26M Dagger Board

[mcgargle]

I bought a used 26M and went over it with what I thought was a fine tooth comb. I did however miss one thing. ( very big thing actually) When I lowered the dagger board yesterday “just to check it” before it went in the water I discovered that the bottom 2’ is a mangled mess. One side is completely gone.

My question is does anyone know of a source for a new one. I am in South Florida (just jonesing to get out on Biscayne Bay) I searched the factory web site and didn’t find any references to a replacement parts section. I bought the boat from a broker that took 6 months to straighten out the title (It has been sitting in my yard with weeds growing up around it since Sept 07) and I would prefer to not deal with them again.

Mike

[James V]

Hello Mike and Welcome.

http://bwyachts.com/ blue water yatchs Should have one in stock.

the damage that you describe should not restrict you from going into the Bay.

I carry a spair. Let us know if you need anything else.

You may want to get a spair gooseneck, spreader and jib forstay at the same time.

[Divecoz]

Hi Mike and Welcome :
Worst case scenario, while you wait for the board and I understand they only take a few days . But while waiting cut f the bottom 2 inches buy some kitty fur fiberglass repair kit ( comes in a can)and fix it good enough in less than an hour and in less than 2 hours be on the water and sailing and waiting for the new board to arrive . . When it arrives, install it and look here in the modes section and make a cleaner repair of the damaged board. Being short 2 inches is no big deal and for a spare board . . .who cares just clean it up nice now and seal it properly. You don't need to gel coat it just paint it with white paint PM me if in doubt.
What the heck lets start right now. A Quick fix.
Cut off bottom 2 inches with a Jig saw hand saw hack saw what ever you have. Make it a straight cut. . .
Is the bottom of the board open? If so find some Styrofoam and cut and fit it to JAM into the bottom of the board and to fit recessed by about 1/2 inch.
Mix up Kitty Fur and glob it on bottom of board cover with saran wrap and use the wife's rolling pin to make it pretty darn smooth. let it harden sand to Shape with #80 in a kind of so so fashion and get a can of white spray enamel from Ace . BTW You really dont need to paint it if you just pull the board up out of the water when your not sailing.. Your good for now, so get it in the water .
Doing the right repair is not a whole lot more involved actually

[Paul Brinkley]

Post said 2' as in 2 feet!

[mcgargle]

Yes it was actually closer to 20" missing from one side.

It was just pretty disheartening after waiting 6 months for the stupid dealer (who shall remain anonymous, you know who you are!) to figure out the idiosyncrasies of an electronic title just to have this happen. it kind of took the wind out of me if you know what I mean.

I am out of town next weekend but I have been thinking about it and I can fill it with "Great Stuff" shave it down to the right shape, then wrap it in fiberglass & epoxy. My “Gorilla Mechanic” will start to come out yet!

Mike

[School House Steve]

This sounds just like what happened to me last year. I ran on to a big rock which took off three feet of one side of my dagger board. Forget what anybody has said about repairing and just order a new one from the factory. It may take 10 days or more for delivery but is better than make shift repairs. Cost was about $200 plus or minus shipping. My old board now hangs in my garage as a testament of what can go wrong will go wrong. The fiberglass dagger board is probably the weak spot of the 26M as I ran aground with my Mac 25 hundreds of times without any damage. The Mac 25 has a 625 pound cast steel swing keel that can take much abuse. I can admit that I use and abuse my boat and ask others to come forward and admit and share their stories of woe. My dealer said the the 26M had a sacrificial dagger board designed to break to protect damage to the hull. I now find this unacceptable as I think a boat should be able to take a grounding with out damage. My first thought was to build a solid board out of aluminum slab using a grinder to shape but too much work. A local foundry could cast a dagger board but at too much cost. I am thinking of welding a dagger board out of thin plate steel with a round steel tube for the leading edge, square tube for the center and flat plate for the trailing edge. The upper part of the trailing edge of the board would be modified to prevent the board from cutting through the hull at the lower part of the dagger board well. The goal would be to have a dagger board that could take the abuse of a grounding with out damage to the hull. An added advantage would be extra weight lower down. Does this idea have merit or is it stupid?

[TAW02]

Does this idea have merit or is it stupid?

It's an idea and of course a noble one at that. I can attest to the same thoughts myself but my mind goes back to the sale data found in most ads featuring the

What basically it states is the center trunk construction that houses the daggerboard is heaviest at the lower end where the hull joins the trunk. Emphasis is that, the idea of the most force being applied at this joint whenever a grounding occurs.

I suppose the engineering thought behind this grounding scenario is, one of the two (either the board or the trunk joint/hull) is going to give. Which would be the least costly? Well if the hull/trunk joint cracks or busts, the greater loss would occur. So the daggerboard was purposely made to bust and crumble out of the way before harm to the hull could happen.

Replacing the daggerboard with an indestructable model, could lead up to sinking your boat if the grounding was a hard one.

Big T

[baldbaby2000]

I've busted mine 4 times. I bought one new one then just kept fixing them, trying to make them stronger with some sucess each time. I tend to fix them because I've poured lead in mine which is non-factory. Still no sign of trunk damage. I kind of miss the swing keel on my Mac 25 too.

Leon has a pretty strong custom board; have you hit anything Leon?

If only one side is gone you could put in some filler (like you said maybe foam) and cover it with fiberglass and resin. Once it's covered you could spray a sheet of stiff plastic with mold release or maybe Pam and clamp it over the repair to give you a flat surface when you're done. I've done that before and it might save sanding time.

Daniel

[Divecoz]

I've busted mine 4 times.

Daniel

Danny do you realize you have broken around as many Boards as ALL the rest of the M owners on this board combined?
Honestly can I ask you what or doing that you run aground so often?

[mcgargle]

Has anyone ever come up with a break away design? I had a Daysailor 17 that had a kick-up rudder. Basically it was just a 2 piece rudder with a hinge in the middle. If you hit something that didn't want to give it just swung up.

Might be a pain to reset on a dagger board (I wanted to go swimming today anyway!) but a 2 piece dagger with a hinge that would allow it to swing back might be worth exploring.

Put the pivot point far enough down so that at full extension the bottom of the dagger could literally lay straight back.

[baldbaby2000]

Danny do you realize you have broken around as many Boards as ALL the rest of the M owners on this board combined?
Honestly can I ask you what or doing that you run aground so often?

You may be right and I'm not proud of it. Three of them were at Lake of the Woods. The depth there can go from 60 feet to 2 feet in less than a boat length. Not only that but everything you hit is rock so there's no give. It's a tough place to sail because of that and usually a few boats get hung up on rocks during the LOWISA. If we pay attention to our GPS which has the rocks marked we're OK but some of the races up there go for 15 miles and we get lazy.

The sequence leading up to hitting a rock goes something like this: Admiral says, "honey are we getting a little close to that point?" Me, "let's go a few more boat lengths and then tack." A few seconds later, CRUNCH, me saying "!@#$@#$!," and finally the depth alarm comically beeping as if it's laughing at me!

One good thing is that the daggerboard comes out easy by dropping it out the bottom and so far no boat damage.

[nemo]

From an old post, I broke mine once on a sand bar, much worse than yours it sounds. Here's how I repaired it. Bought a new one from BWY. I carry the repaired one as a spare.

http://www.brownz.com/dagger2.JPG
http://www.brownz.com/dagger_repair1.jpg
http://www.brownz.com/dagger_repair2.jpg
http://www.brownz.com/dagger_repair3.jpg
http://www.brownz.com/dagger_repair4.jpg

[Divecoz]

Well its a sport ( sailing) and we all have the choice or the right that we pay for, to do it when where and how we want to.
That said in time, I will no doubt read some where some time by some Moron posting on a board saying.
He read ( or better yet, he knew or meet) this guy who broke 9 Dagger Boards on his MacGregor. MacGregors are built so cheap ( how cheap are they built?) well I'll tell ya. . . One was even broken in shipping box from the factory and it was marked frag-gile. . .handle with care! Where in fact, the truth of the matter is . . .
Your breaking these boards while running them aground at full attainable speeds, while racing. Racing in a lake that is very questionable to it's suitability for such events. I ask how suitable is it to sailing in a 60 foot deep lake, that has numerous unmarked seamounts rising to within 2 or 3 feet of the surface? But Like I said it will be posted that the boards are cheaply made, which is not the case.
I will point out as well the a swing keel will not retract either unless hit straight on.

[JustSail]

I banged mine up pretty bad last summer. Worse than the pics of nemo's.

Is it better to have it repaired or buy a new one? If its only 200 bucks, I think buying a new one would be cheaper than the fiberglass shop.

How do you order a new one from the factory? Do I call my nearest dealer? I bought mine used, so I'm not sure.

[baldbaby2000]

But Like I said it will be posted that the boards are cheaply made, which is not the case.
I will point out as well the a swing keel will not retract either unless hit straight on.

Actually the boards are rather flimsy on the trailing edge. The leading edge isn't too bad. I think Leon would agree with me there. There will no doubt be people who will exaggerate things. By the way, there was a Corsair 27 that broke a daggerboard up there the same time I did so maybe Corsair's will get bad mouthed too.

I think MacGregor makes a decent boat; however, in my opinion MacGregor should consider an improved daggerboard. It's almost a disadvantage having previously owned a Mac 25 (swing keel). I got used to hitting virtually anything without any damage.