Looking for comments on this:

Why would I want to leave battens in my jib? I have a non-furling jib on my H16. The battens often get "stuck" on the mast when coming about. If I were using a furling jib, there are no battens, so can I take them out?

I know that they are used to control sail shape and all... What is the reality.

If you remove the battens you get a big floppy bag of a sail with a flapping leech. Not good. The sail needs to be cut in a different way to got "battenless".

Take 'em out and go for a sail. You will answer your own question. If it looks OK to you, then you don't need 'em.

It it looks like a baggy POS then you do. It all depends on your level of appreciation for a nice looking sail.

You can cut the battens down so they barely stick out then they dont hang up or try the super jib battens they get good comments on the Hobie site.

If your battens get hung up it is usually since they get caught on either the jib or main halyards.

I put a Hobie "halyard grip" on the mast to pull the jib halyard back to the side of the mast.

After I raise the main and set the main halyard's stop in the halyard hook at the top of the mast, I swing the main halyard behind the shroud and then tie it off to the mast cleat. Next I use the last foot of the downhaul rope to loop around the main halyard and then pull it all the way over to the downhaul cleat and then tie it off.

This keeps the jib and main halyards away from the ends of the jib battens so they can easily slide across the front of the mast.

Instead of a halyard grip try a Ronstan RF 185 cheek block. Place it just above where the top batten hits the mast and as far back as possible without drilling holes into the sail track. Make sure the open side faces aft.