Newbie outrigger question

Stringy,

You are correct to consider if the center board were to hit an obstruction. This is stabilized with two pieces of soft (HomeDepot) "'x1/8" aluminum, and will develop better cushions at the ends were it contacts the well.

Newport Beach has few if none underwater items, so I am safe here, but the aluminum would hopefully deform prior to damage to the hull.





Enjoy!

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Wil Thoms
Newport Beach

Hobie 16 with Tequila Sunrise sails (in the past)
Hobie Revo 11 for peddle, paddle, fishing and sailing
Hobie Eclipse 10.5 Solar Yellow
SurfTech 12' Touring SUP

I guess you are a more experienced sailor than I, but don't you miss the pedals when you are tacking? I lose sufficient forward speed that I pedal through the tack...

Jcan,
Any luck on the idiots guide for us?

rained all weekend last week, I stayed inside and did chores to earn points with wife
Hopefully I get to video the furler on Saturday and go fishing on Sunday this weekend.

Thanks, that would be awesome!

A centerboard will increase heeling - the boat will no longer slip sideways as easily so the boat/board pushes against the water and heels to leeward.

When the winds get really high, most sailors who have boats with center or dagger boards will pull them up a bit, or lift them entirely so that the boat tends to slip sideways instead of heeling drastically.

Keep this in mind in higher winds. Otherwise, job well done!

wthoms2000:
I have made quite a few weighted keels for my kayaks (Oasis, Revolution, and TI) over the years, which greatly improves the sailing ability of the kayaks (adding a weighted keel, makes the boat pretty impossible to tip over, just like a monohull boat with a weighted keel).

Since your using the keel board anyway and prefer it, it wouldn't take much more work to add a removable 10 lb lead weight to the very bottom of your centerboard, it won't create any more drag than what you have now. If you just screw it onto your existing centerboard at the very bottom it can be optionally removed on light sailing days.

With my centerboard/keel weights mounted in the mirage well our kayaks I can easily stand on the side rail of the kayak without tipping over with almost no risk of tipping over. In our area (south Florida) we don't have enough wind normally, so I always need the mirage drives installed, but in some areas where you mighthave better wind, adding the weighed keel would allow you to double your sail area easily.
Just something to think about
Bob

At some point, a weighted keel will make the boat very stable and self righting - this the difference between it a regular centerboard boat.

But you may also find that it slows you down a bit. Maybe. Depends on how much weight you actually add. The longer the board the less weight you need, the shorter the boat the more weight you need. But there are pros and cons to either, depending on water depth.

The daggerboard does a great job of stabilizing, so much so that I keep it in on all points of sail.
IMHO removing it increases the chance of a capsize, especially going downwind and gybing. I know that's not what the sailing books recommend but in my experience the lateral resistance from the daggerboard slows heeling and gives you more time to hike out and balance the boat. In the 6 years I've been using the daggerboard I have never capsized my Adventure. Even in 30knot winds (with a partially furled sail) it is stable enough to sail without Sidekicks, and that's all down to the daggerboard.
That's why I'm so disappointed that Hobie have removed it from the 'downgraded' Revolution 16!

wthoms2000,
I'm not sure I'd be relying on that aluminium to deform before it did some drivewell damage. Instead of those stainless bolts I'd make one (or both?) of them a breakaway like the aka brace bolts. That would get rid of some of the energy if you hit something.
Newport Beach may have few underwater objects but I'll bet Murphy could easily visit?

Good point Stringy,

I think ideally you'd want to have an extended aluminum mount as the only thing anchored to the hull, via the front and back hdpe pads and a pin sitting in the mirage drive supports, rather than mounting the pins on the centrboard itself. Then you could attach the centreboard to the aluminium mount (below the pin) with a metal (pivot) bolt at the rear and one or two plastic shear bolts at the front, so that when you hit something the centre board would pivot back about the rear bolt. I'd be worried about the leverage such a big board would have laterally over the metal mount and the hull though with such a shallow structure.

I think I prefer your daggerboard in a mirage drive plug idea as a less risky (but very elegant) solution

I notice that when I'm sailing quickly in a good breeze with my big sail in adventure mode, the standard daggerboard gives more than enough lift to stop leecocking, but in very light winds I could do with a board mounted further forward, for those times when I'm enjoying the sailing experience too much to want to put the. Mirage drive back in . Just like a sailing dinghy, however, sitting as far forward as possible pretty much eliminates the leecocking

_________________
Simon