Bill Roberts recently posted a response on the old forum that got me thinking. (Before anyone starts in on me about how using someone's name is in poor taste, let me say that I have nothing but admiration and respect for Bill. I love my SC19!)
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<br>The jist of his statement was (I'm paraphrasing..) "beach cats shouldn't have rf jibs because they're not stiff enough without battens, only low-aspect keelboat jibs should be on furlers"
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<br>ok, but a bunch of us love the flexibility and convenience of our furlers, so maybe there's a way to have the best of both worlds, or at least a compromise.... I didn't read the article very carefully, but in the latest Sailing World there's a 60' unstayed-rig singlehander that looks to have VERTICAL battens in the jib. seems like a good idea to me. they stabilize the luff, and they roll up on the furler. I'm sure they cause some funky disturbance of the airflow, but if this guy's got the setup on his multimilliondollar circumnavigator, it can't be all bad!
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<br>I'd love to hear comments from some of you sailshape gurus!<br><br>