Tapers – RBS offers the choice of three tapers:
Flex Taper – The flex taper is used on all leech or partial batten sails. The soft tip of the flex batten allows the batten to bend or conform to the shape of the sail without causing a hard spot where the leech batten front terminates in the batten pocket. The flex battens allows for a smooth transition from the sail to the roach/leech supporting battens resulting in better sail shape and increased sail longevity.
Compression Taper – These tapers are used for full batten jib or mainsails that need a more draft forward position. Compression tapers have a straight line taper from tip to the end of the taper. With this taper, the draft position is more likely to move forward under load producing a draft pocket. This pocket can be manipulated with different compression taper dimensions.
Reverse Compression Taper – This unique tapering process allows for the front of the batten to be full thickness, essentially reversing the taper. Instead of a conventional up taper, we’re tapering down for 15% of the length of the batten to reach it’s narrowest cross section where we then climb out to the desired tapered length.
Using this tapering technique results in a flatter thus cleaner entry to the sail securing the draft in its proper position. As the wind builds and the sail powers up the entry remains flat, resulting in a stable draft position to maximize power.