Dart 15 Forums

Hi. I justed wondered what the latest is on the Batten debate. I had the misfortune to break 3 at the end of last season during a spectacular capsize. They were the older ones with the US pattent mark. Good quality and have lasted well.
I have so far bought 3 or 4 of the newer ones. One de-laminated after 3 sails and 2 have signs of de-lamination before I used them. The quality is as agreed no where near as good. I blame the manufacturing, not the supply. The obvious differance as I see it is the 'Waffle' is empty on the new versions, whereas the older ones had quite a bit of resin filling the waffle.
I am interested in the 'fibre foam' alternative, which I believe are much stronger, but as yet not 'class legal'. I believe they have very similar bend and performance. I can make do for now, but will need to replace at some stage in the near future, so a heads up as to the likely outcome would be appreciated.
John H Seasalter

Hi John,
Yes we have 2 sets of Fibrefoam battens on trail for Windsport. Lot's of people are tired of the old battens and they have also been frustrating Windsport as the quality is variable. If Windsport get a faulty lot they have difficulty in getting them replaced from South Africa and then the airfreight cost is prohibitive. So Windsport are interested in soucing something more reliable and locally available. Thus far not many people have tested the trial battens as we have only had them through the winter months but we have already cleared the way for them at last years AGM. The rate of testing will increase now that the nice weather has come. Hopefully we will be able to get them to Seasalter to show people at the Open on 25/26 April but I expect we will be testing them for several months yet. We want to be sure that we are getting it right.
Watch this space.
Cheers
Bob
PS I think one set is at Grafham (with Frank Sandells) and the other set is at Shanklin (with Erling).

Hi Bob
Thanks for the update. I would be more than happy to trial some. Obviously it is sometimes challenging at Seasalter, so it would certainly put them through their paces. Look forward to seeing a good crowd at Seasalter. Fingers crossed for nice SSW force 5'ish ( like we had Good Friday).
Regards John H

I've been using the foam battens of late and plan to pass them on through the GWSC fleet.

If they need to be somewhere else, just ket me know!!

By the way - I like them!

Would like to try these new battens, have been frustrated at the lack of longevity of the current glass battens and now need more after recent breakages.Would prefer to try the new type to see if they are any better.

Could another set be sourced for use at Draycote Water?

Graham
Sprint 1941

I bought a set of fibrefoam battens about five years ago, before being told they weren't class legal.

I have to confess I rather liked them. They are practically indestructible, although the back end of the sail seemed to fall away a bit, if it was windy.

For me, one drawback of the honeycomb battens is their brittleness. When it is windy, it is often risky to reach forward to release the downhaul. I often wince as I hear the battens compress, thereby fearing a snap a few inches from the luff.

Andrew Hannah wrote:I bought a set of fibrefoam battens about five years ago, before being told they weren't class legal.

I have to confess I rather liked them. They are practically indestructible, although the back end of the sail seemed to fall away a bit, if it was windy.

For me, one drawback of the honeycomb battens is their brittleness. When it is windy, it is often risky to reach forward to release the downhaul. I often wince as I hear the battens compress, thereby fearing a snap a few inches from the luff.

Andrew,

You could replace your downhaul line with a longer one and bring the tail to the rear beam and tie it off there then you can release\add the downhaul whenever you so wish without having to brave the pitchpole in windy weather, works best with the new 3-1 downhaul with a jammer cleat though it won't work with the old style downhaul. Its class legal too!

Martin S.