Now my sailmaker is telling me that this is normal and his top batten hits his NS38 back stay as well. Any comments?
Select to expand quotejulesmoto said..
Now my sailmaker is telling me that this is normal and his top batten hits his NS38 back stay as well. Any comments?
Where did you find this sailmaker? 
Pretty normal, if cruising just drop the main halyard say 100mm, pull the Cunningham on problem solved
Select to expand quotejulesmoto said..
Now my sailmaker is telling me that this is normal and his top batten hits his NS38 back stay as well. Any comments?
It's very common. Due to the geometry of the backstay, on many boats any mainsail that is built to max roach will have a top batten that hits the backstay in light winds when the mast is straight. That's why many top boats have a "tickler" at the masthead, ie something like a very stiff batten that stick out aft from the masthead crane and moves the backstay further aft in light winds.
If it happens in strong winds when the mast is bent, it's a different story.
I get the same thing on my boat, which is of similar size, age, design and speed. One point is that in very light winds many boats require backstay tension to induce bend, to stop the mast going too straight which can make the mainsail too full and too draft-forward.
