J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Full-batten cruising+PHRF main?

Looking for a new main easy to flake and reef alone, still doing well on PHRF racing. I am thinking on a full batten?
Would love also to be able to switch to OD configuration without stepping/unstepping the mast...
Any one has experience with such a setup?

Georges - Mark Rotsky the SNE District Governor on Nemesis uses a full batten main and I believe also has a separate OD race main. The full batten main is on slugs so easy to flake as it comes down. Give Mark a call and see what he does.

Thanks Bill - I discovered since then the Ronstan ball slide system also on slug. (http://www.ronstan.com/marine/SAbattensystems.asp#bstbattensystems) will check with Mark. Cheers.

A lot of the boats around me (mine included) have slugs in the main track and a series of lines from the leach of the main to metal rings on the topping lift. I don't really have any problem getting the sail up and down and the lines do a good job of managing the bottom half or so of the sail. The top (full) batten does have to be parrellel to the boom though.

Thanks FCD,
The vertical line from the topping lift down to the sail have some similarity with the Dutchmen system - but I am a bit at a loss to see how it works if the line does not go through all the way down to the boom? Would you have a picture by any chance?

A few folks around me seems happy with lazy jacks, but I more than occasionally find myself fighting with them on the hoist. So still looking at a better system...

Mark is happy with his full-batten. No need for ball bearing track. Opinion shared by Nick at North. So this is one thing down.

North's quote was so much higher than the price I saw discussed in this forum (more than $4000 for a Nordac main), than I am waiting on Doyle for theirs.

The lines run horizontally from the leach to the backstay. So they are taught when the sail is down on the boom and becomes loose as the sail is raised. I am going by the boat sometime this week and will at least get a picture with the sail down.