Tapered sail battens

Hi Folks,

This is probably another display of my ignorance but which way round does a tapered batten fit in its pocket ? Should the tapered end point towards the leech or the luff of the sail. I did try to find the answer on Google but I'm obviously asking the question in the wrong way. I have to confess that I'd not even noticed that my 8.1 rig had tapered battens !

Many thanks in advance,

Nigel

Thanks Russ, yes, that's very clear........the more I thought about it, the more I could find a reason for fitting 'em either way (sometimes it just doesn't pay to think too hard!)

Nigel 

Originally posted by Scooby_simon Originally posted by Merlinboy Thin end in, thick end out (so the thin end is pointing the mast)  Hard to explain but i think that makes sense?? FOr the 8.1 sail; I assume this is right in ALL conditions, but some fully battened sails can be tuned by truning the top 2 or 3 around in the big stuff.  It can assist in the sail twisting off.  A lot of cats may carry stiffer battens for the top 3 (we can in the F16 fleet) and change them if required before the start of a race.

But does that work for non-fully battened sails, Simon? On the 8.1 (and all Laser variants TBH) the battens only go about a third of the way across the chord from the leach. So their role is more to do with stopping the roach from flogging than sail tuning. Probably.

Nigel, if there are more than 1, you might check to see if they have been
tuned to the sails optimum flow point, not sure if this goes on in dinghy
world, but if for example they are all the same length, yet the sail tapers,
the bottom one should bend higher nearer the front if you get my drift
here..

Oh and the purpose of the batten in full batten sails for the un initiated?

First fold to lock the optimum flow point (high point of the sail camber).

Second fold, to assist by tuning of said battens to assist optimum twist,
(Not that I've ever noticed many Dinghy/Cat sails tuned in that way
particularly well.

Third obviously foil stability.

Edited by G.R.F.