Tony,
<br> I don't know about hinged battons, but I have had trouble bringing the jib across in a tack. You mentioned the halyards, and it makes me think of the trouble I had when I forgot to use the halyard hooks that are mounted 10 to 15 feet up the mast. When I insured that both halyards were properly tucked out of the way via the two halyard retainers on the sides of the mast, I never had trouble with jib battens getting caught in the halyards. I still have some trouble in light air with the battens passing the mast, but they don't hang up in the halyard lines. In light winds no one is that busy anyway, so it isn't much for my crew to handle.
<br>Good luck,
<br>Greg H14,H16<br><br>