Having my Batten Repaired

This happened on my Maui Sails MS-2 8-oh sail which has two(2) cambers. It was on the batten that attaches to the top camber. Last Friday it just did NOT look nor feel right. Bent about two(2) inches back from the camber and looked bad. I do NOT like to take chances and brought it to our local MauiSails rep at Auventfou.  Yvan said right away - "no issue, it is just the tip". This is the sequence of events that we went through to repair the broken batten tip - something that had NEVER happened to me before.

First the mast sleeve was slid up over the top camber as seen in this photo.

The camber was slid off the tip of the batten sleeve as seen in the next photo.

The next photo shows the other end of the puzzle - where one tightens the batten tensioner ... The hex tool was used to remove the tensioning screw completely. The plastic tensioner was pushed in - so that the retainer cord - shown with the arrow could be moved aside. The plastic batten tensioner portion was removed.

Once these parts were out, the entire batten AND tip were slid out from the same end. Glad Yvan did this cux one DIY description talked about cutting the other end at the batten sleeve %^&*( Also, Yvan said we were VERY lucky cuz the broken tip came off all together when the batten was pulled out.
Tinho explains how to get the tip out if it broke:
http://www.calema.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=291

My broken tip looked more like the broken one on the right - still slightly attached:

The batten was cut to remove the defective tip - more than we wanted to {cuz the core would not go into the batten - and the new tip and joint were glued into place. The batten tube seems to be made out of carbon. Yvan explained that the repair we did here was the simpler one AND we were very lucky it came out in one piece. For me that means when you suspect a defect - stop using the sail and repair it %^&*(

Will try to find some photos on the web of batten , tip and joint - before taking mine apart for photos :-)

Here is a photo of the batten tensioner:

Here is a picture of the batten-tip joint/joiner:

Here is a picture of the tube batten with the rod/tube joint/joiner:

I think you get the idea :-) ....


Oh yeah, before I forget, Yvan was explaining that he tightens the battens all to the max. No less for up high and said that he saw some racers just crank on the tension !! I may ask about this on the MS forum ...
Barry Spanier suggested a little less on the higher battens - will try BOTH :-)
So far, have loosened the bottom batten - it seemed to stay on the one side too much.
Next will try loosening the top battens somewhat ...

Thought broken battens were rare and used to complain about Sailworks since Helmut has had his battens repaired a number of times. Brought my TR-4 10-oh to be checked in August 2012 and René of auventfou discovered the tip was broken. NOT supposed to be a big deal, but the broken piece would NOT come out. René said options were to put a hole in the end and push it out OR cut the stitching and get it out. A shoe maker/cordonier could sow up the pocket. I NEVER heard about that and it made me nervous. He said there was a fellow just around the corner who could do it. So, that's what we did. When I went to the local shoe maker, man was I surprised !! He had a machine like I had never seen before and he did sow it up for 10 bucks. Will try to find a pic of this machine. Will put a pic of the sewing job too. René also had to make adjustments to the batten since it was glued - now he says it is like new :-)

Here is a pic of a similiar sewing machine - the knobs allow the operator to spin the direction any which way:

The next picture is of the final result - where you can see the stitching on the left.

Why am I breaking battens ? René says i am not putting enough downhaul. Will also make sure battens are tight enough. On the TR-4, it is possible that derigging broke the batten. In the early days when i popped the cams off by themselves through quick release of downhaul, the bottom cam was often twisted.
Now will start to be more careful and watch for issues when they occur too.... :-(