Hello,

I'm about to buy a brand new main sail for my C&C 27. I'm debating between
full batten or not (Dacron). I use the boat primarily for cruising. Are
full batten sails easy to reef? Would a full batten sail give me extra
speed? I don't race this boat but I race others, so I like to have my sails
tune-up for maximum speed always.

I'm looking at UK sails since that is what I have in the boat and it worked
very well for many years, but I'm open to other suggestions as well.

Any help/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Guillermo

I think full battens are great. Easy to reef, less flogging, etc. I have has
them on a Freedom 28 and a Saga 35. I also have dutchman system on the main
which is really nice, and strongly recommend it.

My boat is 35 feet, so the Dutchman may be overkill for a 27.


"Guillermo" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I'm about to buy a brand new main sail for my C&C 27. I'm debating between
full batten or not (Dacron). I use the boat primarily for cruising. Are
full batten sails easy to reef? Would a full batten sail give me extra
speed? I don't race this boat but I race others, so I like to have my
sails
tune-up for maximum speed always.

I'm looking at UK sails since that is what I have in the boat and it
worked
very well for many years, but I'm open to other suggestions as well.

Any help/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Guillermo

Full battens come in really handy if your sailing in relatively light air,
as they help hold the sail
shape better. I believe that they were designed more for sailing off the
wind to gain that extra
little bit of sail area for the wind to push on. Going upwind, they will
increase healing as they
present more sail area to the wind higher up. Full Batten sails typically
have larger roaches.
This is something else to consider. I have full battens on my C&C 30, the
main's pretty blown
out, but I still get good speed out of it. The only pain is that the roach
catches the backstay
just a bit on tacks (causing chafe) and in light air you can end up with an
inverted main because
the battens didn't flip. This can be reduced by having less batten tension,
but I don't think you
can ever eliminate it. A quick flip of the main will ensure everything pops
into place.

I don't really notice any difference in reefing full batten main vs a
"partial" batten main. I've got
two reef points and have used both of them.

If I was planning to buy a new main, I'd probably go with a loose footed
full batten main because
the winds go light in the summer (typically) and I need every inch of cloth
I can get. My new main
would be about 1/2 inch less on the roach so it wouldn't tear itself apart
on the backstay, but
that's about it.

Don Casey wrote a few words about this in "This Old Boat", and I'm sure you
could find a few
sailmakers comments around. Have you tried discussing with the sailmaker on
what he would
recommend and WHY.

Just did a goole search on full batten main and some guy had posted to a
news group indicating
that it's too hard to tell what the sail is doing in light airs. I don't
see this as a big problem, so
long as you have a few well placed telltales.

Well, that's my 2 cents worth and probably a bit more.

--
Cheers,
Jeffrey Nelson
Muir Caileag
C&C 30
"Guillermo" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I'm about to buy a brand new main sail for my C&C 27. I'm debating between
full batten or not (Dacron). I use the boat primarily for cruising. Are
full batten sails easy to reef? Would a full batten sail give me extra
speed? I don't race this boat but I race others, so I like to have my
sails
tune-up for maximum speed always.

I'm looking at UK sails since that is what I have in the boat and it
worked
very well for many years, but I'm open to other suggestions as well.

Any help/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Guillermo

I have a lightly used set of laminated sails about 3 years old for my C&C
27-5
that I'm not planning to use. I had recently thought about selling them.

Thanks, but I'm not looking to race in this boat. Cruising sails is what
I'm after, so Dacron would be my choice.

Guillermo

sailmakers comments around. Have you tried discussing with the sailmaker
on
what he would
recommend and WHY.

Yes I did, however full batten sails are more expensive and therefore
sailmakers will be more incline to sale those. They think full batten is
the way to go, but I wanted to know what other users have experienced.

I have also posted my question into a C&C 27 forum and it turns out that
everybody likes full batten sails.

It looks like full batten is the way to go these days.

Thank you all for you input in this matter.
Guillermo

It is the way to go, Guillermo! They(full batten) are faster, they are
better/easier to trim and they last longer!
With the right setup they will also reef quicker and won't balloon away from
you, because they are stiffer.
All plus points. And.....when you sail you might as well sail fast.......or
faster than your buddies ;-)
Even when cruising to cut 3/4 - 1hour of a 5-6 hour journey is considerable
and not difficult to take. Especially when there are children o/b or bad
weather.
Happy sailing, you will not regret it.
--
c ya Wim
www.cruising.ca/thousand/f-index.html


"Guillermo" wrote in message
...
:
: sailmakers comments around. Have you tried discussing with the
sailmaker
: on
: what he would
: recommend and WHY.
:
: Yes I did, however full batten sails are more expensive and therefore
: sailmakers will be more incline to sale those. They think full batten is
: the way to go, but I wanted to know what other users have experienced.
:
: I have also posted my question into a C&C 27 forum and it turns out that
: everybody likes full batten sails.
:
: It looks like full batten is the way to go these days.
:
: Thank you all for you input in this matter.
: Guillermo
:
:

i have a new NS main on a 29ft'r and only the two upper battons are full
(come to the leach). It doesn't flog and doesn't need expensive bat cars.
the other rick

On Wed, 26 Nov 2003 15:22:41 -0500, Rick (Saga 35) wrote:

I think full battens are great. Easy to reef, less flogging, etc. I have
has
them on a Freedom 28 and a Saga 35. I also have dutchman system on the
main
which is really nice, and strongly recommend it.

My boat is 35 feet, so the Dutchman may be overkill for a 27.


"Guillermo" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I'm about to buy a brand new main sail for my C&C 27. I'm debating
snip...

I agree that full battens are the best choice, but there is one drawback
which though implied, hasn't been mentioned explicitly. With full battens
and conventional slides, it is nearly impossible to get the sail down unless
heading directly upwind. This is not a serious drawback for most people, but
you should be aware of it.

Steve
C&C 27

"Wim" wrote in message
...
It is the way to go, Guillermo! They(full batten) are faster, they are
better/easier to trim and they last longer!
With the right setup they will also reef quicker and won't balloon away
from
you, because they are stiffer.
All plus points. And.....when you sail you might as well sail
fast.......or
faster than your buddies ;-)
Even when cruising to cut 3/4 - 1hour of a 5-6 hour journey is
considerable
and not difficult to take. Especially when there are children o/b or bad
weather.
Happy sailing, you will not regret it.
--
c ya Wim
www.cruising.ca/thousand/f-index.html


"Guillermo" wrote in message
...
:
: sailmakers comments around. Have you tried discussing with the
sailmaker
: on
: what he would
: recommend and WHY.
:
: Yes I did, however full batten sails are more expensive and therefore
: sailmakers will be more incline to sale those. They think full batten
is
: the way to go, but I wanted to know what other users have experienced.
:
: I have also posted my question into a C&C 27 forum and it turns out that
: everybody likes full batten sails.
:
: It looks like full batten is the way to go these days.
:
: Thank you all for you input in this matter.
: Guillermo
:
:

I have full battens, and the sail drops effortlessly. I have the low
friction nylon track with the low-friction batten cars. Really works!

I am a strong advocate of full battens - I think they are great.


--
=================
Rick Krementz
Saga 35 - Nastianna
Jersey City NJ
email address available at
www.krementz.com
====================

"Steve Thomas" wrote in message
. ..
I agree that full battens are the best choice, but there is one drawback
which though implied, hasn't been mentioned explicitly. With full battens
and conventional slides, it is nearly impossible to get the sail down
unless
heading directly upwind. This is not a serious drawback for most people,
but
you should be aware of it.

Steve
C&C 27

"Wim" wrote in message
...
It is the way to go, Guillermo! They(full batten) are faster, they are
better/easier to trim and they last longer!
With the right setup they will also reef quicker and won't balloon away
from
you, because they are stiffer.
All plus points. And.....when you sail you might as well sail
fast.......or
faster than your buddies ;-)
Even when cruising to cut 3/4 - 1hour of a 5-6 hour journey is
considerable
and not difficult to take. Especially when there are children o/b or bad
weather.
Happy sailing, you will not regret it.
--
c ya Wim
www.cruising.ca/thousand/f-index.html


"Guillermo" wrote in message
...
:
: sailmakers comments around. Have you tried discussing with the
sailmaker
: on
: what he would
: recommend and WHY.
:
: Yes I did, however full batten sails are more expensive and therefore
: sailmakers will be more incline to sale those. They think full batten
is
: the way to go, but I wanted to know what other users have experienced.
:
: I have also posted my question into a C&C 27 forum and it turns out
that
: everybody likes full batten sails.
:
: It looks like full batten is the way to go these days.
:
: Thank you all for you input in this matter.
: Guillermo
:
:

What are the main dimensions of your sails?
I have a C&C 27 MK III (1978) which I realize is a different boat, but I
don't know if your sails would be much different or not. I don't know much
about the later model 27s. I do know that new high-tech sails are more than
I want to spend just now.

Steve Thomas..


wrote in message
news
On Wed, 26 Nov 2003 11:21:16 -0800, "Guillermo"
wrote:

Hello,

I'm about to buy a brand new main sail for my C&C 27. I'm debating
between
full batten or not (Dacron). I use the boat primarily for cruising. Are
full batten sails easy to reef? Would a full batten sail give me extra
speed? I don't race this boat but I race others, so I like to have my
sails
tune-up for maximum speed always.

I'm looking at UK sails since that is what I have in the boat and it
worked
very well for many years, but I'm open to other suggestions as well.

Any help/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Guillermo


What version of the C&C 27? Where are you located near?

I have a lightly used set of laminated sails about 3 years old for my C&C
27-5
that I'm not planning to use. I had recently thought about selling them.
They are a great set, made by Elliot Paterson. The Main has almost no use
on it
at all, and the jib was used for one season of Wednesday night races..
They are Kevlar w/mylar film and they were made w/Bainbridge sail cloth
(some
of the best on the market even now). The full batten Main is a little
bigger
than my cruising Dacron and the Jib is right around a 155% (about as big
as you
can go in PHRF racing without taking a hit on your rating).

BB