Fully Battened Mainsail

[David Sabourin]

Have any of you Cape Dory owners out ther had any experience, good or bad, with the use of a fully battened main? I'm about to replace the 10 year old main on my CD36 and had considered going to this design. I know it's kind of a radical looking sail compared to the traditional looks of the Cape Dory, but I've heard good things about thier performance on other boats.

HAPPY HAOLIDAYS

David



hatter11@erols.com

[Ron Polichnowski]

On a boat that size I prefer both. That is, full battens on the top 2 or 3 and partials on the remainder.



repcpa@prodigy.net

[chuck yahrling]

Have any of you Cape Dory owners out ther had any experience, good or bad, with the use of a fully battened main? I'm about to replace the 10 year old main on my CD36 and had considered going to this design. I know it's kind of a radical looking sail compared to the traditional looks of the Cape Dory, but I've heard good things about thier performance on other boats.

HAPPY HAOLIDAYS

David

Things to consider about fully battened vs partial (2+n) systems:

Full battens give great shape control (and easy flaking) for flat sail and good anti-flogging characteristics but can compromise your ability to put leach twist in when you want it.

Partial battens (two full at top of sail, shorter battens on bottom half) do almost as well for keeping the leach from twisting of at the top but allow more twist when off the wind in light to moderate conditions. They may also be better for jiffy reefing systems, and are considered more than adequate for cruising/racing performance.

With either system you should consider some type of roller car at the batten end to avoid binding when raising or lowering.



yahrling@cybertours.com

[Duane Yoslov]

I am having a mainsail and staysail built for my 1987 CD330 #142 'Father's Folly' right now by Sutter Sails of Sausalito. I considered a fully battened main and in consulting my sailmaker it does have distinct advantages like better sail shape and easy reefing and flaking. But weighing that against the additional costs and longevity of a traditional sail I opted for the latter. I am interested in other options you have chosen for your sail - how many reef points? etc. Good luck.

DY

Have any of you Cape Dory owners out ther had any experience, good or bad, with the use of a fully battened main? I'm about to replace the 10 year old main on my CD36 and had considered going to this design. I know it's kind of a radical looking sail compared to the traditional looks of the Cape Dory, but I've heard good things about thier performance on other boats.

HAPPY HAOLIDAYS

David

[Jon F. larson]

David, I must say I appreciate your asking about the fully battned mains. PERI is still running around with her original sails (1981). I did have the main recut, but the sailmaker did talk about the improved fabrics, etc. A friend with a CD30 did get a fully battened main on her boat, the shape is great, the absence of flogging when going dead upwind is great. She's had all the lines run back to the cockpit, so I'm not sure if it is the extra run or the added friction caused by the batten cars, but it is a winch job getting that main up. PERI with her old fashioned rig is a fast hand over hand to raise the main, a plus when single handing. The cars for the fully battened main also caused the gate to be modified in order to get the cars into the sail track on the mast, that modification also seems to hang up the intermediate slides on the main which can necessitate going forward to free things up.

So, I'm watching and listening, I haven't a clue what I'd do if I needed/wanted a new main right now. I suspect I'd go with something pretty traditional in keeping with the boat. The sailmaker did suggest longer battens if not full battens. I'd consider that, also.

Jon Larson
Cape Dory 30 PERI
San Francisco Bay

Have any of you Cape Dory owners out ther had any experience, good or bad, with the use of a fully battened main? I'm about to replace the 10 year old main on my CD36 and had considered going to this design. I know it's kind of a radical looking sail compared to the traditional looks of the Cape Dory, but I've heard good things about thier performance on other boats.

HAPPY HAOLIDAYS

David

jon9@ix.netcom.com

[Chuck Carmichael]

Have any of you Cape Dory owners out ther had any experience, good or bad, with the use of a fully battened main? I'm about to replace the 10 year old main on my CD36 and had considered going to this design. I know it's kind of a radical looking sail compared to the traditional looks of the Cape Dory, but I've heard good things about thier performance on other boats.

HAPPY HAOLIDAYS

David

David, I replaced the main on my CD 36 (1982) a few years ago with a long batten UK main from the Detroit loft. It goes up and comes down easily, and with the new full foot it has tremendous shape flexibility. I have heard nothing particularly good about full batten mains from the guys that have them. You need mast cars which are expensive, and they're generally too flat for optimum off wind performance. I found that the newer long batten main is a tremendous improvement over the original main that came with my Cape Dory. When I talked with the sail makers when I got the long batten, they suggested adding f



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