Sail Battens- Full or Short?

We often get asked should I have full sail battens in my sail or not?  There is no right or wrong answer to this only what suits your boat and the type of sailing you are doing.

Sail battens help to support the shape of the sail, they don’t control the shape of the sail. Primarily their function is to support the roach, the area outside the straight line of the leech of the sail.

Full sail battens in the head section, short sail battens lower down the sail.

Rigging

One of the main factors to consider is the style of rig and the spreaders supporting the mast.  On a mast with swept spreaders, full length battens tend to rub on the wires and chafe the sail. It can also cause the batten to pop back the wrong way when going downwind which reduces the performance of the sail and dons’t look good. For this reason we tend to recommend a combination of full length battens in the top and short battens in the lower part. This isn’t an issue in inline rigs.

Full sail battens on a cruising sail.

Sail Fabric

Another thing to consider is the quality of fabric being used. The more basic Dacron fabrics that are sometimes used for cruising will need to have full battens to help support the fabric. When using better quality fabric such as laminates the fabric supports the sail shape and relies less on the battens.

Full length battens do need proper batten slides, if these are combined with a good car system it can make raising and lowering the mainsail very easy.

There are other things which your sailmaker will take into consideration, but these are the primary factors which will influence the decision on whether to go for full or short battens.