| & Handling / Trim Guide Overview: The Neil Pryde Sails PBF or Power Batten Furling mainsail adds a more 'classic' look to the visual aesthetics of the mainsail while improving the aerodynamic efficiency and increasing the area of the mainsail. In working directly with US Spars and Beneteau in developing this vertically battened furling mainsail our goals were to provide improved performance without the loss of handling ease which makes in-mast furling systems so popular. Details: In-mast furling mains are generally about 18-20% smaller than the classic mainsails and the PBF mainsails gain back 50% of this lost area. The performance gains due to increased area are obvious, but the boat will also gain an improvement in upwind performance due to the increased leech area, which makes dramatic improvements to the foil efficiency. The result is better airflow and increased pointing ability over the conventional furling mainsail. These sails are designed fairly flat to ensure ease of mechanical furling and with a specific amount of clew "rise" also to help facilitate smooth furling. Each mainsail is equipped with 4 vertical battens that are inserted with an internal Velcro tensioning system. In addition an external U.V. clew cover to protect the exposed sail surface from sunlight when furled is standard. All PBF mainsails are equipped with a safety clew ring to be used in the unlikely chance of clew block failure. Patch styles include reefing 'buffer' patches at Araapnofiles of ,he F™lln* I head and tack that help to disperse sail loads when reefed and our new 'spider' Vertically battened and. clew patch that significantly lightens the corner reinforcement while improving the Corveri,ioria| MainsaM the stability of the clew area. |