Hello, I bought a second hand North Rave 5.3m sail and it doesn't seem to fit my mast. I can get it onto the mast but have to fully remove the battens first - the battens lock in via a allen nut. The shape is appalling and not worth using, any hints?
Gday, the mast is a Mistral haven't got it here to get the specs but it's pretty solid. I've put heaps of downhaul on but then the luff creases severly, this is only partly remedied by outhaul. The battens seem to go half way around the mast.
Is the mast fibreglass? They don't work well with modern sails.
Can you take a photo of the sail rigged up? If you've got a carbon fibre mast then it really sounds like you need more downhaul (yes, really!)
That said, the lower battens on north sails do tend to go halfway around the mast, which makes it a pain to rotate when the wind is light. They shouldn't stick past the front of the mast though.
n.b; my guess only...
Apparently your using a mast that is to stiff (as Mistral don't make masts anymore I'm guessing its pretty old)
Wave sails need shorter masts, which are in turn softer (bendier), as they bend more per cm, to still attain the right 'curve'
I get the same sorta thing when I try to rig my 4.7 on my 460cm mast (but not quite as bad coz I spend alot of dough on a new RDM)
The only thing you can do is try getting heaps more downhaul on it (like nebbian said), or get another mast
edit: North Sails need flex top masts (someone double check me on this), so maybe your mast is stiff top. My battens go half way around the mast and get stuck when I rig my Gaastra (stiff top I think) on a Loft mast (constant curve) without enough downhaul. But prob fibreglass mast...
Thanks, I'll get a pic of it rigged on the weekend and post it. The mast is fibreglass and a pain in the arse as it has exposed little fibres that stick in your hand and cause little stings for a few days.
Gday dism, thats in the back of my head, didn't want to admit tho as it means selling the sail or buying a new mast. The sail was cheap and in great nick...
Yep, chuck the mast..
I have a North Rave 5.7 which rigs beautifully on an older NP (approx 10yr old) 430 mast, cant remember exactly which mast but its 2 piece 30% carbon, hope that helps.
I have a North Natural 7.0 on a 20 your old fibreglass mast...
Make sure you have downhauled the sail until it is literally all the way to the end of the mast.....even then North sails can be a bit tricky
Make sure you check the north sails rigging guide. Can be downloaded somewhere on the web. My North Natural sail requires completely different order to rigging than my other sails.
Put the mast right in and DO NOT downhaul.
Attach boom to mast at lowest point available on the mast.
Outhaul fairly strongly.
Then add your first lot of downhaul.
Adjust to preference.
If you downhaul before any outhaul the battens stick past the mast like a $#$@!
This may or may not help, but can't hurt to make sure you are rigging correctly.
North sails ten years or less old have a narrow luft sleeve and battens that pass along side of the mast. You need a narrow mast, preferably a North and probably one of their drop shapes. Is your sail a VTS one?
