I have a No. 3 jib with 2 battens.
The top one has snapped. I am finding it difficult to get replacement. The local sail shop has shorter ones with the correct flex or longer, but are too stiff.
Can I use it without the battens?
Thanks

With no battens in the jib it will probably flutter unless there is hollow cut into the leech. Most sail makers would have batten material, if not they can certainly get it.

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Jode5 said..
With no battens in the jib it will probably flutter unless there is hollow cut into the leech. Most sail makers would have batten material, if not they can certainly get it.

Thanks Jode5

So short answer is no.

He has lots of battens. But has said the ones with the correct flex are max 1200 long. I need 1400. The 1500 ones are too stiff and cannot get with more flex. I am assuming he knows what he is talking about.

Only other option is to get the 1500 and sand it thinner??

Forgot to mention. He is selling tapered battens.
Do I need tapered battens?
Boat is an Endeavour 26.

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valo said..
Forgot to mention. He is selling tapered battens.
Do I need tapered battens?
Boat is an Endeavour 26.

Try another sailmaker.

put a bit of sheet flooring plastic strip in and see how it goes

Top batten should be a compression battery with no taper

If it's a 1.4m batten on a jib then it absolutely needs to be tapered. My question is why an Endeavour 26 would have a batten that long in the jib, must be full length for some reason. You could easily get the pocket changed to a short batten and it would make sail handling easier.

The only reason an Endeavour 26 would be fully battened is if the cloth has crapped out and someone previously was trying to hide the hideous shape by smoothing it with battens.

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The only reason an Endeavour 26 would be fully battened is if the cloth has crapped out and someone previously was trying to hide the hideous shape by smoothing it with battens.

No, some racing jibs are built with full length battens and they aren't all tapered.

I must admit, my first port of call would be the sailmaker who built the jib. He probably installed it in the first place and should know how to replace it.

I should also add that your supplier choices are RBS epoxy battens from Bainbridge Aquabatten or slightly cheaper Permex vinylester battens from Contender sailcloth. Both do battens meeting your specs but getting them to wherever you are can be expensive.

Just to explain, if a full length top batten the better view it should have no taper as it is compression and the seam shape should do the rest.
In other words why put in seam shape then try to work against it with a tapered batten.
Very different for other battens which will need to be tapered.

Thanks for all the above info.
The sail is quite old.
The sleeves for the battens seem to be original.
The battens are made up of 2 very thin battens taped together. I originally thought that the one that snapped was a dodgy repair. However the other 2 are the same. Yes, 3 battens not 2. My bad. So effecticely making a tapered batten out of 2 thin ones. You can see in the pics below that the batten is about 2/3 of 2 taped together and the last 1/3 single. VERY flexible.
No makers marks on the sail.
I know very little about sails. So why it is so, I have no idea.
The tapered batten i purchased is too stiff. I might either sand it down, or sell it.
The yellow tongue suggested by SandS is looking good. About the same flexibility. Just a little narrow.

I bought my yacht - which was raced offshore in its younger years - with a no3 battened jib, years ago.

When l sold it recently it was still in the same sail bag it came in, stored at home .
I used it once and it proved - with a twin foil on my fore-stay - the most cumbersome, useless piece of equipment l ever had. It had to be man handled every time bent or dropped, it interfered with the cutter stay and it was a pain for a single handed sailor.
Probably on a crewed racer it would have been useful. The furler proved to be a better option or the cutter sail in higher winds.
I wonder, why an Endeavour 26 got a sail like this?
It must have been raced in the past, probably offshore like my boat was?

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lydia said..
Just to explain, if a full length top batten the better view it should have no taper as it is compression and the seam shape should do the rest.
In other words why put in seam shape then try to work against it with a tapered batten.
Very different for other battens which will need to be tapered.

I've got heaps of sails with seam shape AND tapered full battens. By the way, Jethrow was a sailmaker for years.

C-Tech the Kiwi mob now do inflatable battens. Deflate to furl.
Be great except they don't do anything below 60'rs.
It would be interesting to see how they taper an inflatable batten.