thanks, Andy! Next time it stops raining I'll roll my sail out on the lawn and have a look at the pockets and see if I might want to copy your taping idea. I've only sailed the MK II 4 times and sure love the shape and lack of leach flutter!Dennis,
When I got the Intensity MK 2 sail, the first thing I noticed was how sharp the tapered ends of the battens were... even though one would think, as LaLi said, there's probably an extra reinforcement patch inside the batten pocket. So, I sanded the batten tips very slightly to round off the sharpness then taped the ends with electrical tape as seen in the attached photo. I taped on one strip longitudinally (parallel with the length of the batten) up and over the end and to the other side, folded in the sharp corners from that strip of tape, then spiral wrapped it with another strip of tape. That seems to have blunted the ends enough.
This arrangement is just temporary though because one of the battens is so short, it barely sticks out the end of the pocket enough to be able to apply tension on the batten with the velcro. So, I'm planning on building out the tips with a bit of glass and resin to lengthen them then sand/round the ends so I won't need the tape.
- Andy
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As I already said, never mind... IF your sail is a real Laser sail. If it's a fake, you really should say that right away. If you're outside the class rules to begin with, then any general class knowledge won't necessarily help at all.I'll roll my sail out on the lawn and have a look at the pockets and see if I might want to copy your taping idea.
YES! Lali, my sail is "fake." Since I don't race at all and just love the boat as a solo sport for 36 years now, many little things about my Laser are not class-legal. And I find I can always afford to keep a nice Intensity sail or two, including their larger "powerhead" version which is blast in lighter air. I hope my (and Andy's) posts could stay welcome on this general class knowledge forum.
Cheers!
Intensity Sails recommends taping the ends of the battens on their MK 2 practice sail. Not sure how the taping should be done.
I have two MKII, class legal, sails (North). Both of them are experiencing vertical tears in the external reinforcing fabric at the inboard end of the batten pocket, which I've repaired with sticky-back dacron. The battens will not come out of the pockets because there is a loop of material inside the pocket supporting the inboard end of the batten. One of these sails is at the practice-only, end-of-life stage with about 45 days of sailing on it. The other is at the regional racing stage, with about 17 days on it. The sailcloth used for the MKII sails is far more rigid than the MK 1 sails and is subject to more wear from the levering of the battens. I'm not sure if taping the inboard ends of the battens will help, but I surely intend to tape them for my new MKII sail.