Sail batten: Difference between revisions
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{{Main|Sail components}} |
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{{short description|Part of sailboats}} |
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{{Other uses|Batten}} |
{{Other uses|Batten}} |
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{{See also|Junk rig}} |
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[[File:Verschiedene Segellatten.jpg|thumb|Selection of sail battens.]] |
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[[File:Bladef16-1up.jpg|thumb|[[Catamaran]] with full-length battens on the [[mainsail]].]] |
[[File:Bladef16-1up.jpg|thumb|[[Catamaran]] with full-length battens on the [[mainsail]].]] |
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A '''sail batten''' is a flexible insert, parallel to the direction of wind flow, in a sail that helps shape its qualities as an airfoil.<ref name=Textor> |
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On [[sailboat]]s, a '''sail batten''' is a flexible insert in a [[sail]], parallel to the direction of wind flow, that helps shape its qualities as an [[airfoil]].<ref name=Textor>{{cite book | last = Textor | first = Ken | title = The New Book of Sail Trim | publisher = Sheridan House, Inc. | date = 1995 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2JIbS0c1XPwC&q=downwind+sailing&pg=PA50 | pages = 228 | isbn = 0924486813 }}</ref> Battens are long, thin strips of material, historically wooden but today usually [[fiberglass]], [[Polyvinyl chloride|vinyl]], or [[carbon fiber]], used to support the [[Parts of a sail#Roach|roach]] of a sail. They are also used on [[tall ships]] to form the ladders up the shrouds in a fashion similar to [[ratlines]]. |
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==History== |
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Battened sails are commonly found in [[Junk (ship)|junk ship]]. A junk is an ancient [[China|Chinese]] [[sailing ship]] design that is still in use today. Iconographic remains show that Chinese ships before the 12th century used square sails. A ship carving from a stone Buddhist stele shows a ship with square sail from the Liu Sung dynasty or the Liang dynasty (ca. 5th or 6th century). [[Mogao Caves|Dunhuang cave temple]] no. 45 (from the 8th or 9th century) features large sailboats and [[Sampan|sampans]] with inflated square sails. A wide ship with a single sail is depicted in the Xi'an mirror (after the 9th or 12th century).{{sfn|Needham|1986|pp=456-457}}<ref name="needham volume 4 part 3 463">See also plates CDIII, CDIV, CDV, CDVI in Needham, Volume 4, Part 3.</ref> Eastern [[lug sail]], which used battens and is commonly known as "junk rig", was likely not Chinese in origin: The oldest depiction of a battened junk sail comes from the [[Bayon Temple|Bayon temple]] at Angkor Thom, Cambodia.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 3 464222">Needham, Joseph (1971). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=l6TVhvYLaEwC&pg=PA464 Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 3, Civil Engineering and Nautics]''. Cambridge University Press.</ref>{{Rp|460-461}} From its characteristics and location, it is likely that the ship depicted in Bayon was a Southeast Asian ship.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Burningham |first=Nick |title=Early Global Interconnectivity across the Indian Ocean World, Volume II: Exchange of Ideas, Religions, and Technologies |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2019 |editor-last=Schottenhammer |editor-first=Angela |location=Cham |pages=141–201 |chapter=Chapter 6: Shipping of the Indian Ocean World}}</ref>{{Rp|188-189}} The Chinese themselves may have adopted them around the 12th century CE.<ref name="Pham">{{cite book |last1=Pham |first1=Charlotte Minh-Hà L. |url=https://www.academia.edu/10065854 |title=Training Manual for the UNESCO Foundation Course on the Protection and Management of Underwater Cultural Heritage in Asia and the Pacific |date=2012 |publisher=UNESCO Bangkok, Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education |isbn=978-92-9223-414-0 |location=Bangkok |chapter=Unit 14: Asian Shipbuilding (Training Manual for the UNESCO Foundation Course on the Protection and Management of the Underwater Cultural Heritage)}}</ref>{{Rp|21}} Their [[Junk rig|rigs]] featured full-length battens that facilitated short-handed sail handling, including reefing.<ref name = Mudie> |
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{{Citation |
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| last1 = Mudie |
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| first1 = Rosemary |
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| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2JIbS0c1XPwC&pg=PA50&dq=downwind+sailing&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LoggVeSSCsvlsAX2oIDICA&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=downwind%20sailing&f=false |
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| last2 = Mudie |
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| first2 = Colin |
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| year = 1975 |
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| isbn = 9780668037808 |
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| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SyFUAAAAMAAJ&q=History+Chinese+Junk+sail |
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==Applications in sails== |
==Applications in sails== |
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The most common use of sail battens is in the [[Roach (sail)|roach]] of a [[mainsail]]. The batten extends the [[leech]] past the line that runs from the [[Head (sail)|head]] and the [[clew]] of the sail to create a wider sail towards the top. |
The most common use of sail battens is in the [[Roach (sail)|roach]] of a [[mainsail]]. The batten extends the [[Glossary_of_nautical_terms_(A-L)#leech|leech]] past the line that runs from the [[Head (sail)|head]] and the [[clew]] of the sail to create a wider sail towards the top. Cruising [[sailboat]]s may have four to six battens. Racing sailboats may have full-length battens, as well, that allow for better sail shape. Batten length near the head of the sail is limited by the need for the roach to pass ahead of the [[backstay]], when [[Tacking (sailing)|tacking]] or [[Jibe|jibing]].<ref name=Textor/> Battens are also found in jibs of [[Beachcat|beach-cat]] catamarans.<ref name = Berman> |
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{{cite book |
{{cite book |
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| last = Berman |
| last = Berman |
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| publisher = W. W. Norton & Company |
| publisher = W. W. Norton & Company |
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| date = 1999 |
| date = 1999 |
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| pages = 219 |
| pages = 219 |
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| isbn = 9780393318807 }}</ref> |
| isbn = 9780393318807 }}</ref> |
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==Batten materials and construction== |
==Batten materials and construction== |
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Most battens are fiberglass |
Most modern battens are fiberglass [[pultrusion]]s with a thin, rectangular cross section. An alternative shape is a hollow tube that rotates in the batten pocket and is more compatible with roller [[Furl_(sailing)|furl]]ing the mainsail. Because the ends of battens are likely to chafe the sail at the ends of the pockets into which they are inserted, they often have a soft, blunt shape affixed to them.<ref name=Textor/> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{ |
{{Reflist}} |
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{{Wiktionary|batten}} |
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{{Sail types}} |
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[[Category:Sailing rigs and rigging]] |
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Latest revision as of 04:52, 19 October 2023
On sailboats, a sail batten is a flexible insert in a sail, parallel to the direction of wind flow, that helps shape its qualities as an airfoil.[1] Battens are long, thin strips of material, historically wooden but today usually fiberglass, vinyl, or carbon fiber, used to support the roach of a sail. They are also used on tall ships to form the ladders up the shrouds in a fashion similar to ratlines.
History
[edit]Battened sails are commonly found in junk ship. A junk is an ancient Chinese sailing ship design that is still in use today. Iconographic remains show that Chinese ships before the 12th century used square sails. A ship carving from a stone Buddhist stele shows a ship with square sail from the Liu Sung dynasty or the Liang dynasty (ca. 5th or 6th century). Dunhuang cave temple no. 45 (from the 8th or 9th century) features large sailboats and sampans with inflated square sails. A wide ship with a single sail is depicted in the Xi'an mirror (after the 9th or 12th century).[2][3] Eastern lug sail, which used battens and is commonly known as "junk rig", was likely not Chinese in origin: The oldest depiction of a battened junk sail comes from the Bayon temple at Angkor Thom, Cambodia.[4]: 460–461 From its characteristics and location, it is likely that the ship depicted in Bayon was a Southeast Asian ship.[5]: 188–189 The Chinese themselves may have adopted them around the 12th century CE.[6]: 21 Their rigs featured full-length battens that facilitated short-handed sail handling, including reefing.[7]
Applications in sails
[edit]The most common use of sail battens is in the roach of a mainsail. The batten extends the leech past the line that runs from the head and the clew of the sail to create a wider sail towards the top. Cruising sailboats may have four to six battens. Racing sailboats may have full-length battens, as well, that allow for better sail shape. Batten length near the head of the sail is limited by the need for the roach to pass ahead of the backstay, when tacking or jibing.[1] Battens are also found in jibs of beach-cat catamarans.[8]
Batten materials and construction
[edit]Most modern battens are fiberglass pultrusions with a thin, rectangular cross section. An alternative shape is a hollow tube that rotates in the batten pocket and is more compatible with roller furling the mainsail. Because the ends of battens are likely to chafe the sail at the ends of the pockets into which they are inserted, they often have a soft, blunt shape affixed to them.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Textor, Ken (1995). The New Book of Sail Trim. Sheridan House, Inc. p. 228. ISBN 0924486813.
- ^ Needham 1986, pp. 456–457.
- ^ See also plates CDIII, CDIV, CDV, CDVI in Needham, Volume 4, Part 3.
- ^ Needham, Joseph (1971). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 3, Civil Engineering and Nautics. Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Burningham, Nick (2019). "Chapter 6: Shipping of the Indian Ocean World". In Schottenhammer, Angela (ed.). Early Global Interconnectivity across the Indian Ocean World, Volume II: Exchange of Ideas, Religions, and Technologies. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 141–201.
- ^ Pham, Charlotte Minh-Hà L. (2012). "Unit 14: Asian Shipbuilding (Training Manual for the UNESCO Foundation Course on the Protection and Management of the Underwater Cultural Heritage)". Training Manual for the UNESCO Foundation Course on the Protection and Management of Underwater Cultural Heritage in Asia and the Pacific. Bangkok: UNESCO Bangkok, Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education. ISBN 978-92-9223-414-0.
- ^ Mudie, Rosemary; Mudie, Colin (1975), The history of the sailing ship, Arco Publishing Co., p. 152, ISBN 9780668037808
- ^ Berman, Phil (1999). Catamaran Sailing: From Start to Finish. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 219. ISBN 9780393318807.
