Round Battens - Replacements

[GSpencerCat30]

I just purchased a Lagoon 450. The mainsail appears to be in pretty good shape but is missing the two lower battens.

I can't seem to find a place to get the battens.

Some people have suggested getting battens in 4' sections with connectors. Has anyone had experience with these?

Thanks

[Tsuru]

I'd start with RBS or possibly Sailrite.
https://www.rbsbattens.com
I think the 4' section thing is not ideal on a cat (or any sailboat).

[GSpencerCat30]

Thank you but RBS doesn't sell round battens and Sailrite doesn't have the on their site either. Have you had any experience with the 4' sections of round battens?

[donradcliffe]

Evolution Sails

Far East Sails

Halsey Lidgard

Hood Sailmakers

Island Planet Sails

Lee Sails

Mauri Pro Sailing

Mauri Sails

North Sails

Quantum Sail Design Group

Rolly Tasker Sails

UK-Halsey

Ullman Sails

AND your local salmaker.

Don't get the sectioned ones to save a buck on shipping.

[s/v Jedi]

Sail makers have them. Bainbridge makes them.

https://www.bainbridgeint.com/Varian...tem=PRD-900096

[GSpencerCat30]

Called Bainbridge, they don't sell to sailors. Need a wholesale account.
Working with local lofts to see who has them.
Everyone is telling me that anything over 7' long needs to be sent in a semi truck not a regular courier. $100 worth of battens will cost $100's to ship.

Does anyone have any experience with the Bainbridge Batten Connector?

https://www.bainbridgeint.com/Item.a...1&PartNo=BC16S

[SailingHarmonie]

I'm surprised you are having trouble locally. Usually sail lofts who regularly deal with larger boats carry the full length pieces. As you might gather, they can ship 20 of the full length pieces for the same cost as shipping one.

[GSpencerCat30]

Some of the issue is that my boat is currently several miles away from any local lofts and I don't have a vehicle that would be able to pick them up. (small car)

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by GSpencerCat30

Some of the issue is that my boat is currently several miles away from any local lofts and I don't have a vehicle that would be able to pick them up. (small car)

Well if you are only a couple miles away and still can’t move a couple of battens to the boat then I guess you have to give up and just hire a loft to do this… but it’ll cost more than $100 shipping.

How about you walk with the battens?

You simply can’t use the joiners and expect good performance. Others use scarf joints and even those are not ideal.

[donradcliffe]

Put a sleeping bag or jacket as a pad on top of the car, and tie the battens to the car bumpers. On the last Transpac one boat owner was tardy in getting the delivery battens to the container in San Pedro, and had to drive from San Francisco to LA with the battens sticking out the window and his crew hanging on to them.

[Takamoana]

Originally Posted by GSpencerCat30

Called Bainbridge, they don't sell to sailors. Need a wholesale account.
Working with local lofts to see who has them.
Everyone is telling me that anything over 7' long needs to be sent in a semi truck not a regular courier. $100 worth of battens will cost $100's to ship.

Does anyone have any experience with the Bainbridge Batten Connector?

https://www.bainbridgeint.com/Item.a...1&PartNo=BC16S

Yes, and would not recommend for shorter lengths of batten. As the batten flexes, there is a lot of pressure on the connector and the batten can pop out of the connector. Perhaps using epoxy glue may improve the hold. We replaced ours with a full length batten as soon as we could.

[wyb2]

Originally Posted by GSpencerCat30

Some of the issue is that my boat is currently several miles away from any local lofts and I don't have a vehicle that would be able to pick them up. (small car)

What’s the car and how long is the longest batten?

If 1 is bigger than Miata, and 2 is less than 20 ft, it can almost certainly be done safely with about an hr of effort when picking them up. A Toyota corolla is 15 ft long. Small line, packing tape, and towels or shop rags are your friends. Simply drive slow and carry extra of those three things.

Without seeing it, I would first try for the tuck one end on in the back seat, pass them out the passenger window, and bend them back towards center with a few lines to the front bumper. If that doesn’t seem like it will work, then on the roof with lines at the front, back, and center. For the lines at the back and center, there should be enough panel gap in the trunk and doors that you can run a loop and close the door/trunk over it. Sometimes easier than finding a place to tie to under the car.

[Tsuru]

Originally Posted by GSpencerCat30

Thank you but RBS doesn't sell round battens and Sailrite doesn't have the on their site either. Have you had any experience with the 4' sections of round battens?

Good morning and sorry for the late reply. I've used a couple different systems of joining battens. In my case it was tubular carbon battens, and eventually they started to fail. Maybe other systems with more robust material would work, but I still strongly recommend using full length battens. This is based on our experience removing a fractured batten from a pocket.
Good luck

[Nicholson58]

My local Quantum loft will make battons for me as a walk-in. I used to make my own from white oak.

[singlespeed]

Murrays.com may have them long enough and can ship them via truck from the Santa Barbara area You may need to switch to flat battens, shaving off the end that goes into batten car to fit.