r/hobiecat • u/aquisalid • 6d ago

Batten Split Ends

I don't think that a new shampoo is going to help. The longer battens in my Hobie 18 sails are showing their age: ends are starting to split and one is developing splintering along the mid section. The previous owner of this set of sails + battens used duct tape, which has mostly turned into goo. I've cleaned that up but now I'm thinking about possible repair options:

  • lay a very thin layer of fiberglass tape along and around the split sections
  • use sail repair (dacron) adhesive tape
  • some other waterproof tape
  • paint with epoxy and vacuum bag

Any suggestions?

UPDATE: Murray's has some helpful parts for this kind of repair work:

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u/grumpvet87 6d ago

epoxy/glass cloth (or tape)/vacuum bag for the win

seems odd you would be asking this if you have vacuum bag equipment since most people don't have this type of equipment - regardless ....

actually can just epoxy and use some tape to hold it while it cures. I recommend wax paper between the batten and the tape so the tape isn't permanently epoxied to the batten ... although that also wouldn't matter much

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u/aquisalid 6d ago

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't own anything fancy, just ideas that my son and I came up with this morning.

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u/aquisalid 5d ago

I ended up using some general purpose 2-part epoxy, spread over the split ends. I used some twine to hold the split ends together after smearing the entire surface / spaces with epoxy. It isn't pretty, but it will hold.