Submitted on February 12, 2002 by David Landman

Question: Dear Sirs, I bought a secondhand North High Aspect Jib (luff 1545 cm.) Unfortunately the topbatten and the three other battens are not there. Do I need profiled leech battens in the sail?

Thank you for your advice, Best Regards, David Landman Bonaire

Answer: Hi David, If the sail that you bought was originally built in North America there will be a serial number written on the North Sails logo at the tack of the sail. With this number a North Sails rep can look up the sail design and tell you what length, width, thickness and taper was specified for the battens that were supplied with your sail.

In general, you should look for a batten that fills up 50% to 75% of the width of the batten pocket. A tapered batten is much better than a non-tapered batten. The softer inboard end on the tapered batten helps the batten to fair into the curve of the sail. The sail shape will be smoother and the sail will suffer less from flex and chafe degradation where the batten meets the sail.

Regards, Dan Neri

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