Daggerboard vs Centerboard

[batory]

Would the cognescenti among us care to "weigh" or in this case maybe "wade" in on the advantages/disadvantages of each please.

Feel free to comment on leeboards as well.

[Keith Wilson]

Daggerboards take up a lot less space in the boat when they’re down, but are a royal pain when they’re up. They are a problem in shallow water because they’re hard to raise partially and get in the way, and most boats won’t sail any way except downwind with the board all the way up. Sailing right up on the beach requires good timing and more coordination than I have. They can be damaged by running into something hard at speed. They’re rarely ballasted, or made larger than can be lifted by one hand; lifting gear gets kind of nasty in larger sizes.

Centerboards are more trouble to build, the trunk is a lot larger and occupies a very useful part of the boat, the pivot requires careful planning or it can leak, and the lifting pendant can wear. OTOH, they can easily be raised partially, either in shallow water or to change the helm balance. They serve as a pretty good depth sounder. You can sail right up on the beach (as long as the rudder kicks up too) with no trouble. They can be made large and/or ballasted; although the stresses on the lifting gear can get pretty big, this is OK if it’s well designed. A centerboard (or a daggerboard for that matter) doesn’t have to be on the centerline. Some designs have them built into the edge of a bunk so they don’t block the entire cabin.

I don’t have any experience with leeboards. They are generally ugly, IMHO, but some folks think they’re the best for moderate-sized boats in shallow water. They are entirely outside the boat with all the mechanism readily accessible, which is good.

So that's my .02; hope it helps. This mostly applies to fairly small boats.

[ 11-11-2005, 01:48 PM: Message edited by: Keith Wilson ]

[JimConlin]

A few more comments on daggerboards.

Daggerboards have smaller openings in the bottom of the boat, reducing drag, so they're favored in performance-oriented boats.

As the slot in the bottom of the boat is smaller, the strength across the bottom of the hull is less compromised.

On an unintentional grounding, a conventional daggerboard trunk can be damaged. A remedy to this problem is to make the trunk longer fore&aft and fill the void with something that will crush in an impact. This crush block can be faired into the boat's bottom and left in place. I think this is a Dick Newick invention.

[John Bell]

Where you live and boat will probably affect how you rank the pros and cons of each type.

Since my local waters are all quite deep and I'm usually sailing off of a floating dock, I generally prefer daggerboards for the advantages cited above. If I spent more time in shoal waters I'd probably prefer a pivoting centerboard or leeboards.

Horses for courses, and all that...

[Thorne]

As mentioned above, it really depends on where and how you sail.

I've always done a lot of singlehanded exploring (aka gunkholing), and find it hard to resist the lure of lovely beaches and thin water.

So a centerboard is the only way to go for me -- just loosen the pennon/line and up on the beach (or boat trailer) ya go.

Leeboards are a distant second, but often require a mad scramble in the middle of the boat just about the time I need to be scrambling about in the stern with the rudder and/or sheets.

[brian.cunningham]

I know two guys that whose boats were down for 2 months from having to fix thier daggerboards, one guy twice!

I'll stick with centerboards, or leeboards thank you.

Originally posted by Thorne:
Leeboards are a distant second, but often require a mad scramble in the middle of the boat just about the time I need to be scrambling about in the stern with the rudder and/or sheets.Run two boards, one port one starboard

PS. Daggerboards also like to collect lobsterpots.

[ 11-11-2005, 04:06 PM: Message edited by: brian.cunningham ]

[Pernicious Atavist]

D: all the above about the boards.

i, like brian, prefer two leeboards in my small boats--16-footers. to avoid the "mad scramble," i attach a line to the lower of each and haul them up when needed. in shoals i haul each up part-way, leaving the equivalent of a single board in the water, but with less draft. use a thin line that doesn't create too much drag. i knot them at appropriate places and just catch the knot in a clam cleat-type bit and they're always at the right depth.

[ 11-11-2005, 04:59 PM: Message edited by: Pernicious Atavist ]

[Thorne]

Avatist -- Yeah, that sounds like it would work well with two leeboards.

Another advantage of leeboards is no big hole cut in the bottom of the boat -- not to be under-rated!

Disadvantage can be twice the drag (unless you raise and lower the upwind board or pull 'em both partially up as above) and a tendency to stall out in irons when tacking in extremely light airs.

I've also managed to get various lines tangled on and around leeboards on friend's boats -- the most fun is the mainsheet, of course!

;- )

[ 11-11-2005, 05:44 PM: Message edited by: Thorne ]

[LazyJack]

I chose a dagger board for my gunning dory because I didn't want a large trunk. It is kind of a pain to carry the daggerboard in the boat but when sailing the performance is grreat. The daggerboard trunk is longer than the board is wide so it can be shifted forward or aft using a short spacer-dagger. I have sailed at hull speed smack into a submerged ledge, the boat stopped dead and threw me headlong into the bow...but fortunately the trunk is built rugged and well braced and the boat leaked not a drop. The daggerboard however required a small repair. Build the trunk solid and well braced and no need to worry about running hard aground. (A little seamanship would go a long way as well)

[Tom Lathrop]

Building a proper centerboard trunk is just another job that needs to be done right. When it is, there will never be a problem with it. The pin should be set in an epoxy bearing let into the trunk side and totally inclosed with a removeable and caulked cap on each side of the trunk. The trunk should be wide enough to let the board run free but no more than that to avoid both extra drag and sloppiness.

For shallow water or working from a beach in deep water, the advantages of a centerboard far outweigh any perceived advantages of a daggerboard or leeboard. Except on very small boats, I don't like leeboards.

[ 11-12-2005, 08:12 AM: Message edited by: Tom Lathrop ]

[Dave Hadfield]

As an innovation, you can place a "centerboard" on the side of a boat, the way Michalak does.

http://members.fortunecity.com/duckworks/2000/0901/af3port0.jpg

This board is pivoted on a bolt just above the water line. It is held in place by the frame above.

It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but you don't need to cut any holes in the boat, you only need one, it has a daggerboard shape (high aspect) and it is far more easily maintained than either dagger or centerboard. You also save the weight of framing a trunk.

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

"It's not the prettiest thing in the world,"
You are a master of understatement.
Charlie

[LLaver]

Hang the huntimg trophy just behind it and it looks much better. :-P

what is that dog doing, does it actually have it's head through a hole in the side of the boat????

Lee

[Steven R]

My Skerry has a daggerboard. After posting this trip report (http://www.get-outside.com/sail062704.htm) (detailing some difficulty I had launching my boat into a stiff breeze in shallow water) on the Skerry Builders Forum, one of my fellow Skerriers suggested putting a tight bungie around the blade of the daggerboard so that, when the board is in place, the bungie is above the slot of the case. By sliding the bungie up and down the blade, you can control the height of the daggerboard. Works great!!!

Steven Roberts
www.get-outside.com (http://www.get-outside.com)

[Ben Fuller]

If you like to row, daggerboards are far better as the drag of a cb is significant. So you'll see daggerboards in boats like Delaware duckers and other boats that rowed alot. A filler block goes in the trunk under oars.

If you like sailing performance you'll like daggerboards for the same reason. Boats where either are allowed use daggerboards, for even trunk gaskets permit lots of drag.

If you like sailing performance you are going to shape your board, and the slot is usually fairly wide to accomodate a 1:12 or so chord. You will also like the high aspect ratio which gives better windward performance than the pie slices often scene.

That is hard to achieve in a pivot board; pivot boards need to be pulled up by the top corner over the pin to get rid of the real drag of a rope in the water, and that means a forward raking head ledge to have enough lever arm, which means a longer trunk.

If you built you db trunk with a forward raking head ledge you have adjustability and a place for the board to go if you hit something. IF you are worried about dings, cladding the board in glass and then a little kevlar at the bottom forward leading edge makes sense.

You don't need a fancy top to the board. A rope handle will do.

As far as shallow water, a bungie provides tension for part up as some one pointed out. Its what the racers use going down wind. If the DB is well made and closely fitted you don't even need that.

Probably the most popular sailboats ever made use daggerboards: Sailfish, Sunfish and Lasers. If you grow up on them the reach the beach pull the board is second nature.

For my larger Harrier, the board is straight enough so that it can go along side the trunk extending forward rowing single handed. Rowing double handed it becomes the seat for the stern rower. For the ducker, with its curved daggerboard, it kind of curves around the daggerboard trunk.

Daggerboards are not for the set and forget crowd. They do require some active management on the part of the tiller nut.

Ben Fuller
Cushing Maine

[Dave Hadfield]

As for the dog, I thought that was rather considerate, giving him viewports like that!

Of course you could also stick the oars out there and row, thereby doing away with an outboard.

That one ain't my boat, but I use a "daggerboard" on my tender, a 10ft punt. It hooks over the side and is prevented from swaying out by the length of the hook. It's a leeboard, really, though it doesn't pivot up and doesn't sway out.

It works very well. Having it off-center doesn't seem to make any difference, at least on a hard-chine boat.

[Stiletto]

It's not the prettiest thing in the world. The guy and his dog sailing the boat and getting the benefit of more space in a small cockpit doesnt have to look at it. ;)

[johnw]

I once saw some people trying to right a boat with leeboards. They ended up having to be towed to shore. With a centerboard or daggerboard, you have something to stand on.

I recall once sailing into the beach in my old sharpie while someone was tring to catch me in a boat with a daggerboard. I sailed right onto shore, while he bumped first the daggerboard, then the rudder. For cruising, no question, I favor a centerboard.

[David Bixby]

I didn't see where anyone mentioned it, but the biggest reason I would never consider a pivoting center board for my Skerry is that it would push the weght of the hull above 90 lbs and just out of the range where my wife and I could easily lift it.

I use the bungee around the DB to hold adjustments to its depth as necessary in various situations.


http://pic17.picturetrail.com/VOL855/2893683/5857341/118614437.jpg

[ 11-13-2005, 11:00 AM: Message edited by: David Bixby ]

[Bruce Hooke]

Another factor to keep in mind is the waters you plan to sail in, at least when we are talking about small boats (boats that weigh less than, say, 300 lbs.). On rocky coastlines, like the Maine coast, a small boat is almost certain to spend a good bit of its time in the near shore waters. Sure you could sail a boat in this size range the same way that you would sail a 30' sloop, obeying every bouy and carefully watching your position on the chart to keep clear of any shallow areas, but what's the point of having a small boat if you don't use it to go into the places that a big boat cannot get to? With that scenerio in mind, in a place like Maine you are almost certain to knock your centerboard or daggerboard on rocks fairly frequently. So, for waters like that a centerboard has major advantages.

On the other hand, in waters where avoiding hitting the bottom is largely a matter of not getting close to the shoreline, or where the depth simply changes so slowly that it is pretty easy to keep track of where the water is deep enough, encounters with the bottom are likely to be pretty rare...

[Keith Wilson]

I have to take issue with Ben Fuller's post. The difference in sailing perfomance between a daggerboard and centerboard of similar shape (long and short slot in the bottom of the boat) might be measurable in a series of races between two boats that were absolutely identical except for the board. In normal sailing, you'll never be able to tell the difference. There are a large number of traditional rowing-sailing types that have centerboards, a lot more than have daggerboards, because in working craft, ease of use was much more important than a very small increase in speed. Daggerboards were quite rare in traditional American small boats, and only became popular after the age of working sail, with the Sailfish/Sunfish line, among others. I suspect the reason may have been simplicity and production cost, more than performance.

[Tom Lathrop]

I agree completely Keith. I have mostly sailed daggerboards from 8' to 26' for racing but for cruising or day sailing, it's a centerboard for sure. I have never noticed any advantage in performance with a daggerboard.

[Steve Lansdowne]

The Melonseed plans for the boat I'm building show a daggerboard with a curve aft at the tip, rather like a large comma shape. There are horizontal holes throught the board at, say, 4", 8", and 12" from the top of the board that would allow a dowel placed through these to keep the board raised an additional 4, 8, or 12" higher than the full down position. This variable height adjustment seems like a useful option.

[Ben Fuller]

Centerboards and daggerboards....

1. Leeboards are more convenient than either.

1a ACA open sailing canoes and the prototype Dovekie have shown that single high aspect leeboards are as efficient as anything else that you stick in the water. Low drag at the cost of end plate.... but you have to sail flat.

2. Pie shaped centerboards are the most convienient centerboards. The pie is what it looks like when it is down. The aft corner of the board is in the slot. These are measureably slower than high aspect ratio boards. For a crude measure, lowering my narrow board on my good little skiff well out of the trunk gains about 5 degrees of pointing ability. But the drag goes way up: at hull speed water fountains into the boat. But the high aspect ratio is worth it.

3. High aspect ration centerboards evolved in dinghy designs. Slots need to be fat to support a 10-1 or 12-1 aspect ratio board. These slots need gaskets or filler blocks to keep drag under control. In classes where these were permitted there was perhaps a 5% advantage. Like sailing a different boat.

Modern neotraditional boats are not like the older workboats: half the weight and more efficient rigs. Designers actually are interested in windward performance. They raise and lower the boards from the top forward corner. They are also generally smaller than traditional centerboard rowing / sailing work boats which are rare at under 20'. Traditional smaller row/ sail boats like Swampscotts only developed centerboards after they became primarily recreational. And they tucked boards way forward with a special high trunk shape and jogged pied shape board that allowed them to put them deeper. Boards of any kind in boats like peapods were a recreational feature.

4. Daggerboards are noticably more efficient than high aspect centerboards even with quality gaskets as shown in development class dinghies like 14's and Canoes. So much so that sailing with a centerboard slows you a mile or so in a 9 mile course.

Daggerboards have an upper size limit for handling: in my 18 foot Harrier it's about 4 feet. Very narrow ones such as are found on C class cats might be 6 feet or more in length but are quite narrow. They are never pulled all the way out, only flush.

In traditional work boats large daggerboards are rare, perhaps found only in jagandas. Small ones are in pure small people carriers such as the Delaware and New Jersey gunning boats. They used L wedges to hold them at intermediate heights. Daggerboards are also seen in early recreational oar and sail boats like Mystic's Bailey whitehall.

Ben

[Steve Lansdowne]

I just recalled and located an article on Rotating Daggerboards for Small Boats in WB #164, page 44. It is an interesting concept.

[Tom Lathrop]

Originally posted by Ben Fuller:
Centerboards and daggerboards....

1. Leeboards are more convenient than either.

>>>That has got to be a matter of opinion. I only like leeboards in the few instances where their advantages outweigh the disadvantages. That is, small boats where interior room is critical.<<<

2. Pie shaped centerboards are the most convienient centerboards.

>>>What has shape of the board got to do with the convience of it, other than the height of the trunk?<<<

For a crude measure, lowering my narrow board on my good little skiff well out of the trunk gains about 5 degrees of pointing ability.

>>>5 degrees? That is an awful lot.<<<

3. High aspect ratio centerboards evolved in dinghy designs. Slots need to be fat to support a 10-1 or 12-1 aspect ratio board. These slots need gaskets or filler blocks to keep drag under control. In classes where these were permitted there was perhaps a 5% advantage. Like sailing a different boat.

>>>Once again 5% is enough to absolutely kill the inferior boat.<<<

Modern neotraditional boats are not like the older workboats: half the weight and more efficient rigs. Designers actually are interested in windward performance. They raise and lower the boards from the top forward corner. They are also generally smaller than traditional centerboard rowing / sailing work boats which are rare at under 20'. Traditional smaller row/ sail boats like Swampscotts only developed centerboards after they became primarily recreational. And they tucked boards way forward with a special high trunk shape and jogged pied shape board that allowed them to put them deeper. Boards of any kind in boats like peapods were a recreational feature.

4. Daggerboards are noticably more efficient than high aspect centerboards even with quality gaskets as shown in development class dinghies like 14's and Canoes. So much so that sailing with a centerboard slows you a mile or so in a 9 mile course.

>>>My goodness. That is an 11% diference. I just have difficulty believing it.<<<

Daggerboards have an upper size limit for handling: in my 18 foot Harrier it's about 4 feet. Very narrow ones such as are found on C class cats might be 6 feet or more in length but are quite narrow. They are never pulled all the way out, only flush.

>>>My largest daggerboard is on a 26 ft racing sloop. I can attest that it is highly efficient.

Direct experience on two other boats that have both fixed keel and swing keel (with large open slots above the keel) versions show very little difference in races. The PHRF ratings of these and other similar boats that have both types of keels give no advantage, or at most 1 or 2 seconds per mile, to one over the other.<<<

BenBen, you obviously have a lot of experience with different boats and rigs. I can't quibble over your basic points but the differences you give are astounding. Most of the boats that get attention of this forum have broad performance limitations that make perfecting any one element problematic at best.

One racing class that I am a member of is currently considering cutting 10" (~23%) off the bottom of a very high aspect ratio daggerboard. Some trials have shown no difference in performance and the only reason for considering the change is to make handling and crew work easier and safer.

[ 11-18-2005, 09:29 AM: Message edited by: Tom Lathrop ]

[Carl Simmons]

One additional benefit of the CB is that on some designs (ex. Haven) there is a cap on the trunk. This prevents water from coming up through the slot.

In a knockdown, it would be easier to bail the boat and get underway.

Carl.

[Alan D. Hyde]

I can tell you that the sound of a metal daggerboard (specifically, on a Snipe) hitting a rock, is NOT a sound that you wish to hear.

I heard that sound in 1972, and when it comes to mind I STILL shudder. :(

Alan

[ 11-18-2005, 10:16 AM: Message edited by: Alan D. Hyde ]

[EKE]

Another advantage to a centerboard over daggerboards that I don't think has been mentioned is that a centerboard can be adjusted to change the center of lateral resistance while under way. Of course, since a daggerboard typically goes straight up and down, when you pull it up, the geometry doesn't change much.

Having raced many dinghy classes with centerboards, I can tell you from experience that this is done all the time. For example, in hard reaching conditions, it is often very fast to partially retract the board, which has the effect of moving the CLR aft and reducing weather helm. In 470s and 505s, we used to do this to weather in extreme conditions as well.

[Thorne]

Carl -

Couldn't agree more, but I'd phrase it more like, "Most centerboard cases have tops".

In my experience almost all CB cases have tops, both for general dryness (no splash) and for recovery issues (no big hole in bottom of boat). Same for larger boats with swing keels.

[ 11-18-2005, 02:08 PM: Message edited by: Thorne ]

[brian.cunningham]

But if you carry the case to the deck, or cabin top, you have a very rigid structure. Any compression loads can be taken by the mast. I've seen this done a lot where the mast is stepped on the deck.

You also have access from the top of the boat. So you can either pull it out, or figure out what's causing it to hang up.

[Audasea]

Of the two types of Centerboards, the Pie Shaped vs. high aspect...how much advantage going to weather does the high aspect have? A little or a lot?

[Ben Fuller]

There is an order of magnitude difference.

For an experiment take a boat with a high aspect ration centerboard.... any racing dinghy. Try sailing it to windward with just enough board in the water so that the after corner of the board is still in the trunk, thus presenting a pie shape to the water.

Then drop the board all the way.

See my note above on the crude board in my Good Little skiff. Means maybe 5 degrees in pointing and a vastly improved leeway picture.

On a couple of other comments.

My data is based on International Canoe and International 14's. Hard empirical data. The typical world's canoe course has 4 weather legs in a 9 mile course. Hence the huge premium on windward performance, and the real test of foils up wind.

Depending on how you design the trunk you can rake a daggerboard back.

You can also "reef" the daggerboard by pulling it straight up in heavy air when the boat is going fast to reduce heeling moment. The board is producing plenty of lift even at a smaller size and the heeling moment is reduced.

Boards need to be bigger when they are not going through the water as fast. Small boards can stall when tacking. Anyone who has been in a Sunfish on a breezy day knows this... if you are not careful the boat goes sideways for a noticable moment after you tack. Part of that is due to primitive airfoil shape.

Just because a centerboard trunk is capped and no water is coming in does not mean the drag of water hitting the back of the trunk has not gone away if the board is dropped so that the lower corner is out of the trunk and there are no slot gaskets.

Finally, when I talk convenience I am thinking mostly about small boats and comparative advantages of the boards from space and handling, not through the water. Another style that has not been mentioned is an off center center or daggerboard with the trunk incorporated in the edge of a deck or buoyancy tank. Combines advantages of Center/ daggerboard and leeboard. If the boat is kept flat no discernable difference. If you have two of them they are often called bilge boards and don't seem to slow Inland Lake Scows at all.

[Paul G]

With the off centre centreboard wouldnt there be a difference on the one tack? I have thought of putting the centrecase to one side but have been put off by the odd aesthetics and a possible difference in sailing performance. I presume how far offset would be the deciding factor.

What about having some kind of hinged flap that closes the slot with the board down, or a heavy rubber/mylar gasket? Surely this would reduce the drag of a centrecase slot. In anycase my vote is for a centrecase, so much less work and stress in a cruising boat.

[Audasea]

To Ben or anyone else:

On the high aspect/low aspect question, if you were building a CRUISING boat....by that I mean long term and a long way from home....and expected to be operating at speed in 5' or less of water for long periods of time....would you still favor the high aspect board?

Just as I would not choose a high aspect fin keel and spade rudder....(one that would clearly perform better racing around the bouys) for a cruising boat...I wonder if the same thing does not apply for a shoal draft cruising boat with CB?

Is the performance you give up offset by the durability you gain? BMW makes a fast car, but is that what you are going to use to run the BAJA?

[Thorne]

On the CB for a cruising boat in thin water, I suspect you'd want to go for the low aspect foil design commonly used for boats designed to operate there.

Look at the CB design for most Chesapeake Bay skipjacks -- it drops down just a few degrees to make more of an extended keel than a separate wing or foil.

http://www.seadercraft.com/sjfthm.gif

I'm no NA, but it is my understanding that high aspect foils can also stall out at low speeds -- and cruising boats tend to operate in that range more than racers. So again the lower aspect foil for both centerboard and rudder makes sense for cruising in shallow water.

[ 11-21-2005, 09:14 AM: Message edited by: Thorne ]

[Keith Wilson]

My data is based on International Canoe and International 14's. Hard empirical data. Ah, I think I'm beginning to understand the origins of "it doesn't matter much" and "it makes an enormous difference". Both of these are development classes, as serious racers as it is possible to find, with every aspect of the hull and rig optimized as far as human knowledge and skill (and the owner's pocketbook) allows. Competition is as intense as you will find anywhere. When racing with everything else tuned to the max, pointing five degrees higher is truly monumental, worth all manner of inconvenience. The difference between a centerboard and daggerboard in this case is both noticeable and important.

OTOH, if one sails a modernized traditional type, say a plywood lapstrake swampscott dory with a lugsail, or a flatiron skiff with any rig, sailing in a fairly relaxed manner, the difference in performance between centerboard and daggerboard probably is negligible. Even if the daggerboard does work slightly better, neither the hull, the sails, nor the skipper are optimized enough to take advantage of it, and the greater convenience of a centerboard is much more desirable.

So batory, there’s your answer. Are you going to race?

[Dave Hadfield]

On my 10ft tender, the off-centerboard (leeboard clamped to the side of the boat) makes no real difference which tack you're on. Doesn't matter a hoot. I can't speak for International 14s.

[brian.cunningham]

I've been on a 42ft tri with a central daggerboard, and a 32ft tri with an offset daggerboard. The 32footer felt like it had more room in it. Big difference. Tacking wise, the offset made little diffence, but these boats are 30 feet wide.

On the high aspect/low aspect question, keep in mind that high aspect boards tack easier, since narrow boards are bascially easier to spin in the water. But if you not trying to out tack someone ...

[Ben Fuller]

Some folks say that for relaxed cruising you can give up pointing ability and speed. But any one who has tried to get to windward on a light to moderate day beating into a 1-2 knot current with a boat that does maybe four at best wishes for better performance under sail. When you tack across the stream 3 or 4 times and keep arriving back at the same spot, efficiency becomes more interesting. Races are not always against other boats.

Actually two of my major criteria for putting a db in the Harrier had nothing to do with the performance under sail although I would have had a high aspect ratio gasketed board.

One was more room in the boat, which could have been achieved by an offset CB. That is to say what if you want to snooze in the bottom of the boat instead of using bunk boards.

The difference of an off set board you see in a non racing boat is nil. If its important do the scow thing which was done in some of the small Ruggles sailing canoes, a board on each side of the cockpit.

Two was far better performance under oars. A small neat filler block in a daggerboard trunk vs. a centerboard slot even if filled by a retracted cb. Around here there are long periods of calm in the mornings, and for those of you who have rowed for miles, you are acutely aware of drag.... so much so that if you are doing more than going across the harbor, you drop your mast even if its calm.

And the third was serendipitous: the boat needs a third rowing station fairly far aft to trim right with two rowers. The daggerboard serves admirably as a thwart.

[ 11-21-2005, 09:09 PM: Message edited by: Ben Fuller ]

[Rick Clark]

On all my canoes and kayaks I use lee boards as if you put them inline with the CE you can steer the craft buy pushing forwad or pulling them back and most of the time I hardly use the tiller, only in a good blow.

[ 11-24-2005, 08:34 PM: Message edited by: Rick Clark ]

[batory]

Keith Wilson
So batory, there’s your answer. Are you going to race? No Mr. Wilson I'm just trying to decide which type of board is most functional and or easier to use.
If I could overcome my irrational dislike of the "look" of leeboards, I think they would be my choice. This is just about planning on what to build.
I'm not too concerned about fine finishes and brightwork. A workboat look is ok with me but I do appreciate proportion and shape, something along the lines of Ian Oughtred, or in my opinion the lovely 6M whaler of John Welsford