Dear Arne and others, I will publish full details of my experience with this rig in the next newsletter but if anyone wants to experiment over the summer these are my batten details.
The battens are made from 1"x1/2" rectangular aluminium tube. These come in 5 metre lengths and weigh 0.3 kilos/metre. I bought mine from Richard Austin Alloys. Bought singly they cost £25 each including VAT. Bought as a bundle of 14 they cost £10.80 each inc vat.
The cross-rods are cut from 8 mm 316 grade Stainless Steel rod also form Richard Austin. These come in 3 metre lengths and cost about £16.20 each including vat.
The tubes are marked and drilled for the jib and main luff and leech eyelets. Each tube is drilled right through for the main luff and leech and the jib luff. The jib leech is drilled on the insides only. The main leech is positioned then a 7.6 mm cable tie is threaded through it and both tubes and pulled loosely to start with. The cross-rod is inserted through the jib leech and the rod ends inserted into the socket holes. Next the jib luff is threaded with 2 cable-ties, centred then pulled tight through both tubes forming the wishbone. Finally the main luff is threaded with 2 or 3 cable ties, centred then pulled tight through both holes. Lastly the aft battens ends are closed with a small riveted alloy plate, a bull's eye block screwed on and the aft cable tie finally tensioned.
7.6 mm cable ties can hold a pull of 50 lbs (22.6 kilos). Where the sides of the battens touch the mast they are cushioned with pieces of 15 mm plastic plumbing pipe.
The wishbone battens get their shape from the S/S rod pushing the sides out against the tension of the fore and aft cable ties and are prevented from falling out by the tension of the main luff cable ties. This means that the tubes do not need to be bent first. I have a gap of 150 mm (6") between the jib leech and the main luff to allow room for the mast.
Happy experimenting!
Paul