Furling main, battens or not.

[gonesail]

seems like the vertical battens would be no better than none at all .. and can give you furling problems.

[delphys44]

I purchased my Island Packet in 2008. Had mainsail battens with the mast infurler. I likewise sail mostly solo, in in the Atlantic and Caribbean. Had several jamming ‘incidents’ which placed me in somewhat precarious situations. Switched to a batten-less main and have had no similar incidents. Probably lost some upwind pointing but my thoughts were quite simple: I accepted slight potential decrease in performance for safety and ease in handling. If performance is the goal, furling mainsail is not the answer.
Cheers

[GILow]

Some really great responses here. Thank you to all that have responded to the question, you’ve given me a lot to think about.