Wooden Mainsail Battens ??

[hriehl1]

I lost three battens in a comedy-of-errors trying to raise the main in 25 MPH winds. We gave up.

I've ordered a new set from Rudy at D&R.

But has anyone tried making wooden battens, or seen them sold anywhere? All I've ever seen are fiberglass. I worry even the softest wood might be too stiff, and rip the sailcloth, but I'd like to know:
a) if others have tried wood;
b) what kind of wood was used, and
c) how they performed.

Thanks

[adam aunins]

When I bought my boat it had one wooden batten in the sail. The down side is that the battens were left in the pockets of the sail that spent a year or two wrapped up around around the boom, needless to say they now have a twist and bow to them that will not go away.

Wood batten looks to be mahogany, 1 1/2" x 3/16" (+/- 1/32")

With the edges sanded over I think a wood batten like this would be just as easy on the sail ,if not easyer that fiberglass ones. I might make some to replace mine as the glass ones I had in must not have fit the pockets just right.--see next paragraph

Odd thing I also lost some battens this weekend. Winds were 15mph gusting to 20+mph, some how the main sheet got un-cleated on a close reach (someone kicked it trying to brace themselves) and I didn't have a tight grip on it, end result was first thought standing rig failure with the way the sail and boom snapped over (going by sound) then as I looked I got to see two battens flipping through the air. The noise the sail made without the battens was almost unbearable as we slowly beat it back to the beach.

[owldraco]

My boat came with wooden battens. (Actually yard-sticks, until they broke.) I then re-measured and made some out of pre-painted rounded lathe-strips laminated together. Soft white pine, i guess, Just don't sit om them ;-)
Two of those have been replaced with painted flat lathe strips, more flexible than yard sticks.
How flexible are they supposed to be?
Andrew
Central KY

[Roger]

my originals were bamboo slats.

[GreenLake]

When I first got my DS, the sails came with home-made wooden battens. As some of them didn't seem to fit the pockets really well, I went ahead and laminated some to fit. I think I used leftover paint stirrers. I recall those worked better than plywood.

Well varnished, they worked fine until I replaced the sails.