Racing daggerboard repair
- Thread starter c22sailor
- Start date
That's a relatively small bite out of your board which should be easy to repair. For instance, see
http://www.sunfishforum.com/showthread.php?t=2797 for suggestions.
Alan Glos
Active Member
I am currently doing my 4th repair of this exact problem. The current Sunfish racing dagger board has steel reinforcing rods that usually end about 2" from the tip of the board making this two inch tip very easily dinged or broken off. Here is a fairly easy way to make a good, permanent repair:
First, borrow an undamaged Sunfish board and apply a thick coat a paste wax to one side of the tip from the tip to about 6" up toward the handle. Buff same and then cover the waxed area with regular untectured Saran Wrap plastic kitchen wrap (or eqivalant store brand.) Smooth out any wrinkles and tape the wrap to the tip on the opposite side of the tip with masking or duct tape just to hold it in place. Then coat the smooth side with a thick coat of
unthickened epoxy resin (WEST,MAS or the resin of your choice; I like WEST.) Cover the area with one layer of fiberglass cloth. 6oz cloth seems to work best. Brush on more resin so the cloth is sandwiched between two heavy coats of resin. Let cure in a warm space. When cured, remove the new mold from the board taking care to let the Saran Wrap stay attached to the inside of the newly fabricated half-mold.
Step 2. Leave the damaged edge of the tip as-is but drill about 3 holes into the face of the damaged at odd angles and exoxy three stainless stee screws into these holes. When the resin cures, carefully hack saw off the heads of the screws. These screws will serve as the new reinforcing rods in the tip and will deter re-fracture.
Step 3. Clamp your one-off half mold to the tip of the damaged board. A few spring clamps and/or "C" clamps will hold the mold in place.
Step 4. Overfill the mold with exoxy resin thickened to runny peanut butter consistency and let completely cure in a warm space,
Step 5. Carefully remove the mold and peel off the Saran Wrap. If all goes well, you now have a repair perfect on one side and lumpy on the the other.
Carefully disc sand the rough side to match the finished side. Finish with 220 grit sand paper, A reciprocating palm sander works well for this final shaping and smoothing.
Last, sand the entire board. Mask up the plastic stoppers near the handle with masking tape, use a "C" Clamp attached to the ends of these stoppers to make a temporary handle and then hang the boad by the "C" clamp to a tree limb outside. Spray paint the board with white oil base primer and then wet sand when completely dry or finish with a gloss white marine paint compatible with the primer.
Time to make the repairs is about 2 hours if all goes according to plans. Materials (resin, sandpaper and paint) is about $10. The repaired boad will class legal (if you dont change the shape of the repaired area) and a heck of a lot cheaper than plunking down $200+ for a new board.
Good luck.
Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
First, borrow an undamaged Sunfish board and apply a thick coat a paste wax to one side of the tip from the tip to about 6" up toward the handle. Buff same and then cover the waxed area with regular untectured Saran Wrap plastic kitchen wrap (or eqivalant store brand.) Smooth out any wrinkles and tape the wrap to the tip on the opposite side of the tip with masking or duct tape just to hold it in place. Then coat the smooth side with a thick coat of
unthickened epoxy resin (WEST,MAS or the resin of your choice; I like WEST.) Cover the area with one layer of fiberglass cloth. 6oz cloth seems to work best. Brush on more resin so the cloth is sandwiched between two heavy coats of resin. Let cure in a warm space. When cured, remove the new mold from the board taking care to let the Saran Wrap stay attached to the inside of the newly fabricated half-mold.
Step 2. Leave the damaged edge of the tip as-is but drill about 3 holes into the face of the damaged at odd angles and exoxy three stainless stee screws into these holes. When the resin cures, carefully hack saw off the heads of the screws. These screws will serve as the new reinforcing rods in the tip and will deter re-fracture.
Step 3. Clamp your one-off half mold to the tip of the damaged board. A few spring clamps and/or "C" clamps will hold the mold in place.
Step 4. Overfill the mold with exoxy resin thickened to runny peanut butter consistency and let completely cure in a warm space,
Step 5. Carefully remove the mold and peel off the Saran Wrap. If all goes well, you now have a repair perfect on one side and lumpy on the the other.
Carefully disc sand the rough side to match the finished side. Finish with 220 grit sand paper, A reciprocating palm sander works well for this final shaping and smoothing.
Last, sand the entire board. Mask up the plastic stoppers near the handle with masking tape, use a "C" Clamp attached to the ends of these stoppers to make a temporary handle and then hang the boad by the "C" clamp to a tree limb outside. Spray paint the board with white oil base primer and then wet sand when completely dry or finish with a gloss white marine paint compatible with the primer.
Time to make the repairs is about 2 hours if all goes according to plans. Materials (resin, sandpaper and paint) is about $10. The repaired boad will class legal (if you dont change the shape of the repaired area) and a heck of a lot cheaper than plunking down $200+ for a new board.
Good luck.
Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY