Daggerboard Material?

I've got a small sailboat (12') and the daggerboard needs to be replaced. I read through this thread, but it appears to be for much thicker boards.

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/materials/what-wood-daggerboard-25737.html

My current board is 4ft x 9 1/2" x 1/2".

My plan is to use marine plywood, but is there anything else that would work better?

Thanks!

 

What is the current board made of? Marine ply is pretty common for thin boards

 

It's painted, but it looks like plywood. Just wondered if I should use something different.

Thanks!!

 

On a 12' foot sailboat (what model ?) you would be hard pressed to do better than marine ply, especially if you dont have a wider centreboard case.

If you wanted improved performance in a racing situation, you could do what some Mirror Sailors did (illegally), and cut some large "biscuit holes" in the board, fill with lightweight material and paint over.

The boards will break a lot sooner, and you could save that much weight by skipping breakfast.

Marine Plywood will be fine

 

Plywood isn't my first, second or third choice for appendages, but in this case it'll be fine. To increase the strength, use two pieces of 1/4" glued together. Also cant the grain about 12 degrees to each other for maximum stiffness.

 

Thanks for all the feedback!!

 

I think,You can make composite Daggerboard !
More powerful and easy to repair.

 

"more powerfull" , only if you can get a wide enough board slot for the curved surface.

No harder to repair - a bit of epoxy on wood is just as easy as any composite structure

 

An old thread I know, but I have the same issue as the OP (small boat, need to replace daggerboard)... except I lost mine! (Catalina Expo 12.5). Thanks RWatson for your guidance that Marine Plywood will work fine as a replacement. I searched for specs, pictures, etc to help me get the dimensions but have had no success. I've given up and I'm just looking for some "rules of thumb" to get the length (close to) correct. The OP said his was 4 foot on a 12 foot boat, does that seem like a good general guide?

 

You could contact Catalina for dimensions, they may even have a replacement.

 

I tried that when I first lost it without success but I will reach out to them again and see if I get a more helpful response. I had sort of given up on them so it is a good suggestion to try again.