Battened Jibs

According to Mr Bethwaite it should be about 3 yrs if looked after properly.

I doubt it. The perceived lifespan of a sail is very much dependent upon the competitiveness of a class. I'd be very surprised if the top 29er sailors weren't on at least new jibs for the major events. In Finns, they measure the life of their sails in hours, not years. I suspect you would measure the life of any sail in hours if the class was competitive enough to demand it. On the other side of the coin, a dacron main will still fill with wind and make your boat go forwards after 25 years though, so it's just a matter of what you want out of your sailing and how much ££ you can afford.

The very worst thing you can have on a jib with regards to longevity is short leech battens, like on 505s and 470s. It's much better to have either full-length battens or none at all. A 470 jib will last for about 5 hours of very windy sailing before it starts to get nasty areas of shrinkage up the inner ends of the battens and where the kite sheet rubs along it downwind, but you're only allowed one per regatta (thank goodness). The top 470 sailors have to nurse their jibs through a windy week, by oversheeting them downwind wherever possible and always backing them between races.

It depends one whether you want to win or save money.

You could become mates with someone at the top of your class and buy used jibs of them for a song.

The 470 rules say you can have no more than 3 batten pockets in total. (on the jib), so there's nothing stopping you from having no battens. The leech would have to be cut with some hollow in though, to keep it from motoring, so you'd lose a bit of sail area.

What I was trying to say was that the competitive life is only deemed to be 1 regatta because at that level, you are racing against some of the best sailors in the World, all of who have new jibs! You simply can't afford to not have a new one. The same jib, complete with creases etc., would be absolutely fine for racing in a class with a less intense level of competition.

At the top level, Finn sails have a life of say 20 hours but at club level, Finn sails have a life of one or two seasons. The sails are the same, it's just the expectations and budget that are different.