Angled batten pockets

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   Hello,  I just bought an new, old stock, Trac-18 catamaran sail for my Tremolino Trimaran.  It is perfectly sized at the foot and just a bit too long at the luff.   
I am somewhat perplexed by the following situation, which I need to 
figure out:  The clew is slightly higher than the tack, and the batten pockets strangely all angle maybe 10 degrees off
 horizontal as a result.  The plastic sail mounted batten pocket protector "cups" are aligned square to the bolt rope.  Therefore, the angled battens will present a sharp corner into this cup, instead of being square.  Do I just round off the batten ends, or should I attempt to miter the ends to match.  I know that this all sounds silly, but 8 ft battens are not cheap, so I don't want to be experimenting.  How do the sail makers handle this?   Also, how much longer than the batten pocket should the batten be.  The batten is tension-ed via a string threaded through a hole in the batten and grommets on the batten pockets.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Don

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don54321 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Forum Member Joined: 23 February 2012 Location: NJ Status: Offline Points: 10	Post Options Post Reply Quote don54321 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Angled batten pockets Posted: 23 February 2012 at 10:47am
	Hello, I just bought an new, old stock, Trac-18 catamaran sail for my Tremolino Trimaran. It is perfectly sized at the foot and just a bit too long at the luff. I am somewhat perplexed by the following situation, which I need to figure out: The clew is slightly higher than the tack, and the batten pockets strangely all angle maybe 10 degrees off horizontal as a result. The plastic sail mounted batten pocket protector "cups" are aligned square to the bolt rope. Therefore, the angled battens will present a sharp corner into this cup, instead of being square. Do I just round off the batten ends, or should I attempt to miter the ends to match. I know that this all sounds silly, but 8 ft battens are not cheap, so I don't want to be experimenting. How do the sail makers handle this? Also, how much longer than the batten pocket should the batten be. The batten is tension-ed via a string threaded through a hole in the batten and grommets on the batten pockets. Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks, Don

MattGrant Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Sailrite Employee - Expert Joined: 21 April 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3012	Post Options Post Reply Quote MattGrant Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 February 2012 at 8:00am
	Hi Don, It is normal for the pockets and the end protectors to be positioned as you have described. Most Sailmakers just straight cut the batten ends and slide them in place. The fact that a corner of the batten hits the pocket protector end first really does not harm anything. But if you want to go to the work of cutting angles to each batten end that would not harm anything and probably would be a bit stronger. The issue is that each time you put the battens in you will need to flip them the correct way to be sure the angles match. As for the amount of batten length protruding, the standard is roughly 2 inches. Hope this helps. Thanks, Matt Sailrite
	Best Regards, Matt Grant Sailrite

rcknight Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Member Joined: 21 April 2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 52	Post Options Post Reply Quote rcknight Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 February 2012 at 8:59pm
	The clew is higher than the tack so that the boom doesn't whack you in the head on a uncontrolled jibe
	Robert "Life is tough. It's even tougher if you're stupid" John Wayne

don54321 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Forum Member Joined: 23 February 2012 Location: NJ Status: Offline Points: 10	Post Options Post Reply Quote don54321 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 26 February 2012 at 4:47pm
	Hello Matt, Thanks for the answer. I had never noticed angled batten pockets before. It is nice to know that I am not working with something weird. Don