Submitted
on November 18, 2003 by Bill
Mihelich
Question: I have a 30 foot Newport that still has its
original 23 year old mainsail. To help me decide what I should get, can
you give a list of pros and cons regarding a loose footed main vs a normal
main and also full battens vs partial battens?
Thanks,
Bill Mihelich
Answer:
Hi Bill,
Most of the mainsails we build today are loose footed. For cruising boats
the sails are finished with a small amount of positive curvature on the
foot edge, but without a "foot shelf" or "lens foot"
like you see on some race sails. There is no advantage to attaching the
foot of the sail to the boom with slides or a rope (except on boats with
wooden booms in which case the sail is actually supporting the middle
of the boom).
The advantages of leaving the foot loose are:
1) easier to install and remove the sail,
2) Reefing lines and sail ties can be passed under the sail in any location
without risking interference with boom attachments,
3) less sail maintenance (attachment points are 2nd most common sail repair
item, after batten pockets). Full length battens keep the sail from flogging
when reefing, hoisting, dousing or tacking. Because the battens are attached
directly to the mast, the sail rides on the battens while a short batten
rides on the sail. With short battens (sometimes called Leech Battens)
the maintenance issues concern sailcloth damage at the inboard end of
the battens, or batten pocket damage at either end. With full length battens,
the maintenance issues typically involve the attachment hardware at the
luff end. Luff end hardware can usually be repaired by replacing individual
components with simple hand tools and little cost. Some smaller boats
like yours favor sails with just the top 2 battens full length and the
lower ones shorter. This arrangement gives you a sail with a more adjustable
shape in the lower 2/3 along with some of the dampening effect of a full
batten sail when the sail starts to flog.
Regards,
Dan Neri
Go BACK to Solutions for Sailors Main Page.
