Battens

Use Panels > Battens to add, position, or remove batten pockets. A new mainsail starts with a batten preset; other new sail types start without battens. You can add battens manually on any design.

Place the pockets

1. Choose Panels > Battens. Select Add batten to create a row, or Use default battens to replace the entire list with the current preset. The preset spaces battens evenly along the tack–head chord with gaps no larger than 1.8 m; the highest batten is full length (100%) and the lower ones are 40%.
2. Set Height (%) along the tack–head chord. Batten length (%) measures from the leech across the full pocket's projected chord; 100% reaches the luff. Angle (°) sets the placement direction: positive angles raise the leech end. The pocket itself follows the sail surface.
3. Set Pocket inside width (mm) for the space between sewing guides. This is not the cut width: material and allowances are additional. Select Done to close the dialog. Use Remove on a row to delete just that batten.

The dialog can report a placement error for a batten that does not fit; adjust its height, length, or angle and check again. When placement succeeds, it shows the displacement at the two ends of the full pocket. With Show layout on, the 3-D view shows the batten guides and any configured reinforcement. It does not require generated flat panels.

Reinforcement and pocket pieces

Expand Reinforcement and pocket pieces on a batten. Include reinforcement and pocket pieces switches the accessory pieces for that batten on or off. Each Leech, Partial inboard, or Full luff patch can have layered radii; use Add layer or Remove inner layer to change the stack. Radii must be positive and decrease from outer to inner layer. The default stack is 150 mm and 100 mm at each location; edge patches are cropped to the sail. The inboard patch applies to a partial batten, while the luff patch applies to a full-length one.

Include upper pocket strip and lower liner controls the pocket cut pieces. Set Side flange, each side to increase the nominal cut width by twice that amount beyond the pocket inside width. Partial battens also have an Inboard closure extension. The luff end of a full pocket is an unfinished blank; the separate hook-and-loop tongue for the leech closure is not patterned here. Select Use sail cloth to share the sail's material, or clear it to enter accessory material, weight, and roll width.

For a cloth-roll cutting plan, select batten patches and/or pocket strips explicitly in Cloth Layout DXF; accessories are not selected by default. See Generate and inspect panels for the separate flattened sail-panel workflow.