Super Porpoise Newbie

mneedham

New Member
Hello: I just acquired a Super Porpoise from a neighbor on an inland lake in Michigan. The boat has a few rough spots, but I have everything I need to sail it with the following exceptions: 1) no dagger board - the previous owner has looked everywhere but can't locate the part; I have a few feelers out but no success yet; there's one (apparently) for sale for $150 but I have a few woodworking skills and think I could make one myself IF I had the dimensions/diagram; I have a photo showing a Sunfish dagger board next to a SP dagger board - and I can find dimensions for the Sunfish part on the web - so I can guess - but I'm hoping there is a source somewhere or a dimensioned photo or diagram; 2) I have no documentation on the boat so I'm guessing how to properly rig it for sailing based on photos on the web - if there are any sources/manuals I would appreciate getting copies/etc.

Thanks in advance for any guidance! And, happy sailing!
 
Your daggerbaord slot will dictate most dimensions. Internet might provide length and maybe overall profile or reference the Sunfish etc for that.
 
Sunfish has sail area of 75 sq. ft. Super Porpoise is 85 sq. ft.. Scale the length
accordingly and use mixmxr's suggestion for the rest. Unless you're into racing there
is a hole lot of 'Fudge Factor' to work with. A good airfoil shape will probably be much
more important than small length variations.
 
If it's any help, I once owned a Porpoise II. The daggerboard—and just about everything else—was interchangeable with the Sunfish—actually, made somewhat better. (!) :oops:

I had just done a search for replacement "rudder springs" on Google, and at the bottom were some templates for Sunfish wood parts:
rudder spring 85171, sunfish sailboat - Google Search

If the width is the same, then the board can be cut over-long. (Member Mixmkr might sell you his).

On another note, Sailcraftri, do you still have those rudder springs available?

.
 
This guy says he owns a Super Porpoise so you should get in touch with him. super porpoise | my2fish: a blog about sunfish sailing
yeah, that's me.

I still own the Super Porpoise, but probably haven't sailed it in 15+ years. and I also only paid $50 for the Super Porpoise, so I have no real clue if what I was given was original wood parts.

so, I went down to the barn and measured my stack of daggerboards (I have 2 Sunfish, 1 Minifish and 1 Super Porpoise):
  • 2 boards measured 43" end to end (including the handle at the top... so seemingly just a bit longer than the 40 1/4" per the Sunfish specs)
  • 1 board measured 40 1/2" end to end - maybe this one was cut shorter or re-shaped after damage to the tip?
  • 1 board measured 39 1/2" (that is the Minifish board)
  • I was also given a spare daggerboard and rudder, and that rudder has the lead weight like a Super Porpoise rudder, but the daggerboard that came with that set only measures 30 1/2" so it may have been cut down at one point as well?
  • the plastic/frp board I bought from Intensity Sails measures 44", so matches the Sunfish specs

IMG-1588 sunfish boards storage - small.JPG


I also measured the depth of the hull of my 3 boats at the daggerboard slot - this will effect how much of the daggerboard sticks out below the bottom of the hull into the water:
  • Super Porpoise = 15 1/2"
  • Sunfish = 14" [so for the 44" frp board in a Sunfish, the daggerboard sticks out 30" max]
  • Minifish = 12"
so if you build one for yourself, I'd make it at least 1 1/2" longer than a Sunfish board.

for building your own daggerboard for the Super Porpoise, I'd probably follow the specs for the Sunfish boards here: Sunfish Specifications and maybe make it a couple inches longer (and maybe even more foil shaped?) for the Super Porpoise.

I did check - the FRP board from Intensity Sails does fit the daggerboard slot on the Super Porpoise - that might be a simple solution is to just buy that daggerboard. it has the nice foil shape and performs well with a Sunfish.
 
If we go by sail area the Porpoise board should have 13.3% greater surface area in the water.
So we increase a Sunfish daggerboard from 40.24 to 45.64 inches plus 1.5 inches for the hull depth for 47.14 inches. For width we are just a little over 9 inches wide but since it is such a small amount we can just go with the daggerboard slot length. Personally I think the Tag's suggestion of the FRP board will perform better than the original factory board.
 

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