Pros and Cons of fully battened Mainsails

There is a good deal of debate on whether fully battened Mainsails are good or not. These sails have become an in-thing over the last few years and there are solid reasons behind the trend.

Still there are certain criticisms. Sailors do differ in their opinions. By speaking with some of our old as well as new customers we have learned about a number of points both in favor and against the full-batten mainsails.

Being a sail supplier we cannot make any comment since we are supposed to build sails according to our customers’ needs. If they prefer full-batten we are on, if they don’t that will not make any difference to us.

So we are putting it neutrally. Below are the pros and cons. 

Pros

• Battens help to hold the sail in shape. 

• The usable sail area is more via larger roach.

• Suitable batten hardware and matching lazyjacks make these sails easy to handle, can be stacked neatly on the top of the boom. There will be no blowing all over the deck if you lower the halyard.

• An ideal choice for large boats

• Full batten sails flog less, providing you with a quiet sailing experience. 

• Less flogging means the stress level on the rig is low. The sailcloth lasts longer.

• If racing is in your mind, full-battens are good as these help in generating more speed.

• Full-battens are highly useful for motor-boats 

Cons

• Apparently the biggest drawback of full-batten is its cost. The sail becomes expensive since added expenses incur for incorporating batten pockets and batten cars.

• Because of the locked-in shape it’s hard to slow down or stop if there is a man-overboard situation.

• In case of boats with angled spreaders, the battens rub and anti-chafe patches are difficult to put since no one knows exactly where the battens will be in contact with the rigging.