that is dedication to the airfoil connie. of the three monty mains i now have (two for SCRED and one for SWEET PEA), none have tapered battens. M17s is mckibben. SCREDs are mckibben and E/P. dave scobie M17 #375 - sweet pea (http://www.m17-375.webs.com) M15 #288 - SCRED (for sale, http://www.freewebs.com/m15-named-scred) --- On Sat, 5/2/09, chbenneck@sbcglobal.net <chbenneck@sbcglobal.net> wrote: Hi Andrei, Re: Sail Battens Sail battens should be tapered from the luff end ( thinnest section) to the leach end (thickest section). The idea of the battens is to keep the sail shape and extend it as far as the sail maker can; increasing sail area. So, at the luff end, you want a thin batten that will easily conform to the curve of the sail, but then get progressively thicker to add support at the leach end. Bought battens hardly ever - unless you can get good tapered ones from your sail maker - fulfill that requirement. I always bought ash stock, and then planed my battens to the thinness I wanted. You run the risk of breaking a batten in heavy winds, but under normal sailing conditions you have optimally shaped sails. What you want to avoid is having thick battens in your sails so that there is a hard break in the sail where the batten pocket starts.\ T'ain't good for the sail aerodynamics; and t'ain't good for the sail. Connie