Hello all,

A friend and I recently purchased a surprisingly well cared for 1974 H16, considering its age. The sails are original with alternating white and yellow panels. The hulls are avocado colored and I've already repaired three soft spots without a problem. Our goal is to sail this boat for two years, and then run it into the ground with use after that. The problem I am encountering is with batten length. Due to the age of the sails, they are quite blown out leading to longer batten pockets due to stretching. The mainsail battens all have enough length to be tensioned well enough to sail. The jib battens are a different story.

Two of the jib battens are just a tad too short to tension well enough to ensure they seat in the end caps reliably. It's obvious that previous owners sailed with them loose, as I've had to repair some tear throughs in the pockets. Due to the age and purpose of the boat, we are quite willing to cheat and use cheap fixes as long as they function for two seasons reasonably well.

I am considering purchasing some fresh batten grommets and installing them 1.5" deeper into the pockets to allow for greater tensioning on the too-short battens. I would sew small square reinforcing patches at the new grommet positions prior to installing them. Do you think this might buy me a few seasons of fun with an old boat? Remember, we are avoiding the slow money drain that often occurs. We plan to pick up another boat in that same time-span, so our fixes aren't meant to be rock solid and everlasting.

If there are better tricks anyone has used or heard about, I'd love to learn!

If your battens are too short, bump them all up one slot, trim them to length, and then buy one new bottom batten.

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Its common to trim the jib battens as short as possible, so they do not hang up in tacks. If they have been cut too short, try to find some replacement battens locally.

That's a beautiful fix, dogboy. Exactly what I was looking for! The battens are perfectly usable so I'd hate to replace more than one. Now I just need to worry about batten grommet replacement on a few of the pockets where the grommets fell off. I'll post a fresh thread for that purpose. Thanks!

It's pretty obvious that a previous owner trimmed the battens. They just didn't leave enough spare to deal with sail stretch. The tough part is that my local options are limited in the Louisville, KY area. I can handle ordering one batten.

I actually went ahead and trimmed the battens with and air cutoff tool without a hitch. The result was ideal length jib battens. Now I just need to order the largest batten and replace one splintered batten on the main.

I use a set of hobie super jib battens,they work perfect and run $40 for the whole set, brand new.
http://sailsportmarine.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=138



Edited by fxloop on Mar 31, 2014 - 04:35 PM.

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Tim Grover
1996 Hobie Miracle 20
Two Hobie 14's
1983 G-Cat Restored
Memphis TN / North Mississippi
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I'm glad you mentioned the super jib battens, fxloop. I found those quite attractive at their price point, but I know for a fact my batten dimensions are different than modern dimensions. I can't find the actual lengths of the super jib battens anywhere. If they were all large enough or too large I would purchase them for sure.

I'm fine with just replacing the first batten, as well. I've already cut the other battens to size. Replacing them all for $40 would be great, though. Any thoughts?

They're perfect on an '81 jib. They're way thinner lighter and more flexable and install in minutes. I drilled a little 1/16" or so in the tips where they poke out of the jib so I could create a loop and purchase to get em snug. Tacking is great w no hanging on the mast and in light air downwind your jib will be fuller and more adjustable. Not sure if they're class legal if your racing in official races tho. The best $40 I've spent on an old hobie. Your crew or girlfriend will really appreciate not getting up and forcing the jib over - not an issue in wind over 10 tho ;)

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Tim Grover
1996 Hobie Miracle 20
Two Hobie 14's
1983 G-Cat Restored
Memphis TN / North Mississippi
--

I was going to ask how those battens are tensioned, but I think you may have answered my question. So you're saying that they actually aren't designed for the classic tie-off tensioning? I would assume such thin, bendy battens, once inserted into the sail fully, probably would tend to stay put well on a decent sail. I'm currently repairing wear-throughs and tear-throughs near the protectors at the end of the pockets, though, so I'd probably drill and tie just like you mentioned. I'm convinced. I'll put in that order along with all the other odds and ends I need.

Class legality doesn't really matter to us, as we are just two old chemist buddies from college looking to melt away stress on the water of Kentucky Lake. We can't wait to get out there, because that lake is a true monster.