A few batten questions????

[wildcard]

So my mainsail has no battens in it. It has four pockets for them. I opened it up today to measure them and found they had been sewn shut? So here goes the list:
1. When I open up hte sewing and put new battons in, should it be resewn?
2. Since I have not figured outhow to sew sails yet, can I use sail tape to close them?
3. Can I use something cheaper than the super expensive battons from West Marine? This is an old sail that does not realy fit well and will be replaced soon and used as a spare so I don't want to dump a bunch of money into it if I dont have to.
Thanks in advance.

[Tartan34C]

It sounds odd that someone would sew the pockets shut with nothing in them. Maybe the opening is not where you expect. Sometimes it’s a flap that you need to fold over to get the batten in and when you let it go the fold holds the batten in. The flap might look like a part of the sail so you need to look carefully to find it sometimes.
All the best,
Robert Gainer

[paulk]

The super-expensive battens from West Marine are less likely to break and then tear your sails than pine trim boards from Home Depot would be. Perhaps oak or ash would work, but they can be difficult to find. (Have you tried Sail-Net for batten prices?) Broken battens are no fun. Where are you going to get a new sail? Perhaps the sailmaker has battens at a better price, or you can arrange for the new sail to have battens the same lengths as the old one. Be wary of cutting open the batten pockets. Sailmakers have many ways to get battens to go in and stay in their pockets. A pocket that looks like it's sewn shut may have a slit entry further down the pocket, or be open at one end on the top, or open at the other end for some reason. Ours have velcroed flaps that hold the battens in, and need a "pusher" to load them. Tape will not be enough to hold the battens in if the pocket isn't spring-loaded (as many are). Sewing isn't difficult, and if the sails are in as poor shape as you seem to say, learning on them won't affect them much. You DO need to use sail needles and a sailor's palm to push (and perhaps vicegrip pliers to pull) the needle through the sailcloth, however. Regular needles will break when you try to push them through such tightly woven material.

[Tartan34C]

Originally Posted by paulk

You DO need to use sail needles and a sailor's palm to push (and perhaps vicegrip pliers to pull) the needle through the sailcloth, however. Regular needles will break when you try to push them through such tightly woven material.

I don’t know how it is with you but I think putting vicegripes on a needle might cause a problem. If you get a burr on the shank of the needle you will catch the threads of the fabric. If you use a sailmaker’s needle and pull it out as soon as you get to the round part it will slide easily out of hole made by the larger triangular portion of the needle.
All the best,
Robert Gainer

[sailingdog]

I seriously doubt that the batten pockets are sewn shut... that seems like a pretty serious mistake on the part of the sailmaker. I would definitely look to see if there is an opening that you are missing. Most batten pockets are designed not to require being sewn shut.

[wildcard]

I looked at them all and can find no opening. The end has sewing not matching the rest back and forth across where I expect the openings to be. My wife looked too, no openings found.
I found this odd, Im glad Im not alone.
So flat strips of wood will work?

[yotphix]

Short answer...yes. Just sand them very well. And if one does break, no big deal, drop the sail and put in another. I used to have a couple of fir hoops in the tonneau of my pickup that took considerably more strain at highway speeds than your sail battens will ever see. they lasted 12 years before the first one broke. The replacement cost 4.00 because I had to buy a whole 2x4 and cut it on the table saw to an appropriate size.

[wildcard]

I repriced the west batts and it's not as bad as I was thinking. May just use them. Still, the sewm closed pockets have me stumped. Why would someone do that?