Sunfish Daggerboard Floats Away

Mike Cleary

New Member
The new daggerboard for my real old sunfish keeps coming out when I capsize, I still do, a lot. Most of my thumb was sewn back on when I caught it in the rudder last year, as I flipped. Without the help of strangers the daggerboard, and me, would have been lost. Any ideas on how to keep this thing in until I need to raise it and particularly when I flip it. Thanks. I thought of a cleat on the deck but the boat is so old I worry about how to attach it. Ideas on that would be helpful too. Thanks. Mike Cleary
 
Wow, you are too kind. Thank you for the clear descriptive answer with pre answers to all my follow ups. Perfectly on point. I am grateful. Happy sailing. Mike
 
No worries. Also, yep, sorry to hear about your thumb. I agree with BB, that might have been enough to put me off for good.
 
Shock cord around the intersection of the spars has the advantage that you can hold the sail out on a run, if necessary, in (very) light winds. This is more of interest to racers.
 
Also think about gluing in a 1" wide strip of indoor/outdoor carpet scrap the width of the dagger board hole about an inch down from the deck. This (along with the shock cord) will help keep the board in place and will also reduce/eliminate the board from vibrating at higher speeds. Use contact cement to glue the carpet strip in the dagger board hole. It the fit is too tight, sand the carpet with 80 grit sandpaper until the fit is snug but not too tight.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
 
Alan, I remember your advice on this a few months ago. I was unsure of how to glue the strips. Should they be fore and aft on the front and back of the well ? Or maybe two strips, evenly spaced on port and starboard-four in total? I understand they should be roughly 1"x 12". I did shop around and bought some material but felt it was too thick. It would be great to smooth out the daggerboard though it's not really a problem.
 
If memory serves, the dagger board is about 9,5" wide, the trunk opening a little larger. I would cut one strip about 1" X 9" and glue
it witdthwise inside the dagger board hole about 1" down from the deck. That should do it.

Alan Glos
 
Alan, I remember your advice on this a few months ago. I was unsure of how to glue the strips. Should they be fore and aft on the front and back of the well ? Or maybe two strips, evenly spaced on port and starboard-four in total? I understand they should be roughly 1"x 12". I did shop around and bought some material but felt it was too thick. It would be great to smooth out the daggerboard though it's not really a problem.

A good way to test if you're fairly close to the right thickness of material (carpet, loop sided velcro, etc.) is to first cut 8 pieces that are just 2 inches long, glue them in place about a quarter of the way towards the center of the daggerboard case from each corner then test the fit with your daggerboard.

Once you've found the right material and fit, remove the small pieces and put in the full length ones. Here's some daggerboard carpet that's made for our dinghies.

https://www.google.com/search?q=daggerboard+carpet&cad=h

- Andy
 
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