Tapered or Untapered?
The whole aim of the sailmaker’s 'art' is to develop lift to drive the boat through the water.
The sail is like an aircraft’s wing and is designed to develop as much lift with as little drag as possible.
And how many wings have you seen with a 50% wing shape?
Modern sails are designed and made with their position of maximum camber at between 38% and 45%.
So your sailbattens need to complement that design shape - not fight it.
So why use Untapered battens?
Except for special cases like top battens on some cats and dinghies, there is no good reason!
Untapered Fullbattens distort sail shape by giving too fine entry, moving the draft or designed shape too far aft, and giving a rounded leech in strong wind.
They give high lift (in the sideways direction) and high drag.
If your rig is not accelerating in gusts but just developing heeling moment then your battens could be the problem.
Untapered battens also lower the life span of your sail by working against the sailmakers designed shape.
Batten ‘Stiffness’
A battens ‘Stiffness’ or ‘Compression’ is simply the force, in kg or pounds, that is required to bend it to a certain point.
That certain point is where any increased bending of the batten gives very little change to the kg or pound reading of the scale.
At FIBERFOAM we have up-to-date compressions for many classes and boats.
Not sure which Battens ?
f you are in doubt about which battens are best for your sail, ask us about our specific class recommendation.
Or send us your class name plus batten lengths.
Custom made Battens ?
If you need something special, send us:
- * Batten lengths
- * Batten compression (in kg or pounds)
- * Batten width (Optional)
- * Position of maximum camber (Optional)
With this information we can manufacture almost any batten you could need.
Contact us for a Quote.
2022 A Class Europeans
The 2022 A Class Worlds in Lake Garda , Italy provided a range of conditions mostly moderate to fresh , with a couple for the Classic fleet of +25 knots and difficult waves.
Class rules say maximum 22 knots but this is sometimes overlooked in the pursuit of getting the races in.
The course quite 'normal' for Garda considering the area of lake selected for racing , being mostly right hand side favoured.
The Classic fleet Race 1 started in light wind with a couple of big shifts before the south wind settled in and young German sailor Mortiz Weiss was 1st.
Race 2 Scott Anderson led until about 100m from finish but again it was Weiss in 1st with better downwind speed.
Races 3 and 4 in stronger wind Anderson led the whole way.
The later part of the regatta was windy and in final analysis it was Anderson , Weiss , then Spanish sailors Gustavo Dorreste and Kike Cornejo.
And good to see the Classics close racing and 'older' boat designs still competitive .
In the Foiling Division there were plenty of stars but it was Steve Brewin who emerged the Nr 1 with a strong final race and consistent placings throughout.
Misha Heemskerk was second and Jakub Surowiec 3rd
In terms of material , below a list of top Foilers:
1st Steve Brewin Exploder 2022/Brewin sail
Fiberfoam T6.3 Tapered mast
2nd Mischa Heemskerk DNA F1/Mischa sail
Fiberfoam T6.5 mast
3rd Jakub Surowiec Exploder /Bryt sail/
Fiberfoam T6.3 mast
And for the Classics :
1st Scott Anderson
Nikita 2012 / North DS sail / Fiberfoam Untapered mast
2nd Moritz Weiss
Exploder / Felix Egner Landenberger DS sail / Fiberfoam Untapered mast
3rd Gustavo Dorreste
Exploder / Hammer DS sail / Fiberfoam T6.3 Tapered mast
Nine of top 10 inluding winners of both fleets used Fiberfoam Sailbattens.
Fiberfoam masts - either Untapered or Tapered filled the top 10 in both fleets.
The Class remains strong and since 2018 now has two stand-alone classes , the ‘Classic’ A Class and ‘Open’ A Class .
This is the result of the Class listening to its sailors worldwide , many of whom expressed a desire to remain non-foiling.
The Classic A Class is straight or curved foils, and sailied with at least one hull in the water in the course of normal sailing.
This has proved great for the Class , encompassing a large number of sailors , many of whom do not have the time to master foiling or keep up with foiling developments , plus who simply enjoy classic sailing.
The next worlds in Toulon , France in September 2023 , with unrestricted number of entries is generating lots of enthusiasm.