Noticed this year that I had to retension several battens on a sail twice, then I got to thinking that having battens tensioned during the heat of Summer in Florida may not be good for the sail X-ply. Never did it in the past 7 years, but started today. Yeah, have to retension next time I go out, but I normally only use 1 sail per session, and it only takes a minute to retension them. Just do not want to cause the failure of a sail panel due to batten tension stretching it out.
Try fiddling with more shxt, poke it, tweak it, tighten it then loosen it. See if that works.
I put mine in a toilet with the fan on for 6 weeks after each session. Never had to retension battens.
Thank god for small miracles.
Go back to telling the foremost experts they know nothing.
YO SANDY ! Back in the 80s tensioning n untensioning battens daily was the norm.
Times have changed.
But you can keep trippin if you wish.
Now that the sail battens are relaxed, it will be interesting to see when I go foiling next time, if the battens take the same amount of tension as before, or less because the X-ply has shrunk/retracted a little, i.e., unstretched.
Greater risk is film creasing while rolled with untensioned battens, if there's any stretch it'll be while on the water. Tension then leave em alone, give them a tweak once a year if you wish. If your theory was true then those brands that preset battens with no tensioners wouldn't have done it.
Select to expand quotemkseven said..
Greater risk is film creasing while rolled with untensioned battens, if there's any stretch it'll be while on the water. Tension then leave em alone, give them a tweak once a year if you wish. If your theory was true then those brands that preset battens with no tensioners wouldn't have done it.
What brands are those, what type of sails, and what type of plastic used for the panels, for the sails with non-adjustable battens?
I have been told race sails usually use mono film, and that it is does not stretch as much as X-ply when loaded with wind pressure making it more responsive. X-ply is made out of two sheets of plastic film glued together with reinforcement fibers in between and the two sheets can moved a little because of the glue.
No it can't it doesn't stretch and nobody else has the problem. You think that glue moves? No it doesn't and - in a shear line even less likely. But you won't listen. All the sailmakers do it wrong.
Hey mark can not see you, maybe get someone to quote you, you are still visible in a quote (but that may change). 
After each session I replace all the battens with new ones . They compress under load making the glue slip in the x ply . It's not that expensive when you buy them in bulk . I tried drying them in the bathroom for six weeks and it just made them shrink more . Painting them white didn't bring them back to original length . What a waste of time that was !
I just wish Severne would supply long enough battens 4 of my overdrives have battens ( 2nd and 3rd from bottom) which are to short to tension up fully.
Select to expand quoteImax1 said..
After each session I replace all the battens with new ones . They compress under load making the glue slip in the x ply . It's not that expensive when you buy them in bulk . I tried drying them in the bathroom for six weeks and it just made them shrink more . Painting them white didn't bring them back to original length . What a waste of time that was !
Thanks Imax, was about to go down the same path, will save some time and just leave my sails salty in the back of my van until I need to use them 
of course the other option may be to remove the battens and add about 1mm to them after every say 10 sessions, as the sail material is stretching. But only in a hot climate, of course.
I'd like to know how many people do that, and how many just go ahead with purely reckless abandon and leave them alone.
Quick poll..?
Select to expand quoteMark _australia said..
of course the other option may be to remove the battens and add about 1mm to them after every say 10 sessions, as the sail material is stretching. But only in a hot climate, of course.
I'd like to know how many people do that, and how many just go ahead with purely reckless abandon and leave them alone.
Quick poll..?
The ads on TV say if your batten stays under tension for more than four hours, you should seek medical attention.
Wait, which batten are we talking about?
Select to expand quotePaducah said..
The ads on TV say if your batten stays under tension for more than four hours, you should seek medical attention.
Select to expand quotePaducah said..Mark _australia said..
of course the other option may be to remove the battens and add about 1mm to them after every say 10 sessions, as the sail material is stretching. But only in a hot climate, of course.
I'd like to know how many people do that, and how many just go ahead with purely reckless abandon and leave them alone.
Quick poll..?
The ads on TV say if your batten stays under tension for more than four hours, you should seek medical attention.
Wait, which batten are we talking about?
Ha ha!, good laugh, thanks Paducah!
I am probably the only one doing it, but who knows, it may be a secret technique used by the PWA pros!
Select to expand quoteSandman1221 said..Paducah said..Mark _australia said..
of course the other option may be to remove the battens and add about 1mm to them after every say 10 sessions, as the sail material is stretching. But only in a hot climate, of course.
I'd like to know how many people do that, and how many just go ahead with purely reckless abandon and leave them alone.
Quick poll..?
The ads on TV say if your batten stays under tension for more than four hours, you should seek medical attention.
Wait, which batten are we talking about?
Ha ha!, good laugh, thanks Paducah!
I am probably the only one doing it, but who knows, it may be a secret technique used by the PWA pros!
The pros can afford a portaloo with a mini fan .
but then again, if the pro sails have monofilm panels they may not stretch as much as a X-ply sail panel, and so releasing the batten tension would be a waste of time.
I never released batten tension on my Xply paneled sails. And they got very hot in my shed, never measured inside temp but it gets to 40C outside.
Not a problem, the sails stretched a bit from new as the seams settled in, but that happened from sailing not from storage.
Select to expand quotedecrepit said..
I never released batten tension on my Xply paneled sails. And they got very hot in my shed, never measured inside temp but it gets to 40C outside.
Not a problem, the sails stretched a bit from new as the seams settled in, but that happened from sailing not from storage.
Same situation here, and agree with you, that is the way my sails were for up to 6 years, will see next time I go out how much batten tension it takes for the sails to shape up. I just know I set the tension to remove all wrinkles, and then months later there were some small wrinkles, so something loosened up, and I do not think it was the tensioners, so that leaves the X-ply.
^^ or possibly stretching of the stitching at seams is more likely?
Surely if the Xply stretched at glue join between film, thered be some sort of delam visible /evident?
If you are only just tensioning battens to remove wrinkles then theres no way itll cause issues or damage sails.
How much FORCE you using????
Sounds kinda Excessive.
Maybe you should put a Loadcell on each batten?
Is there even that much adjustment to get a batten that tight on a modern sail??
And
If it had that much tension, surely itd force an S into the batten???
Sail just wouldnt Sit right or Rotate properly.
I would think x ply would stretch a little . More than monofilm . But not because of the glue but because the nature of the plastic that is a little more rubbery .
Got out today and of course had to tension my Freespeed 7.2, it looked better and the wrinkles I had to get out with the tensioners were pretty minor, and that was starting from loose tensioners! So in the heat of Summer the battens were slowly stretching out the X-ply sail panels. And with a week or so of relaxed batten tensioners, the sail panels contracted/shrank back to normal in the heat of Summer, 90+ degrees F in my garage.
