Changing Daggerboard drop length

[David Snowman]

Hi guys, when i checked the dagger board drop distance on the 26m i recently bought, it only goes down about 35 inches below the hull of the boat, I can't see how to adjust the rope within the dagger board to adjust it so it can drop down the recommended 57 inches, and there is nothing in the manual, any clues would be appreciated. Cheers, David

[Jimmyt]

The safety line may be too short, or a PO may have shortened the centerboard line. Could you tell which one was tight when you had it as far down as it would go? The safety line keeps it from disappearing into the deep if the control line fails, so it should allow the board to have full range of motion without getting tight until right after full deployment. The control line should have a knot and stainless washer to stop travel at the fully deployed limit. Let me know if you need a pic.

All you have to do now is find a way to lift the boat up about 6 feet so you can get the setup correct...

I can probably get some measurements off mine if you need them, although - I've never checked to see if mine is correct. Fortunately, the math isn't complicated. My rudders were rigged incorrectly when I got my boat and guys on this site helped me straighten them out. As I've worked on the boat, I've found a thing or two that didn't seem quite right, so you may have had a trainee-rigged boat, too. Should be easy to fix though.

[David Snowman]

Hi JimmyT , yes its the safety line which is to short to allow the DB to drop down the required length, so somehow within the Db there must be a way to allow the line to move through the db to adjust the amount of line.
cheers David.

[Jimmyt]

David, glad you asked. My safety line limits around 50". May control line stop is around 55". The board is about an inch above the hull, so knock off an inch of depth from the travel length for my deploy depth. Adjustment is safety line stop knot.

I've got enough slack in the safety line to move the stop knot a bit. If you don't, you should be able to pull the board from the deck and run a longer safety line.

[Jimmyt]

Let me know if anything else will help.

Jim

[David Snowman]

Thank Jim, does your rope move freely thru the db? mine does not. seems to be jammed so i cant adjust the length.

[Jimmyt]

Neither line moves in the dagger board. Both are fixed to it. Safety line is usually in the slot or on deck. In the pic, I have pulled all of the slack up to measure the safety line length. You should be able to do the same. It might be that your line chafed through in the past and the PO just put a stop knot in what was left... At any rate, you need to have enough slack to equal your travel. Both ends are fixed, and the slack is piled up when retracted, and mostly straight down the slot when deployed.

[David Snowman]

Ah understood, thank you Jimmy, I thought it was one single line, now I understand its two separate lines I understand why it wouldn't pull thu... (Doh!) so now ill just replace the safety line with a longer piece and that should solve the problem!, thanks again. much appreciated.

[Highlander]

If I was u, if u r going to replace the D/B safety line I,d also replace the up-haul line also , I noticed my D/B up-haul line was badly chaffed & decided it was time to replace before it fails & when I removed my D/B I also found my safety line was almost cut thro, so I replacing both lines anyway so was a no Briana !


I,d not b surprised ur P/O found the safety line cut & as he was selling the boat anyway just cut it off where it was cut & retied the Knot

J

[Russ]

I’ve often wondered how far down the dagger should go. My M seems to point bad. So I lowered the dagger line a bit.

Is 57 inches below the bottom recommended? Should be easy to adjust if this is known.

57” travel on the control line.

I’m afraid of lowering it too far.


—Russ

[Jimmyt]

57 is max allowable per manual... I'll probably leave mine where it is - around 50".

I'd be interested to know if a few inches of daggerboard appreciably improves your pointing Russ.

[sailboatmike]

57 is max allowable per manual... I'll probably leave mine where it is - around 50".

I'd be interested to know if a few inches of daggerboard appreciably improves your pointing Russ.

Those 7 inches make for a whole lot of surface area, I would think it would improve pointing for a couple of reasons.

One, it increases the area giving you lift. If the centerboard is 24 inches wide and you drop it an additional 7 inches you will get 168 additional square inches or over 1 more square foot (being 144sq inches). Plus the deeper centerboard has more effective working area, near the bottom of the boat the centerboard isn't as effective due to the water being more turbulent due to the bow passing through it.

Two, the more centerboard in the water increases lateral resistance which decreases the boats sideways movement.

There are probably 1/2 dozen more reasons, but its early, the kids are on school holidays and my brain has not yet kicked in

[Jimmyt]

Mike - I'll raise the white flag. And then, I'll go move the stop knot. Thanks!

[Russ]

Thanks Jimmy. Who would have thought to read the manual?

Mike. One more reason. Deeper water is more dense.

I lengthened my dagger line to allow it to go deeper. Also added a block to make it easier to pull up. However I never knew exactly how far down it should go. Hopefully this will help pointing.

[Highlander]

Thanks Jimmy. Who would have thought to read the manual?

Mike. One more reason. Deeper water is more dense.

I lengthened my dagger line to allow it to go deeper. Also added a block to make it easier to pull up. However I never knew exactly how far down it should go. Hopefully this will help pointing.

I,m sure if u asked ur Admiral she,ll give u lots of advice on that !
http://www.yourdictionary.com/images/de ... inting.jpg

J