Dorade Launcher

[HappyMdRSailor]

I thought this was going to be an anti-piracy thread....

*licks thumb*

(back to the scratchpad...)

[sammyo]

Guess I need to get out in heavier winds, regularly amazed at what manages to drop to the deck and stay on the boat. The plastic Dorade cowlings are old and ugly but can't justify the cost at the moment and they seem to roll around but not off.

[Jim Cate]

I'm surprised that Ann didn't mention what we do on Insatiable II: I made small holes in the center top lip of each cowl, then took 1/8 inch dacron line and ran it from the handrail outboard of the dorade to the hole in one cowl, then to the hole in the second cowl, and then to the handrail on the other side. Tensioned the line up enough to eliminated sag but not distort the cowls. This line prevents the Boa from wrapping around the cowl fairly well, and has kept us from the dreaded clunk-splash so far (again touching wood surreptitiously).

On this boat it isn't the genoa sheets that are the Boas, but the preventer/vang tackles on each side of the boom, but the principle is the same... might work on the OP's boat too.

Cheers,

Jim

[sapient sue]

Yes - we have heard that dreaded splash, but only once. Our dorades have an intricate series of blades inside that supposedly stop water ingress. So I fixed a lanyard to these dropped the end into the saloon, and tied an ornate piece of wood to the loose end. The wood spans the hole in the ceiling panel and prevents the dorade from being launched overboard.

Cheers Sue