Posted: May 10, 2015 - 04:23 PM
What Pete is offering is a good deal, and I too would recommend against sailing without them. The shape of the sail will be poor, high drag and possible overpowering the boat in bigger winds because you won't be able to flatten the sail much. I also suspect that the trailing edge of the main(the leech) would flog, which could do damage(stretching, possible tearing) fairly easily if the sailcloth is old and tired. You'll benefit from sailing the boat properly rigged, by having fewer unpleasant experiences as you learn. When these boats get powered up, they are fairly stressed, so all the systems need to be sound. Having equipment breakdowns in a blow can be serious business. So hold out a bit more til you can scrounge the necessary coin to get her fitted out safely.
Dave
I too have a set of battens for sale(H18), but Pete's are more reasonable.