No one to compare with. I have only ever seen two other sailboats at
Winter Brothers, and that was a couple of years ago. Four days ago, my dagger board was hitting the bottom in places. It was averaging 7 to 9 feet yesterday according to relatives on the pontoon. Sunfish type boats maybe a lot of the time. It's biggest virtue is that it is 7 miles from my home! Creve Cour lake has a lot more sailing, but that is more like thirty miles. I have not been there yet.
Having been warned that there was a good tack bad tack problem because of the mast
interference, I have been watching to see the difference. With the thin, 3/16ths laminated aluminum clad dagger board, I never did see a real difference between the two, and it is possible that the bad tack
sails closer to the wind than the good tack does. Yesterday, using the much thicker board, there was a definite difference.
One big difference between using the two boards is down wind. Using the composite board. I seldom ever
lift it, even for a downwind run. The boat steps out fast enough to leave a wake like it is under
power with the board down. Downwind with the
wood board requires pulling the board if you want to reach that kind of speed.
And yes, I am having fun. I learn everything I can about things before I do them, but it requires the seat of the pants understanding for me to actually know it. For that purpose, the little Snark is perfect. I can't hike out over the edge and use my leverage to correct my
mistakes with it. Best I can do is sit with my back to that side of the
hull and lean back. The actual controls are pretty much everything with someone my size in a Snark. In that Sunfish I sailed, being able to hike out over the edge allowed me to make what were
mistakes look good and deliberate to those that don't know better.
Anyone know the edge curvature used in the little lateen
sails? Is there a formula or layout for these sails on-line that would include the edge offsets? Most of what I have read says they are cut flat with curved edges to produce the shape. I have a zigzag machine here and this sail is not that complicated. Three grommets and reinforcing tabs at the ends of the seams. The edges are simple socks for the yard and boom.
A new one is 65$ off Ebay, but I am more interested in the
learning how aspect, and the local
fabric store has rip stop on
sale. If it was really a flat cut sail with curved edges when it was new, then this sail has changed a lot!
More questions! Will rip stop
work for a small sail like this without any coatings? I believe it is used for spinnakers, but I don't know about using it for the primary sail.
Thanks for the input guys!