what are the drawbacks of a "batten boom"

hey all. i recently got a "batten boom" mainsail for my h16 from a guy who custom made it after sending his wife to the hospital with a concussion. of course the appropriate solution to boom-concussions is to pay more attention, but after trying out a hobie wave on vacation last year, which has this "batten boom", i found the softer boom made rigging and sailing a bit easier with uninitiated friends and family. it's also lighter to carry and less intimidating to young crew.

in case you're wondering, this custom batten boom is a standard hobie 16 mainsail with the foot of the sail wrapped around a rectangular plastic plank, about 3/4" thick and 2" wide. the sail is sewn in place and 1 foot long aluminum plates are bolted outside the batten/sail with a steel half-ring to attach the mainsheet block set. if this description isn't helping, just look at a hobie wave photo and you will see that there is no rigid boom; rather, it is a flexible plastic shaft that allows the foot of the sail to keep its wing shape all the way through.

so my question is, what are the drawbacks of a batten boom over the standard boom?

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getaway on long beach island, nj

I would think ,outhaul, .

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Bodhisatfa

I believe that the biggest problem is going to be your attachment point. On the Wave and other boomless mainsails, the foot is shorter than the distance to the rear crossbar. The 16 main extends a good 1-1.5' beyond the crossbar. That's gonna look very funny with the leech of the main flopping around.

I have to agree - a similar situation is the Sport conversion of the 17 (which eliminates the boom). It includes a "boomlet" that carries the load of the leech that extends beyond the mainsheet attachment point.

I think the main problem of all boomless sails is the fact that the mainsheet will change the shape / profile / draft of the sail depending how hard you sheet in. If you want your sail's profile to be as unaffected by mainsheet and the position of your traveler as possible you need some sort of a boom.
In my opinion... for recreational use were ease of use counts more then performance a boomless sail is o.k.. If you planing on getting the best ump out of your sail for all different points of sail - you need a boom.

i agree some kind of boom is needed. although i appreciate the tangent, the original question was what the drawbacks were to a batten boom where a boom is used, but it is flexible, as opposed to the standard rigid aluminum boom. any comments in that? -ippi

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getaway on long beach island, nj

mast rotation too.