Retaining Battens

[John Johnson]

I lost three battens last week because there is apparently nothing at the end of the pocket to hold them. They are apparently the original Neil Pryde sails.

I talked to Rudy at D & R Marine and he suggested that the elastic that was supposed to be at the ends of the pockets could be worn out but upon closer inspection I see no evidence of any elastic at all..

Does anyone else have this problem? More importently has anyone easily solved it.

John

[boone]

Which side did they fall out of? The leech or the luff?

My sails are ancient Neil Pryde sails, probably original equipment. You slide them in along the leech into the batten slots, then they drop down about an inch below the entry hole into a sort of "pocket."

I'd have to get the sails out to see exactly how it's sewed up, but that's the gist of it. Do yours look like that or something different?

[John Johnson]

They fell out of the leech. There is only a pocket, the width and length of the battens. It appears that the pocket is reinforced toward the luff but pushing the battens in all the way produces no resistance to removal.

I have been considering sewing them permenantly into the pocket but this would raise other problems with taking the sails down, folding them, etc.

[Jim Broyles]

The top last few inches of the Batten Pocket is open and the end of the batten pocket on the laech end is sewn up on my original Niel Pride sails. It could be that the treads are worn and have broken at the end, as I often have to replace stitching on these old sails that is fraid. I've gotten quite handy with needle and tread, but hey, even the old salts on sailing ships had to sew their sails.
Jim

[EberbachD]

The previous owner of our boat simply sewed some velcro over the slit where the batten slides in and out. The soft side is about an inch long and is stitched on one side of the opening (covering the slit), the rough piece is about a half inch square and is stitched on the other side of the opening to seal the batten in. At the end of the day, unzip the velcro and the batten pops out. Although I have to admit, the last batten that I purchased is designed to float (just in case).