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A mainsail that binds in open water may only be an irritation or a minor embarrassment. But a mainsail that jams in a crowded harbor, or when you're tucking in a reef, can rapidly escalate into an emergency.
With the advent of modern sailmaking and spar technology, it is now common to have sails bind while running up and down the mast. Sailcloth designed especially for mainsails is now more tightly woven and has a higher resin content. This makes the cloth less porous and prone to stretch, but also stiffer and harder to handle. Modern masts are often designed with considerable pre-bend and extruded internal sail tracks have become smaller. Whether standard short batten or full batten, these advancements have made mainsails much more efficient, but they are also the cause of many sail handling problems.
If you dread going forward to fight with a sticky mainsail, Schaefer Marine and your local sailmaker offer these solutions to make your main behave. The Schaefer Battslide and their Battslide intermediate system are the essence of simplicity, yet they have been tested in thousands of miles of blue water cruising and 'round the buoys racing.
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