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[Amel Yacht Owners] Re: Cam lock on main halyard?
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Peter, Vertical battens were added by the previous owner. The SM mast is not made for vertical battens. You will likely have continued issues with then. The majority of owners who have installed vertical battens on a SM experience problems. With lots of extra care and skill, vertical battens can work, but in practical applications, many owners have reported problems. Additionally, your vertical battens may NOT match any other SM battens. The design used was up to the previous owner and the sailmaker. This is NOT true on the 54 mast which was designed by Amel for vertical battens. Henri Amel's reason for the shortened sail halyards on both masts was to remove clutter. It makes sense because raising and lowering furling sails is not done very often. Once you get accustomed to adding the extension line, you will likely prefer it. Be sure to add the extension line before you do anything else...it is step #1. Good luck with your new-to-you Amel. Best, CW Bill Rouse Admiral, Texas Navy Commander Emeritus Amel School http://www.amelschool.com 720 Winnie St Galveston Island, TX 77550 +1(832) 380-4970
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Peter de Groot
Thanks Bill R. I will be experimenting without battens before ordering the new main. I like that idea, because furling and especially unfurling have been troublesome at times.
Best, Peter de Groot La Querida SM207
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Hello Peter,
If you take the battens out of the sail you have and try to use it, it will be worse. The standard main and mizzen sails on SMs have hollow leeches ie the line of the leech from the end of the boom to the mast is dipped towards the mast...that makes it furl easily into the mast and also makes the sail "fly"....without battens. The idea of the battens is that you don't have the hollow leech, you have a sail which has either a straight line leech or even slightly "roached" ie the line of the leech is curved slightly away from the mast...that is probably what you have...as we have...and the sail area is slightly increased If you take the battens out of that sail, and you sail with it, the leech will collapse and the airflow across the sail will be terrible. When you try to furl it in you will have real issues with the collapsed leech.....worse than if you left the battens in. The trick with furling the battened sail is that the boom needs to be very near 90 degrees to the mast with not much tension on the main sheet, and when you start to furl, release the outhaul a little then run the mast motor and "chase' the sail into the mast with the boom motor, watching the leech as it goes in to make sure it goes in straight with the battens parallel to the mast. The topping lift bungee cord needs to be in good condition as well...that will help you keep the boom in the right place. If you really want to get rid of the battens, then either you need to re-cut the sail with a hollow leech, or get a new mainsail. Furling the main with battens takes practice...it took me a while to get it right...but it works and we have no problems with it at all.... good luck Alan SM437
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Hi Peter,
I have vertical battens in the main and mizzen. As long as the boom is at 90d, furling hasn’t been a problem. Sail shape is significantly better than without them. I don’t know how much that effects boat speed, but it probably helps some. My battens are 20mm wide and 6-7 mm thick. I can imagine that any thicker might be a problem going into the slot. I am going to ask my sail loft about adding luff foam to improve sail shape when partially furled. I don’t know if the battens will interfere with that. Kent Robertson S/V Kristy SM 243
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