Is there a reason to buy a new batten?

Toshinari Takayanagi

Toshinari Takayanagi

Member
I have seen a thread "is there a reason to buy a legal batten?", but my question is about whether there is a reason to update battens. I have been sailing the same boat for 32 years (which is still in a very good condition), and the battens came with the original purchase. The battens look fine (no crack etc.), but since I am buying a new radial sail that cost $530, I am wondering if it is worth buying a new batten set also as it is not that expensive, if that affects sail shape and hence boat speed even a little. This may not be an exiting topic, but I wanted to ask the opinion.

Thanks,
Toshi
 
I'm assuming you are referring to the radial-cut full size Mark II sail. If so, yes you need to buy new battens. Compared to the old sail, they are different lengths and are tapered. The old battens will not fit or work.

If you are buying a Radial as in the existing smaller sail design for lightweight sailors (blue patches on the corners), there is no need to buy new battens. It uses the same battens as the legacy full-size sail design.
 
torrid said:
I'm assuming you are referring to the radial-cut full size Mark II sail. If so, yes you need to buy new battens. Compared to the old sail, they are different lengths and are tapered. The old battens will not fit or work.

If you are buying a Radial as in the existing smaller sail design for lightweight sailors (blue patches on the corners), there is no need to buy new battens. It uses the same battens as the legacy full-size sail design.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Torrid, but my question was not clear. Actually I am buying a new original smaller radial, not mark-2. I have been sailing both the original standard sail (mark-1) and the original smaller radial sail, but I have been keeping using the same batten set for 32 years. So my question was about whether these battens also wears over the time (stiffness etc.) like some other parts of the boat and the sailers who cares every details for the speed tend to buy new battens every so often.
 
Toshinari Takayanagi said:
I have been keeping using the same batten set for 32 years. So my question was about whether these battens also wears over the time (stiffness etc.) like some other parts of the boat and the sailers who cares every details for the speed tend to buy new battens every so often.
Click to expand...
It would be interesting to compare them manually to new one's, I guess they are a little bit stiffer and more brittle.
 
Thank you very much for the replies. I decided to buy a new batten set and have just ordered it :) $32 is not exactly cheap, but it will be ok as I will likely use it for another 32 years :)
 
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