Seriously considering a Retro quiver.
I've never broken a batten, but I'm new to tube battens and am anticipating some breaks.

Getting the dimensions correct, removal + repair + replacement looks to be pretty annoying and time consuming.

www.sailworks.com/batten-removal-installation

So what I'm going to do is take the new Retro out of the box, pull the battens, measure them, and archive those dimensions in case I ever need them.

Additionally, I want to take preventative steps to make removal of a broken batten as easy as possible. I've come up with two strategies so far:

Idea 1.) Shrink wrap the entire batten. Since the entire length would be encased in an elastic sheath, it would encapsulate the separated halves so that I can simply pull the batten out as if it was still a solid unit. The downsides would be diameterwise fit, and possibly friction - depending on the type of shrink tubing material selected.

Idea 2.) Drill a 1mm hole at the very tip of the batten, right where the plastic cap stops against the tapered tip of the fiberglass. Thread a length of heavy-gauge Dyneema fishing line through the hole and run it to the back of the batten like a slack violin bow. When I pull on the line, it would "push" the batten out by the tip. I'm more inclined to go with this idea - it doesn't change the diameter or flex characteristics.

IDK if taking this measure sounds ridiculous, but I really do just want to be able to pull a broken batten out of the pocket without any fuss.

Thoughts? Alternative ideas?

The most common break I have experienced with tube battens is that the end splits, and the ferrule goes down inside.

Over the years as I have gone through many race sails with tube battens, I always keep those battens when I get rid of a sail. Now when I break a tube batten I pull out the collection, find one that is close, and use it. If it is too long, it is easy to cut to size.

One thing Sailworks (and probably others, too) have started doing is putting an aluminum cap onto the ends of the tubes to help keep them from splitting. They sell the caps separately, too, if you want to retrofit your battens.

I think heat shrinking the batten will change its profile and stiffen it up too much, also heat shrink can get brittle over time.
Maybe just heat shrink the joins where the tubes meet the smaller section or just run a bit of epoxy resin around that joint, then heat shrink it.

Personally I would just leave it and sail it as it is and if anything ever does happen put in a new batten.

Seems like an excessive amount of preventative measures. If you break a batten , just push the two halves together to measure original length.
Someone here loosened off batten tension after each sail so as to not stretch the sail. I suppose you could go one further and wash out the batten pockets I'm on the other side of the spectrum , I never wash anything.

^^^^ agreed. Weird unecessary stuffing around with it. Although from the other thread it seems he already had manufacturer's advice regarding masts but still wants to know if anyone here knows better....

No need to screw with the battens. Ask Bruce. Buy Revos or don't buy Revos. Then go sail it.

Been sailing with Retros for a decade. Great sails, easy to rig, never had any batten problems.
Ask Windsurf Systems in Melbourne how easy it is to get a replacement batten if you are concerned.

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mattn said..
Been sailing with Retros for a decade. Great sails, easy to rig, never had any batten problems.
Ask Windsurf Systems in Melbourne how easy it is to get a replacement batten if you are concerned.

It's not about getting replacement battens, it's about getting a broken batten out of its pocket easily and quickly. After watching Jim @ Sailworks extract a broken tube batten ( ), I was like...yeah that's way too complicated. I just want to pull off the tensioner straps, pull on the batten, and have the entire thing come out without any fuss, broken parts and all.

Pulling out all the battens on a quiver of sails and modifying all of them would have to be way more work than maybe fixing one.

If easy to remove broken battens is the requirement go one of these :

www.hotsailsmaui.com/2019/sail.php?uid=18


I did heat shrink wrap some battens once. Sometimes when the tubes break and splinter they can be almost impossible to extract, if the splinter sticks the wrong way through the pocket, you have to cut the pocket to get them out.

I used the heat-shrink stuff with glue inside. Don't think the glue adds anything of value, and the rubbery heat shrink is a bit soft anyway. The carbon splinters go through it easier than they go through the pocket material. Maybe it helps one in a thousand times to keep two bits together a bit more ?

I did it once, still have some spare heat shrink material in the shed and never bothered with it again, which probably says more than anything else.

The tape / heat shrink stuff HSM use isn't like electrical wiring heat-shrink, like a film not rubber. It is nowhere near as heavy or thick, and is stronger and more resistant to puncture. Not sure if they use it on the tube battens but it is good stuff on the solid ones, does what it says. Not 100% perfect, but helps nine times out of ten to limit splintering and hold things together.

I have used electrical insulation tape, probably not on the tube battens, just on the ends of the solid ones. And only when already replacing a batten. Bit like the heat shrink it doesn't really resist splinters puncturing it to any degree and if the broken batten is stuck it hasn't much strength to hold to bits together when you pull the broken one out.

If you can't get whatever HSM use (maybe a tour around 3M website ?? or email HSM and ask if they sell the stuff) then I'd suggest same as everyone else - more effort to do anything than what you gain by it on the rare occasion a batten breaks.

I was thinking of using my board with the board cover on. It has a slot for the fin. Has anyone done this or am I wasting my time ? Will it ruin the handling ? Thinking it will save board repairs in the future.

There is an even-money chance that when you break a batten, that you wont be able to get out the bit that is closest to the mast - it is the fibre-splinters that stop the batten from being forced. ( In these cases, getting out the broken batten is almost always more effort than preventative-heatshrink. )

The video does show how to cut the stitching. I carry a 10mm plastic tube (ie: slightly better diameter than the tube) so that I can shim-open the pocket - this helps in about half of those splintered cases. The remaining cases need to be unstiched.

I heatshrink all of my wavesail battens - that is seven sails at 4 battens per sail - takes an afternoon for the set. You only need to do this when you purchase a sail. I also heat-shrink my race-sails longest battens because they are the ones most likely to get snapped when my body hits the sailcloth

The comment about heatshrink stiffening the batten is immaterial because a/ as a generalisation most sails are better with stiffer battens b/ race/slalom sails frequently use carbon-battens to make them stiffer, c/ you wont feel any difference unless you happen to be Antoine Albeau.

The more aggressive your sailing, the more likely you are to break them. If you never go sailing, you wont break them... noting that even beginners do break them occasionally due to falling on the sail. I will agree with others - dont worry about it. If one of them breaks, you can then decide if you want to go down that path of that preventative effort. Until then, just enjoy the kit.

Note that the Sailworks video shows the aluminum collars. Those are a fairly recent innovation since my somewhat older Sailworks sails do not have them. My batten failures have almost always been a split of the end of the tube batten such that the ferrule pushes inside. These collars prevent that. That's a nice feature.

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Imax1 said..
I was thinking of using my board with the board cover on. It has a slot for the fin. Has anyone done this or am I wasting my time ? Will it ruin the handling ? Thinking it will save board repairs in the future.

I've sailed with my fin scabbard on a few times. Can't recommend it.

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GasHazard said..

Imax1 said..
I was thinking of using my board with the board cover on. It has a slot for the fin. Has anyone done this or am I wasting my time ? Will it ruin the handling ? Thinking it will save board repairs in the future.

I've sailed with my fin scabbard on a few times. Can't recommend it.

Couldn't be worse than using a Delta . Or God forbid , winging.

I have a full quiver of Retros 5.5-9.5. Have had 1 broken batten in a decade. Wasn't too bad to replace.