TI - Furling / Reefing the mainsail considerations???

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if there are issues when furling the TI mainsail and twisting the largest batten - does it matter if the batten is folded around the mast?
Also, if it is wrapped around the mast… better down low or in the middle of the mast?

I was out in 15-20 kt winds and furled the sail, but with the batten fully wrapped up, there was not much sail left out….
Stopping the furl in the middle of the batten and cinching down the outhaul and furling clew line really bent the largest batten across the middle of the mast!

I ended up leaving the sail fully out and back winded the mainsail a bit to reduce the forces on the mast and pin support bracket…

Thanks for your help…. Eric

The battens are flexible enough to withstand being flexed at the angle on which they're inserted into the sail. Don't give it a second thought. Just put out as much, or as little sail as you wish and keep on keeping on.

In fact, one of the real plusses to the Island series of boats is the ability to adjust sail size on the fly to match the wind.

Eric, as Tom said. Furl as much as you think you need (ignoring what that batten does), cleat the furling line, and then adjust the mainsheet to get the right shape of the smaller sail area. I tend to just leave the downhaul cleated at the same position all the time (tight enough so that there is a very slight vertical crease when there is no wind or tightness of the mainsheet). I know that theoretically I could improve the performance of the sail by varying downhaul tension, but I simply don't bother.

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker