Hobie Cat Forums

Hello again - my second post today...

A problem, got my Hobie TI a few weeks ago, assembled it with a very kind finnish distributor. But now only after a few hours of sailing I noticed a problem:
The longest of the round battens - so the one nearest to the mast - if far too big in diameter for the white plastic pocket where the end of the batten should go. Neither me and the distributor noticed this when we assembled the sail - but now when I looked it carefully it seems to be so that the plastic pocket for the batten is made for flat batten - not for a round one (that does not fit in, result in the picture - when this problem escalates more the batten will drop out from the sail from this hole...what should I do? Does Hobie (company) know about this problem?

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Yikes - not good
Looks like it's not seated correctly in the pocket.
I had a problem with the long batten pocket on my TI which (from memory)only has 2 small screw fastenings (unlike your 3 ?). In my case, one of the small screws had come loose from the fitting because the batten had been inserted too far in when installed by my dealer. All I did to fix it was loosen the tension and ease the batten out a little, refix the loose screw and then readjust everything. I did think it was rather flimsy and something I will be watching in future.
The three fittings on your pocket do not appear to be adjustable - is that correct?
I think my sail has a label on it "Made in Sri Lanka" (from memory).
Out of curiosity, has yours got a label of origin on it?
I didn't think it was as well made as my AI sail.

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Mickey
2011 AI Golden Papaya
2011 TI Golden Papaya

Hello mickeymouse and thanks for your answer - the problem seems to be that the batten has no possibilities to even fit in the plastic pocket
I think this is quite serious issue if the sailfactory does not know that round battens are used instead of flat ones.

I have not searched for any label (county of origin) in the sail, I will next time I go sailing.

Is the batten reversed?

We grind off 1 1/2 " of the end of the 3/8" batten to a 3/16" taper so the batten fits into the batten pocket protector.

Should be flat rectangle on the end.

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Matt Miller
Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Hobie Cat USA

Oh my...

Thank you Matt for the answer! I'm deeply sorry for this "false alarm" - to my excuse I must say that neither the finnish distributor nor the manual were aware that this longest batten had different kind of ends.

I will go sailing next weekend and before that turn the batten - luckily the tear in the sail is so small that it does not cause any problem once the batten is turned.

See how valuable this forum is seppowa

Don't worry mate, we have all had to post a couple of these over the years.

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Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.

Take a file in case we missed a step.

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Matt Miller
Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Hobie Cat USA

Matt, for your info, I just unpacked my new Tandem Island (Dune, same as Seppo's) and noticed that neither end of the long batten was tapered as you state. Luckily I saw Seppo's post and avoided a similar fate of tearing the batten pocket. I unfortunately didn't have a file handy, but ingenuity took over and found that asphalt paving made quick and neat work of this. As Seppo said, there was nothing mentioned in the instruction manual either.

Thanks Seppo for pointing this out! I will soon post my first picture of my Dune TI in N. Carolina waters. It is hot and windy right now!

Walt A.

Walt - it's been wet & cold here lately so i haven't checked my sail batten yet. However i think mine is notfiled down either - which would also account for the screw fitting on the pocket coming away.
Have you noticed where your sail was made? I think mine says Sri Lanka!
Might account for some of the quality control issues
Look forward to hearing/seeing your new baby in action

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Mickey
2011 AI Golden Papaya
2011 TI Golden Papaya

Taking my excuses back...went yesterday to see my Hobie, took the longest batten out - both ends are round

Pictures below from both ends, and then after giving some Dremel for the other end.

Will do an official complaint of this to the dealer in Finland - it not nice to have a tear in the sail after only a few hours sailing.

I don´t believe I am the only one with this problem - as WaltA above mentions. Is there going to be some kind of replacement (as for the rudder)?

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I'd blunt the end. A sharp / wedge can damage the protective cap.

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Matt Miller
Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Hobie Cat USA

Thanks Matt! I´ll blunt it.

It's a beautiful sunny winter's day here - but nil wind
I decided to take a look at my mast batten and although I have the lower end seated snugly in the pocket, I can confirm that the my TI does not have a flattened, filed or tappered end. I will keep an eye on it and if it causes the small pocket screws (there are only 2 on mine - unlike seppowa's 3) to give way, I will filem mine too.
I also can confirm that my sail was made by North Sails, Sri Lanka.
The different fitting on the batten pocket of mine and seppowa's seems to indicate that they may well have come from different manufacturers

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Mickey
2011 AI Golden Papaya
2011 TI Golden Papaya