Daggerboard question

Amfab

Member
The daggerboard in my Sunfish is an FRP racing style, but the daggerboard in my Minifish is the traditional mahogany type. I assume it is original.

My questions is, inn't there supposed to be a hole to run a line though it to make it easier to pull out or to tie the shock cord to? I cannot see one.

Thank you

-Andrew
 
Just drill one... I had to do that myself when faced with the same problem. I chose a good location up forward on the daggerboard, and drilled a hole large enough to accommodate the shock cord. I also went so far as to varnish the inside of the drilled hole, using a Q-tip if I remember correctly, LOL. Wooden daggerboard, of course... :rolleyes:

Edit: I should add this, leave enough room between the hole and the forward & upper edges of the daggerboard, you don't want the hole way up in the 'corner' where the wood can easily break under stress. As I recall, I left at least 1-1/2 inches all around for strength, if you catch my drift. :cool:
 
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I have a wooden board for our Minifish, if I recall correctly it just has a small eyestrap screwed into the top of the board for the daggerboard line.
 
Yeah, that also works... I just remember drilling a hole because I couldn't be bothered to find or go buy an eyestrap, LOL. :confused:
 
Oh, yeah, I was thinking about drilling a hole like Cactus was saying (and varnishing inside the hole,) but maybe the guy before me refinished the daggerboard (there is no way that the finish was original) and left off the eyes trap.
Coincidentally, I just happened to order a couple extra eye straps the just came in the mail the other day...
 
The hole is very small on my wood dagger board and I didn't want to alter it so I just slid a small, tight-fitting bungee around the top of the dagger board, like the ones used to wrap up extension cords that have a little nylon ball on them. You can clip whatever other bungees on to that one and it stays in place nicely with no modification needed. :)

I've also seen someone on the forum mounted a small fairlead on to the top of their dagger board.

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The daggerboard in my Sunfish is an FRP racing style, but the daggerboard in my Minifish is the traditional mahogany type. I assume it is original.

My questions is, isn't there supposed to be a hole to run a line though it to make it easier to pull out or to tie the shock cord to? I cannot see one.

Thank you

-Andrew
None of my last seven or eight Sunfish daggerboards had a shock-cord hole drilled in them.

(Except two had 1/2-inch holes drilled in the center/load-bearing surface of the boards). :confused:

Maybe it's a Suthin' thing... :)
 
Hi Charlie,

Both the boats and their respective centerboards are currently in Baja—unfortunately I am not.
I try to do all the research and collect parts before I go down to sail as it is quite isolated down there with no place to buy anything except duct tape and beer.
I was going to go down this week, but something came up. Here is a photo of the sunfish anyway.
Sunfish-PuntoBufeo1SM.jpg
 

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Beautiful spot!

And which board(s) are you talking about, FRP, wood or both. (Sidenote, I don't know if it is FRP or some resin pour?)

On the wooden Minifish/Sunfish wooden daggerboard there was a 1/4 inch hole drilled vertically through one of the top cleats, that was the attachment point for the daggerboard retaining line, folks din't need no stinkin shock cords back then, just a line to keep the dboard from floating away after capsize.

The "Shadow" board was the style for the 1970s Minifish and Sunfish, it had a slice shaved off the leading edge for who knows why, that actually reduced surface area and consequently performance suffered. The "Spoon Tip" on the left was the 1960s Alcort board, then the new AMF Sheriff came to town and the Shadow board appeared, along with the Minifish. The Minifish and the Sunfish used the same blades. Then in the 80s a group of Barrington Frostbiters campaigned for a new board and the "Barrington Board"was developed with more surface area. Eventually someone thought plastic was better and the white boards started showing up.

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Daggerboard Photos.jpg


Someone else will have to answer where the hole(s) are supposed to be on the white boards.

In the meantime take your duct tape and use it to secure the shock cord around the top of the board until you figure out if you can drill a 1/4 inch hole or attach and eyestrap/retaining ring to clip the shock cord onto.
 
Thanks Charlie, I am pretty sure its a Barrington on the Minifish. My Sunfish has a racing style fiberglass one with a stainless tip I put on to cover some damage, I think you saw that thread I did on that. The Minifish daggerboard has clearly been refinished or replaced by the previous owner as it looks almost new except for a few scratches. I thought there should be a hole to tie a line somewhere, but there is none. Maybe it never existed, maybe it was filled? In any event I was asking because I wanted to drill one in the stock location (if there is such a thing).

I am replacing the boom blocks on the sunfish, and I ordered a couple of extra stainless strap eyes—just to keep more replacement bits down there in Baja for emergencies—so I think I will try the strap eye on top method.

Thank you
-Andrew
 
Those holes in the wood board handle were added at the factory at some point (late 70s early 80s??)

The white board has a big hole in the front of it suitable for a stinkin’ shock cord or piece of line.
 
You're welcome. A Barrington on a Minifish would not be period correct, but it would be a nice upgrade. We put Barringtons on all of our Sunfish, from the 1953 to the 1982. The Sailfish had tiny little 31 inch boards like the board on the left, we upgraded them to "Spoon Tips."

On the wooden boards there are vertical holes on most to tie a line, but as you can see it varies as to which side and whether it is on the fore or aft end of the handhold cleat....but of course in this forum there is no agreement on which edge of the Shadow or Barrington is the leading edge. Also it may have not existed on the 1960s boards, we added an eyestrap and retaining ring to the top of our 1965 board.

Aluminum eyestraps and rivets would be preferred, to minimize dissimilar metal corrosion with the aluminum boom. Otherwise freshwater rinses are handy after a sail.

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Nice boats, sailing spots, & wooden boards. After my "not wood" board started humming/chattering, I'm wanting one of those wood ones. Will have to keep an eye out on Craigslist. I'm guessing that the 2 long ones on Charlie's pic are the way to go. I bet they ain't cheap.
 
My first reaction was, "How did my Oldfish get there LOL!
Totally looks like the same boat and sail. Actually I have this stripe scheme I have not seen before with two narrow yellow strips on either side of the wide red one. Most I have seen have all three stripes red.

Nice boats, sailing spots, & wooden boards. After my "not wood" board started humming/chattering, I'm wanting one of those wood ones. Will have to keep an eye out on Craigslist. I'm guessing that the 2 long ones on Charlie's pic are the way to go. I bet they ain't cheap.
My FRP one does the low hum at higher speeds, I thought something was wrong.
 
I was going to recommend JO Woodworks, as he used to build these wooden boards brand new... but his website now just has links to this new builder Bobby’s Boatworks (I’ve never ordered from either of them...)

 
Nice boats, sailing spots, & wooden boards. After my "not wood" board started humming/chattering, I'm wanting one of those wood ones. Will have to keep an eye out on Craigslist. I'm guessing that the 2 long ones on Charlie's pic are the way to go. I bet they ain't cheap.

If you're handy at woodworking, you can make one that'll serve your purpose, using SC's photos as initial guides. I never did add that the daggerboard I drilled up forward was NOT a 'Fish dagger... however, I did drill the trailing edge of my Minifish dagger and I installed a small loop of shock cord to slip under the hook in the cockpit, as a means of holding the board all the way down when I wanted it that way. You can see it in the Salton photos... hey, Amfab, those Baja shots of yours kinda remind me of Los Coronados, due to all the rocks! No easy landing sites though, except on Middle Island, where there's a small sandy cove (seal colony). No shortage of rocks in Baja, LOL... :cool:
 
I'll probably just pop out the board a bit and see if that works. If not, the carpet strips in the centerboard trunk. Hopefully one of those will do the trick. No sense in spending $$ unnecessarily.

The noise was killing my zen that day. When it was just the sound of the water washing by, it was very peaceful.
 
I'll probably just pop out the board a bit and see if that works. If not, the carpet strips in the centerboard trunk. Hopefully one of those will do the trick. No sense in spending $$ unnecessarily.

The noise was killing my zen that day. When it was just the sound of the water washing by, it was very peaceful.
The performance of the plastic boards is night and day compared to a wood one. And lots of wood ones vibrated too. So you will be giving up better acceleration out of a tack, better pointing, less stalling, etc if you go to an old style wood one.
 
Stollie, Have you sighted down the leading and trailing edges of the board to see if they are straight as said before the foam board could have been in too much heat? If straight I would put strips in. I use velco and you don't need much or the board won't go up and down. I only two small strips on the sides of the trailing edge or the board won't move.
 
Nice boats, sailing spots, & wooden boards. After my "not wood" board started humming/chattering, I'm wanting one of those wood ones. Will have to keep an eye out on Craigslist. I'm guessing that the 2 long ones on Charlie's pic are the way to go. I bet they ain't cheap.
Just recalled. I've been saving the best daggerboards from my "fleet" after I'm done with fixing them up (for good)--and I'm left with two Sunfish.

The best two boards have an engraved red arrow in the top handle. I am assuming that arrow designates "forward". That puts the spring-tension clip to port. :cool:

Everybody go out, put the spring-clip to port, and check if the long edge always goes forward. ;)
 
(Sidenote, I don't know if it is FRP or some resin pour?)
IF Sunfish and Laser foils have come from the same supplier since the founding of Sunfish Laser (and I don't see why they wouldn't have), then the changes have been the same as well. This would mean that there have been three different "white" foil sets:
  • 1993 - 2010: polyurethane foam + steel grid. Made by Crompton in Banbury, England. Not "composite" as they don't contain any fibres or resin. Big handle hole.
  • 2010 - 2013: "grey-top" GRP. Made by Simon Cooke in China. Fibreglass/epoxy skin over foam core. Easily recognizable by their greyish, semi-translucent uppermost parts.
  • from 2013 on: all-white GRP. Made in Spain, China, and initially in the US, too. Essentially identical to the grey-tops except for the colour.

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(Original picture: Sailing Report - April 2018 | Sebago Canoe Club, Brooklyn, NY )

Someone else will have to answer where the hole(s) are supposed to be on the white boards.
Looks like it's in the forward corner, Laser-style :rolleyes:

_
 

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