Having battens slip past the elastic at the forward end of batten pockets can be an occasional and unpredictable irritant. There is added inconvenience if the end cap catches beyond the elastic and falls off when the batten is removed from the pocket. Taking the precaution of gluing the end caps on can help, but the most reliable method of making sure they can't fall off is to use self adhesive plastic tape. A worse problem, though less common, is when battens slip past the elastic they become loose, and may fall out of their pockets and be lost when the leach of the sail flaps violently in strong breeze. The only defence against this has been to tape the ends of the batten pockets closed, which is often not easy, particularly if the sail is wet. To prevent battens from slipping past the elastic and causing further problems, concave end caps are now being introduced. They are interchangeable with the existing (classic) end caps, and there is no need to change the length of your battens in order to fit the new, concave end caps.
- Only one concave end cap may be fitted to each batten.
- Concave end caps may only be used on the forward end of the batten, touching the elastic.
- Concave end caps may not be used on the back (leach) end of the batten.
- Only concave batten end caps supplied by the Laser Builders may be used.
Batten length is to be measured as shown in the diagram.
