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Post by tinker on Jul 20, 2015 21:18:55 GMT
Hi. I am looking to purchase a main sail for my boat .dont know weather to get full battern or3/4 battern.i do a lot off racing and bit off cruising can anyone help thank you
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Post by so36idavid on Jul 20, 2015 22:17:41 GMT
What are the conditions like where you race? If they're typically light and lumpy then full battens are useful. Or if it's typically very windy then full battens can help hold the sail shape through gusts. Other than that, probably not a huge difference in performance. There may be significant impacts on cost and durability so you need to think through the tradeoffs.
Honestly, choosing battens is just one of a whole bunch of tradeoffs when choosing a sail. I recommend getting recommendations for good sailmakers in your area and interviewing them. Talk to racers at your club who have similar boats etc.
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Post by MartyB on Jul 22, 2015 3:34:37 GMT
Tinker,
My boats is a foot or so longer, maybe 1000 lbs heavier at most......
I went with a 2 full/2 partial. I also went with a string main. Reality in the end, should have gone with a lessor laminate in cost etc. Something like the Ullman Tri axis laminate, around 10-15% more cost than a GOOD dacron, but has 50-60% of the power between a string style and a GOOD dacron.
Please note I am saying GOOD dacron. Like all things, there is good bad and worst. Compare to a manufactures best dacron cloth, not yesterdays or last weeks best version which can still be had if you want lower cost sails.
I would recommend you go with a string 150-155 headsail if truly wanting to race and do well. This is worth the about double the cost of a GOOD dacron.
Laminates are nice in that they have a greater wind range vs dacron, do not stretch as much, which helps you not heel as much, and get more speed out of the boat. A great way to gain a few seconds on a competitor.
Also with the main, roach it as much as possible. Get as much Sail area as you can with out getting hit per the rules you are racing under. This should be around 20% more than the straight triangle measure of the sail. IE in my case, I am at 195 sq ft actual measure vs 161 sq ft using my E time I times .5.
Also get a cunningham, this is nice to have in stronger winds to keep the luff tight. I would also go with a loose foot, you have a bit more ability to shape the sail in light vs heavy airs easier with the clew.
Also look at new halyards and sheets that are dynema based. Again like the laminate sails, they stretch less at a given strength put on them. You can go to smaller diam halyards, which puts less weight aloft, so potentially less heeling, more speed out of the boat etc. I find the lower stretch, lower holding of water to be the biggest things I like about dynema based lines.
Just a couple of suggestions on my part.
marty
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