How do you raise your daggerboards?

[mikereed100]

I will be building the boards for my cat soon and am wondering if it is worth the added complexity to put a turning block in the board so that it can be raised from the cockpit using the winches rather than using a spare halliard.
On my cat the old boards were raised using a halliard but it was kind of a pain to attach the halliard, tension it then walk over and give the board a shove and repeat the process until it was up. But I know this is how it is done on many boats.
Any thoughts?

Thanks, Mike

[Nordic cat]

I wouldn't even consider NOT doing this. It's relatively simple to do when making new boards.

I'm sure there are drawings easily available on the web, otherwise drop me a message and I can send you some.

Regards

Alan

[David M]

Is that how it is normally done?...with a halyard? That does indeed seem like a pain.

What if a line is led from the top of the daggerboard well well opening at the deck and goes down inside the well, through a hole in the daggerboard and back up to a fairlead where the line is then led aft to a winch? That would even give you a 2:1 purchase minus whatever friction. Got the picture? Could that work?

[44'cruisingcat]

You dont even need a block in the board. I have a groove in the daggerboard case for the uphaul line. The line itself will simply be epoxied into a hole in the side of the board, through a block to a winch in the cockpit. The board is quite light and will float in a partly raised position. Lifting it fully should be easy.

I've never even heard of using a halyard to raise a board.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by David M

Is that how it is normally done?...with a halyard? That does indeed seem like a pain.

What if a line is led from the top of the daggerboard well well opening at the deck and goes down inside the well, through a hole in the daggerboard and back up to a fairlead where the line is then led aft to a winch? That would even give you a 2:1 purchase minus whatever friction. Got the picture? Could that work?

David, that's a pretty commonplace arrangement here in Aus.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by mikereed100

I will be building the boards for my cat soon and am wondering if it is worth the added complexity to put a turning block in the board so that it can be raised from the cockpit using the winches rather than using a spare halliard.
On my cat the old boards were raised using a halliard but it was kind of a pain to attach the halliard, tension it then walk over and give the board a shove and repeat the process until it was up. But I know this is how it is done on many boats.
Any thoughts?

Thanks, Mike

One thing Bob Oram stressed repeatedly - dont make the daggerboard/case fit too tight. Loose is far better. Remember you will be antifouling the end of the board, and the bottom of the case, and over the years there could be a build up of paint etc.

A tight board that won't move is a pain at best, and could be dangerous at worst. Build it with plenty of clearance - if it's a bit loose and knocks around in the case it's easy to glue some UHMWPE or acetal slides into the case to take up the slack.

If the board is too tight all you can do is sand - and you are very limited in how much you can sand away - removing glass is an absolute no-no.

Here's a pic of my board. (For scale I'm 2m tall.)

http://www.cruisersforum.com/gallery...00&userid=3477

[mikereed100]

Thanks everybody for the replies. Your comments pretty much reinforce what I was planning. I just thought I might be missing something after seeing some boats using halyards on the boards.

I'm sure there are drawings easily available on the web, otherwise drop me a message and I can send you some

Thanks Alan, I will gratefully take you up on that. I've not been able to find anything on the net regarding daggerboard design/construction. My plan is to make a framework consisting of a laminated douglas fir backbone and leading edge with several horizontal ribs, sheathed in marine ply. The fir beams will be reinforced with uni tape and the framework and ply will be sealed inside with epoxy then glassed with uni and biax on the outside. I plan to insert a turning block in the laminated beam for a system as David and 44 describe for raising and lowering the boards.

One thing Bob Oram stressed repeatedly - dont make the daggerboard/case fit too tight.

I'm a believer. I will be making the new boards a bit smaller than the old ones as the old ones were prone to jamming in the cases. There should be room on the sides, front and back of the cases for UHMW plastic strips.

Thanks again,
Mike

[bax]

44' Cruising Cat, boards are impressive, nice job. I was looking at your other build pics. Just curious, what are the LEDs for on your rudders?

[Nordic cat]

To guide him to the transom if he falls in under the influence......??

or maybe to attract bait fish??

Alan

[2Hulls]

I suggest you provide an attachment point at the top of your boards in case you want to lift them further than normal or completely out of the trunk if needed. This may be a no-brainer in that you have to lower them into the trunk to begin with and you would have figured this out already.

When fully retracted by the "normal" lifting mechanism (hole in board about half way down with line running from hole through slot in side of trunk to turning block to winch) my boards still stick out of the bottom about 10 inches (they are offset to outboard so this 10 inches does not protude below the very bottom of the hulls). When bottom painting it's easier to paint the hull around the trunk opening by raising the boards via a halyard the last 10 inches using the hole in the top of the board.

Dave

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by bax

44' Cruising Cat, boards are impressive, nice job. I was looking at your other build pics. Just curious, what are the LEDs for on your rudders?

Just underwater lighting done cheap. And in the rudders it's steerable, and I can easily lift them out of the water to clean.

Hopefully they will atract a few feeds of calamari.

[bill good]

Guys,
I would like to "raise" a point so too speak about raising boards. Having found anti fouling making the boards stick a bit in the past, I am tring high speed anti fouling only on the first 150mm of the bottom where in the past it was up to the water line. This will leave some 250mm without antifouling but given the boards are used I hope the action will keep growth off. What experences have you had. I could have a problem adding extra plastic slides to the cases.

Regards Bill Goodward

[TabbyCat]

On the Maine Cat we have boards made of Core Cell. Being lightweight they require two lines - one to lower the board and one to raise it. As described above, there is a "groove" in the daggerboard trunk with a block at the bottom. Then there is a padeye on the board. One line leads from the padeye down to the block and back up the groove to a deck placed turning block which leads to a clutch and then a winch. This pulls the board down. The other line runs from the padeye to a turning block, clutch and winch.

The boards are 11' long. When fully down we draw 7', when fully up we draw 2.5'. If you just open the clutches for both up/down, the board floats @ 4'. When you start moving forward @ 6 knots or more, you have to use the winch to raise the boards even though there is ample play in the trunk.

[2Hulls]

Originally Posted by bill good

Guys,
I would like to "raise" a point so too speak about raising boards. Having found anti fouling making the boards stick a bit in the past, I am tring high speed anti fouling only on the first 150mm of the bottom where in the past it was up to the water line. This will leave some 250mm without antifouling but given the boards are used I hope the action will keep growth off. What experences have you had. I could have a problem adding extra plastic slides to the cases.

Regards Bill Goodward

Bill - if your boards have been sticking due to anti-fouling, this suggests the fit of the boards in the trunk is rather tight. This is also the case on my boat and other Catanas. None of us (that I know of) paints the inside of our trunks and we do not have a resulting fouling problem on the inside of the trunks. Apparently the tight fit prevents the critters from finding their way up inside the clearance between the board and the trunk. Thus, it follows that painting the portion of the boards that are inside the trunks when sailing is similarly unnecessary.

Hope this helps,
Dave

[ireaney]

Picture of a Fusion 40 Dagger Board and control lines, look very neat.