Jib Catching on Mast

I am sure its beat to death but I'm lazy

How do you prevent the Jib battens from catching on the Main and Jib Halyard?

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Division 10, Fleet 185
Hobie 17 and Hobie 14

Cut them shorter,that is the quick simple solution.If you want to get fancier bring them to a sail loft and have them sew on little strips of plastic (like the material the window on the sails are) strips that extend over the batten ends.Also bring the main halyard behind the shrouds before cleating down.

from page 30 of murray's catalog

HALYARD GRIP KIT
Guides the halyard to the side of the mast, keeping
it out of the way so that the jib is less likely to
hang up on it when tacking.
07-1140 $4.35

These came on the mast I bought and have always worked well for me. I'd be interested to read what the old salts think of them.

I used them (or ones that I made myself) for many years, but stringing the jib halyard back makes the mast want to preferentially rotate to that side.

Now the stock halyard arrangement is straight down the front of the mast. If you keep the ends of the battens short (<½"), it's not a problem.

I never noticed that but I'm not real observant. I have one on the other side for the main too, but it's not nearly as tight as the jib. Don't know if that makes a difference.

HOw short can you trim the battens? These pnes are pretty much trimmed so that all that sticks out is 3/4" of the batten cap.

The Halyard Grip Kit.... where do you mount them. Any photos?

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Division 10, Fleet 185
Hobie 17 and Hobie 14

Well, here's the photo of the batten ends - from the regatta you attended, Doug (you shoulda looked closer at my boat):


They only stick out about ½ inch.

The hold back should go just above the top jib batten (look for the scrapes on the mast), directly in line with the turning block at the bottom of the mast (about ½ way back on the side).

If that's a half inch then that cat is only 6 feet long. My hinged battens
work pretty good, except in light air then anything seems to get caught a little.

Batten hinges work well for me too.

They stick out less than the width of standard electrical tape (which is what's wrapped around the ends - that's why they look longer than they really are).

I used batten hinges for years, too - until I got tired of replacing them. Either they eventually break, or they don't snap back straight after a while.

I've found that simpler is better - and that training your crew to properly clear the battens helps too.

If the battens are caught on the halyard, don't just try to yank the jib across. You grab the leech of the sail at the first batten and push forward. The sail curls up and the battens pop free every time.

Are batten hinges class legal to race with?

Hey Matt, its not actually for my boat. For some reason one of the other guys in the FLeet has big troulbles with this. His battens are very short already. It seems to be catching about 3/4 of the way up and I for the life of me can't figure out why.

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Division 10, Fleet 185
Hobie 17 and Hobie 14

Yes - but you won't find them on any of the top racer's boats.

Get the Velcro batten holders sewn into your jib. They are awesome and never catch up.

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Steve
2017 Hobie 16 "Cayman" sails 114795
1985 & 1973? Hobie 14 "Sea & Ski"