Thread: shorter daggerboard OK?

Howdy,

the normal way most small boat sailors get around the problem is just to pull the board up a bit. If you cut off the board you will reduce the performance and damage the value of the boat and more importantly your daughter will never learn how to deal with shallower water.

If left your daughter will learn something that she has to learn to become a good sailor. And will learn skills she needs to know whenever she sails off a beach anywhere in the world.

Is the centreboard set up with some shock cord so it will stay at any height it is put at? There are a couple of ways of rigging it. That will make things a lot easier.

I started sailing in a Northbridge junior as well. Fun little boat.

Best wishes
Michael

Hi Michael,

Thanks for the reply.

The board gets clipped in, and is not adjustable once it's in. The clip is very stiff, too stiff for her to undo herself. If it wasn't clipped, but still tied on, hmm. You mentioned shock cord - is there a way to tie it in so it stays up, if she pulls it up?

I was thinking about making a second, shorter board for the lake. She can use the real one when she sails at the club. But maybe it needs to be that long, I dunno.

Howdy, are you talking about a small lake like Narrabeen Lakes in Sydney or a shallow area of one of the larger coastal lakes?

Reducing centreboard area can reduce the windward performance a very large amount particularly when the water gets rough.

I would look at an alternative way of setting the height that is adjustable. Can you describe, or even better take a photo of the system to hold the centreboard down.

An example of a system to make it adjustable is like below, but it is not the only one.



The loop can go forward and around the mast or go to a new fitting.

Thanks, Mik.

I've been reading some of your older posts on centreboard length; I see what you are saying about performance.

The lake is indeed Narrabeen lake. The south-west section is deep enough for the boat, once it gets off the beach.

The centreboard is 112 cm long. There is 50cms between the deck and the boom, and the hull is 17cm deep. Hopefully, there is a pic attached to this post of the clip that holds it down.

In the photo above, what keeps the board up, is it just friction?

Yes ... the shockcord keeps it pulled forward so it won't move because of the friction.

To adjust up or down you just pull the head of the board back so the shockcord is not pulling it forward and it will slide normally.

But it does stay nicely at any height required in most centrecases. And it is dead cheap to implement. There are other systems too, but they might be a bit tricky with the top of the centrecase flush with the cockpit floor.

Best wishes

MIK

Thanks, Mik. Looks simple enough.

Use the minimum tension to make it work reliably or it can be hard to pull the head back to make an adjustment.

mIK

I didn't get a chance to try this out yet, but the board snapped off at the hull yesterday, when my daughter was trying to right the boat after a capsize. So she now has a shorter board, like it or not!

Apparently my daughter's boat is from a batch that has longer, narrower centreboards than most of the others. Hers is now the same length as normal, but still a bit narrower. We'll see how well it works.

What is the board made of? It is unusual that they snap. Though keeping feet close to the hull is important.

Sounds like she is getting some good experience!

MIK

It is a wooden board. I don't know what kind of wood. She lies on top of it to bring the boat up. It was rotted in the middle, which wasn't obvious from the outside. There was a bit of a mark visible but I didn't know what it meant. I'm learning too!

Yes, she's getting lots of practice with capsizing. Her special trick is to tip over mid-tack. I don't know how she does it.

It is ok to lie on it when getting on top of the board but stay close to the hull. If need more power you stand on the board with your feet close to the hull, hold onto the gunwale and lean back.

Weight close to the hull reduces the risk of breakage.

MIK

Thanks, Mik. I will make sure she knows this.