Buccaneer 33, Centerboard placement question.

The centerboard on my B-33 has had the bottom end of the trailing edge broken off, I know, simple fix... But it has given me an excuse to make a new daggerboard, and possibly a new trunk.

What I'm wondering is, should I keep the center board in front of the mast or move it behind the mast. I've seen some designs for similarly sized tri's that have the board behind the mast.

Any and all help appreciated.

-Wolf

 

If you like the way the boat sailed keep the center of effort in the same location.If not now is your chance !

 

Looking at my plans, it looks like the centerboard being swept back has the majority of the blade behind the mast anyways. Looks like a vertical boards behind the mast wouldn't change the geometry much.

 

Centerboards allow you to vary the CE. Daggerboards only to change the area of the lateral plane. It is a drastic change and you seem a bit lost about it. Why do you want to do that?

 

The board I have now is too heavy and I don't like the construction method used (solid wood and heavy glass), it's trunk also takes up a wack of room in the forward area where the head is. My father made a beautiful mold for a high-performance daggerboard that I want to use.

As you can see from the picture, it uses a daggerboard already, but it is at an angle that brings the blade section directly under and behind the mast. I'm wondering if a vertical daggerboard mounted behind the mast will work as well.

 

I imagine the reason the board is angled is that you can raise it/get it out without hitting the boom.

Having a raked board is a bit more efficient, and weed clears off it easier. But probably those two are less important for you than increasing interior space.

BTW, its not a very flattering photo of your boat. It looked much better when we sailed next to you last year. I guess we were doing around 6-7 knots and you were a knot faster.


Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

It's the only picture I have of her on this comp. I'm still tossing board and trunk ideas around.

I just found out that the trunk that is in the boat now is cracked at the top join to the deck, all the more reason to replace I think.

 

A vertical board will work fine if you keep the CE in the same (or close to it ) location. It will also mean more time before you are sailing so weigh things out. You have several areas you want to work on your boat, my suggestion is to work out a plan for everything you want to do , when you want to use the boat and prioritize the different jobs. You'll want to do the trunk before you raise the new mast (what's wrong with the old one ?) so it is supported by the structure etc....If you just want to get sailing soon get the rig up and do the trunk later and so on. We have been bring our Nicol up to condition in what I call a sailing restoration so we can use it every year without being out of commission for more than a month or so. Seaworthiness, safety and sail handling always come first and should be handled in a logical order. For example our cushions are still antique Naugahyde but aren't being recovered because we will need different ones when we do the interior, there is enough to do on a boat without doing it twice......

 

It's strong enough, too tall, non rotating and too weak (bending)

 

I'm not sure where my computer hid the photo I took of your boat, but there is a youtube video of it sailing on my Strike page.

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

I like that video, really shows two of the nicest boats out on the water sailing perfectly in light air.

 

Crowther boards are big

While I haven't sailed on a Bucc I think it maybe similar to other Crowther boards. They are long boards designed to bear on the hull bottom and the deck join usually.

I would shudder at the thought of moving a case. The amount of ripping out that would have to be done would be staggering. Then as you can't have a deck bearing case anymore you would need to include very strong bulkheads to the top of the board in the down position. I did this in my cat and it is done in Farriers but this is designed in. Both these boats have boards with heavy laminates to cater for the increased loads in a shorter case so you will have to rebuild the board as well.

My suggestion is to fix the case as built. The boat works well now and by changing the case you are doing a big and expensive (and potentially erroneous) experiment.

Cheers

Phil

 

Robbie, I think Phil is right.

 

Yeah, looking at it, it's just something small that I can fix. Thanks for all the input guys.