David - thanks for the photo and the description.  Also to the contribution of observations of good/bad tack.  On our Freedom, the rigging is set up for battens on the starboard side of the mast - sounds good for racing and getting off the line :)

Erik

I don't think I've mentioned this before, by over the winter, I made some changes to the battens.

The lower battens were 30mm diameter, and the higher, more highly stressed battens were 38mm diameter - all GRP tube. The 30mm diameter battens were a little more flexible than I liked. 

Now they are all 38mm diameter, and for the sake of getting the most stiffness and strength with the least weight, I invested in CFRP for the new tubes that I bought. I used the existing GRP tubes for the forward battens, where the extra weight would be helpful in dropping the sail, and used the new CFRP tubes for the after battens, where the reduced weight and increased stiffness was most beneficial.

At the same time, I moved the second hinge further aft, so that the sail camber line is now a smoother curve. The hinges are now at 30% and 56% of the batten length. Also at the same time, I re-machined the hinges to increase their half angle from 4° to 5°. The camber is now about 10%. These changes may have moved the CP a little further aft, but in my case this is a good thing, as I needed just a little more weather helm. The helm balance is now excellent, with very little rudder angle being needed on all points of sail.

David - as always thanks for the info.  If you have a chance, can you provide some pictures.  

Cheers,

Erik

Yes, last year I used short batten parcels and no LHP, and thought it to be workable for a small rig like mine. I achieved an adequate set without the LHP, but still needed a running line in the form of a downhaul. The point is that the LHP can do more than a downhaul - it pulls the sail in, down and back at the same time.

This year, I have made the batten parrels a little longer, so that the LHP becomes necessary to haul the sail back; further, it enables me to adjust the amount that the sail is hauled back, whereas the short batten parrels just fix the sail in one position. This doesn't matter where the mast is totally stiff, but does matter where there is some mast bend. 

You're right, I did change my mind. I aimed for simplicity in a small boat's rig, and found it to be not such a good option as I thought it would be.

But all this is by the way, when considering your rig. With a much larger sail, the use of short batten parrels would be insupportable, there would be an intolerably large amount of friction.

I've been playing with various configurations of THP, LHP and downhauls , and surprise,  surprise, the best option for the top of the sail seems to be a good old-fashioned LHP, working on the top three battens. Sometimes the old ways are the best. I still have a spanned downhaul for the first two reefs.