Mainsail Battens
Setup
Battens come from North Sails with nearly zero tension on them. One must initially tighten them with the batten tensioning tool until the battens “support” themselves.
This is an excellent video explanation to achieve BASELINE tensioning of the battens:
For most sailing conditions, these are the recommended adjustments to baseline tension:
Baseline: Battens support themselves
9 half turns to the gaff batten (top sail batten, angled to the corner)
6 half turns to the next batten down
3 half turns to the next batten down
An alternate technique
Baseline: Enough tension to removing wrinkles rather than battens supporting themselves
15 half turns to the gaff batten (top sail batten, angled to the corner)
10 half turns to the next batten down
5 half turns to the next batten down
As the wind picks up, working on rig tension to manage sail shape is usually enough without involving adjusting the battens. In 20+kt removing some batten tension on the top 2 battens can help.
