Daggerboard controls

[cyfishburn]

I'm building a 33-ft Woods cat, and arranging the uphaul and downhaul for each board. These two lines pass through the board on sheeves and are lead to a winch on the cabin roof. The boards weigh 95 pounds each.

See the pic. I'm thinking of using a small bow roller for the uphaul and a (smaller) turning block for the downhaul. The idea with the bow roller is to get a fair lead into the deck opening. Both uphaul and downhaul are dead-ended on a single u-bolt.

This all seems kind of kludgey and I would welcome any ideas or pics of different arrangements.

Thanks!

[Franziska]

Hmm. Where is your picture? It might help when thinking about alternatives.

[cyfishburn]

Here is the pic, I hope.

[Tupaia]

The captive standup block shown next to the bow roller will work best as the board lines will sometimes go slack and will drop off of the bow roller with the potential to jam in the slot.

You might consider placing the block at right angles to the dagger board slot and then placing a cheek block close to redirect the line. This will maintain the lead and keep the line from running off the pulley. The cheek block will probably need to be on a pad to stop chafe.

[mark_morwood]

Ours was how Tupaia suggests - the turning block was fore and aft, with a cheek block aft, though ours was on the outboard side as the lines ran aft to near the helms. This leaves fewer things to stub your toes on.

Are you sure you need a downhaul? Ours only had an up haul as the boards were heavy enough to sink themselves. It did mean we sometimes had to go push on them or head up to reduce pressure to get them to drop. It seemed like a reasonable trade off for one less line and cleat on each side of the boat.

[smj]

The boat came like this.
And the lines would jam.
We then added these fair lead blocks to stop the lines from jamming.

Finally added this contraption that pulls the boards up flush to the bottom and makes raising and lowering the boards from the helm a breeze.

[cyfishburn]

Thanks very much for your replies, and pics. I will have to chew on this. I'm sure that best approach will be to keep a fair lead on the shiv in the board, and then turn the line to the winch.

[Tupaia]

Originally Posted by smj

We then added these fair lead blocks to stop the lines from jamming.
Attachment 218363

The fair lead block achieve the same result and also drop the line to deck level. My sheaves are embedded in the case shoulders. Note the eye bolts retaining the lines within the case.



Ignore the lines, repainting was in process.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by mark_morwood

Are you sure you need a downhaul? Ours only had an up haul as the boards were heavy enough to sink themselves. It did mean we sometimes had to go push on them or head up to reduce pressure to get them to drop. It seemed like a reasonable trade off for one less line and cleat on each side of the boat.

This point really surprised me. I put a nice heavy piece of hardware in my boards for the up haul assuming that would be the main mode of action.

As it turns out, it’s a lot more difficult to keep them in the water than to pull them up.

Sounds like this can vary a lot between different boats. Mine are corecell boards with glass skins. Float like a cork.

[smj]

Originally Posted by Chotu

This point really surprised me. I put a nice heavy piece of hardware in my boards for the up haul assuming that would be the main mode of action.



As it turns out, it’s a lot more difficult to keep them in the water than to pull them up.



Sounds like this can vary a lot between different boats. Mine are corecell boards with glass skins. Float like a cork.

We have floaters as well

[Tupaia]

Originally Posted by smj

We have floaters as well

Yes, ours is carbon, needs to be winched down.

[Redreuben]

I think the best way to do this is to go to your local Marina and have a look at a few different solutions in situ and adapt them to suit.

[cyfishburn]

Good advice, Redreuben. I also need to figure out a fair lead for the my anchor bridle, so worth a trip. Just so long as I don't discover too much that I did wrong!

[smj]

Originally Posted by cyfishburn

Good advice, Redreuben. I also need to figure out a fair lead for the my anchor bridle, so worth a trip. Just so long as I don't discover too much that I did wrong!

Have you talked to Richard Woods about the daggerboard controls?

[TheSchwartz]

Hi cyfishburn,
I have the Richard Woods Banshee #3 (35'x20.5') which I have renamed Horse Feathers.
If you are ever in the San Francisco Bay Area feel free to get in touch with me.
Interestingly Horse Feathers has only one daggerboard in the port hull which seems to work fine although left turns can be tighter.
Here is a picture of my daggerboard controls.
I am not quite delighted with this solution because it takes too much force to raise the daggerboard. It would probably be ok to use just the winch but I usually help manually lift as my sailing buddy winches it up. -My daggerboard is 12' x 31.5" (I forget the thickness) and quite heavy.

Incidentally I did sail with Richard Woods, it was a great learning experience but a bit humbling and a bit expensive - I now have a new mainsail but that is another story.

Feel free to contact me.

Best,
Steve