Main sail

[Todd]

It is looking like I will need a new main sail soon the leech tore while flaking the sail. I have a few questions for all the folks that know.
Full or partial battens on a cruising boat pros or cons??
trade winds option not too much money and seems to add strength and durability??
what loft do you trust?I talked to Camron but not yet to Banks.
Any advice for the process?

[John Shasteen]

Full or partial is probably a matter of choice, but we sail Paloma (Bristol 29.9) offshore quite a bit and I like the simplicity of partial battens. We we replace her mailsail last year, we went with a Hood, heavy dacron, double/triple stitched and glued seams, aluminum plates at the attachment points and three reef points main. Not cheap, but Hood is the best and Paloma takes a beating offshore from time-to-time.

[Todd]

how did you get the Hood? Did you go through a local loft or order online? The one they quoted was 7.3 oz Neilpryde. where do you sail? Is it similar to Galveston bay conditions?

[Jay]

Hi Todd,
I have had several batten configurations, but I like the 2 full and 2 partial best. I single hand a lot and I get good sail set and ease of dropping the main with lazy jacks
I don't have any experience with local sail makers.
Something that I am seeing more and more of is ORANGE stitching so you can better see stiching trouble when you are under sail.
I have a Hunter 310 that I destination sail in the Bay and along the Gulf Coast.
It sounds like you may be planing on Blue Water cruising.... I wouldn't skimp.....Good luck and I will be learning from this discussion ....Jay