 00:25
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    Reply # 1056583 on 1056321
    Anonymous member
    I sewed in webbing loops instead of a pocket but I have yet to see if it was good idea or not.
  • 25 Aug 2012 17:56
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    Reply # 1056396 on 1056321
    Deleted user
    I pondered this question myself, and figured on making the pockets in 2 parts, with a split in the middle, maybe a 20 or 30cm gap. This way the batten needs to be slid forward only half way to get an end out of the pocket then slid aft wards to have the whole thing removed. Would be handier than lashings. 
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