in mast main sail

[tckearney]

Hi All I need to replace my in mast mail sail.  This is for a Bavaria 42 2000 model.  I only every cruise, never racing.     There seems to be several options available to me.   Also there is vertical or horizontal batterns.  At present ther are three stainless steel sprung batterns.     Listed below are quotes I have received.  But what do I really need.  Obviously my budget which is restricted  has to come into this.  Any advise would be good.
•   Cloth: 9.7V   9.7V9.7V   9.7V   Vectran polypreg   Woven dacron with vectran inserted weft .

•   X-cut woven 441 cb  crosscut

•   AP performance Dacron 350 High spec

[Yngmar]

Ours is Dimension Polyant AP 360 oz, a sturdy and durable cruising fabric. We have in-mast furling too and on recommendation of several sailmakers opted for short-length vertical (flat) battens, which work well and aren't the huge pain in the ass (and impossibility to drop the sail in an emergency) that full length vertical battens are. Horizontal furling battens on the original sail did not work well at all. The sail has a straight leech supported by the battens, and no flutter. You can even have a slight roach with this, although the bit of extra sail area makes little difference on the J&J era Bavarias, as they derive most power from the big Genoa.

Ours was made by Sanders sails in Lymington and 3 years later is in top condition and we're still very pleased with it. Can highly recommend. Top quality stitching. He did have measurements on file and I've also sent them the old sail to verify and make sure it has the right fittings.

Don't forget to add leech telltales, which I've found very useful for sail trim.

It cost a bit under £2k in 2016 (for our Bavaria 40 Ocean). Peter Sanders doesn't need to advertise at boat shows, but he will give you a discount if you order around the SIBS dates.

[Salty]

My present boat does not have an “in mast” reefed sail, although my previous boat did have it, but with no provision for battens. More recently a friends boat did have in mast reefing and that was fitted with vertical battens which would permit the sail to be reefed without need for the battens to be removed. With my little knowledge of in mast reefing I would say, there is absolutely no place whatsoever for horizontal battens on an in mast reefed sail as that would totally defeat the possibility of ever being able to reef the sail.

[Yngmar]

Salty, the battens do not need to be removed to furl (=reef) the sail. Horizontal battens are the springy type (think snap bracelet) that bend and roll up with the sail when furled, but these do not work well in practice and often jam or wear through their pockets. Full length vertical battens must be removed before the sail can be dropped, but do not interfere with furling. Short vertical battens are a good compromise that seems to generally work well.

[Clivert]

We don't have battens in our inmast furling main and have never felt the need for them.

[tckearney]

Thanks guys  but what does cross cut mean and what other cuts are worth looking at

[dawntreader]

There is a good explanation here:
https://www.precisionsailloft.com/blog/crosscut-and-triradial-sails/#targetText=Crosscut%20sails%20are%20made%20of,fill%20and%20crimped%20warp%20yarns

[Symphony]

You will get almost as many recommendations and opinions as the number of sailmakers and users you ask. There are so many choices of cloth/cut/style and sailmakers use this variety to offer sails that are different from their competitors in what is essentially a commodity business. This is particularly true with furling sails where many try to design sails to overcome the supposed deficiencies of furling mainsails as opposed to conventional. So you see a variety of features aimed at increasing area or enhancing control over shape. Some of these features are of little value to typical cruising boats, particularly when they are foresail biased like the J&J Bavarias.

Based on my experience of now three different in mast sails on Bavarias the key features I would look for are stability (of shape and cloth) and durability. Cheap sails like the OE sails fail on both counts. They are cut (at least my two new ones were) with the draft too far aft and the cloth starts to lose its shape fairly quickly. The result is  over time a baggy sail which lacks drive and makes adjusting camber and furling difficult. On my current new (2015) sail I had it recut to move the draft forward and flatten it.Seems to work better.

Almost any new sail will be an improvement over the OE particularly if it is well used. Your choice will depend on your priorities but it makes sense to go for the better cloth such as the ones already suggested. The issue of battens is less clear cut and many of the well known sailmakers are not fans for reasons of chafe and furling difficulty that is not offset by any improvement in real life performance.

To be honest like many products available in a very competitive market you are unlikely to be disappointed. Having a dialogue with maybe 3 or 4 sailmakers asking them reasons for their recommendations is the only way to really satisfy yourself you are going to get a suitable sail. There is plenty of material available on the web  explaining the pros and cons of the alternatives to give you basic understanding so that you can assess their responses to your questions. A visit to Southampton boat show is a good opportunity to speak to as many sailmakers as you can cope with in a day!

[sy_Anniina]

 Have to agree with Symphony, including especially  number of sailors you ask. We have been e tremely happy with radially cut cruising laminate sails that have held their shape remarkably well, which is important as in baltic archipelago you often end up beating upwind.

Sy Anniina