I found that it affected sail shape. Perhaps it was me, but I could never quite get it right. I opted for lazy jacks which I have used ever since. One does have to occasionally wait a moment as one raises the sail to make sure that the battens don't foul on the lazy jacks, but this at most is a 10-20 second delay over the total time spent raising the main. I have full battens and am very happy with the system.