Dagger board

[chopwhatyagot]

I am new to sailing and recently purchased Macgregor 26d. Its a 1988 in good shape, gel coat is still shinny. There is a hole about the size of a silver dollar that looks like it was repaired well. I need to add some gel coat to it but that's not the issue at hand. My dagger board was sheared off, looks like it rotted? I am debating making my own dagger board, My concern is I know nothing about the structure of these boats and would hate for it to break off when I am halfway to the Bahamas! Can some direct me where to look for dimensions and materials for making one or does some one have a used one for sale that's not rotted. I am on a tight budget and kinda weary of a $500 dagger board?
Thanks

 

[MrBill_FLL]

I posted in a thread within the last month, with pictures about a daggerboard .

its a wood frame with fiberglass cover. hollow. if you make it out of wood, you may need to add weight for it to sink.


pics of what you have?

 

[chopwhatyagot]

I looked through the threads and did see some pics of a used dagger board but did not see any home made ones. Is there a link on how to do this? Please direct me to your thread.

 

[sklitzky]

The fiberglass ripped off my daggerboard (1988 26D) acted like a break, the boat felt like it was going backward, even with a 10kt breeze.

Contacted Rudder Craft to see if they would make one. They said yes, that they make between 10-12 a year. So, since I sail in SoCal and we have lots of deep water, I got it.

 

[chopwhatyagot]

Thanks, I just sent an inquiry as to how much they are? I see their rudders are $479. I am still looking at making one, I am retired from carpentry and can easily fabricate on if I can find dimensions. Looks like your dagger board rotted out? why are their holes in it on top, are they meant to fill with water?

 

[MrBill_FLL]

http://forums.macgregor.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=154543

I only posted my pics of the stock daggerboard. but you could make one. better than stock I'm sure.

+ if you can make one with a little lead in the bottom it couldn't hurt.

 

[crpdm]

I am on my fourth dagger board. The first two were OEM and the third was home-made of wood. It swelled up in the trunk and took me three weeks to chip it out with a chisel. Number four is from Rudder Craft and it works great. I have plans at home that were posted a few years ago for a "go-fast" dagger board made from aluminum sheet with a wood structure inside like an airplane wing. I will try to find it tonight. At least you can get dimensions from it. If you build your own, post plans. I will need them for number 5.

Regards,
Karl

 

[MrBill_FLL]

why are you breaking them?

 

[crpdm]

I suppose its a combination of hazardous waters and recklessness. I have had the boat for 25 years. After many hard groundings, the OEM boards start to crack. The Ruddercraft board was purchased about 10 years ago and still looks new, although I don't get out on the water as much as I used to.

I looked for the plans last night but could not find the disc I archived them on. I'll look some more tomorrow.

Regards,
Karl

 

[finding41]

It shouldn't be that difficult to make a fiberglass one.
I started a thread about making a whale fin rudder. (Same idea as the DB.)
I'm on holiday out of the Provence for a few weeks and will get back at the project when I get home. (2 more weeks off then too.)
You should be able to get the just of how to make one by reading the thread.
It would be handy to have at least part of the old DB to form a mold from.
Here is a link; http://forums.macgregor.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=152934
I was thinking of making a few DB's this winter with the bumps I'm currently making for the rudder.
The foil shape of the DB and rudder is 0012. (Supposedly. It's kind of tough to tell.)
If you want foil shapes... http://www.foils.org/
Good luck.