18' Alpha Cat - Dagger Board Question
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- Rank: Lubber
- Registered: Jun 02, 2009
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Posted: Oct 16, 2009 - 10:48 AM
I snapped one of my Mahogany dagger boards on my 18' Tom Roland Alpha-cat this summer. I am wondering if anyone can confirm if there are Nacra dagger boards that will fit this boat. I have heard that many parts from the 5.2 are interchangable, but I would like some confirmation on the daggers. The daggers are approx. 54" tall and about 10.5" wide. Any advice would be appreciated. -
- Rank: Chief
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Posted: Oct 17, 2009 - 03:04 PM
I noticed nobody has responded yet. Unfortunately My 5.2 is in storage about 2 hours away. I would suggest giving Murray's a call and seeing if they can measure a set of 5.2 daggers for you. If they are close you can likely fair them with a power sander to the proper shape.
The other option is to get a new daggerboard custom made. You could do it yourself using a less expensive wood and glassing it over (ipe is likely a good choice) or even better if you can find a shop with a cnc router to copy the other dagger. A surfboard maker may be able to make you one also (I know one locally here that shapes his boards by hand still).
Either way that is a RARE cat and well worth getting a replacement made just to keep it going! Heck its a part of catamaran history.
Regards,
Dave
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Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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- Rank: Mate
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Posted: Oct 18, 2009 - 06:24 AM
hi 5.2 lovers, measured a dagger from my 1982 5.2 today and compared it with the beautiful carbon dagger that came with my 2009 weta trimaran
5. 2 dagger specs were - 1330mm x 290mm x 22mm, 5kg, old shape and only just floats
weta dagger - 1320mm x 285mm x 23mm, 2.5kg, modern shape and very buoyant
if the 5.2 boards fit the alphacat you should be able to buy them reasonably cheaply from the classifieds on this site. they have a resin? heavy core material but if they are too large you should be able to cut them down without too much effort. the same boards are used in other 1980's nacras, you can check which by looking at the old parts list at performance catamarans
it looks like the weta boards would also work in the 5.2 if the carpet strips were thinner, 2 weta boards would save 5kg, 12lbs? but wouldn't be cheap -
- Rank: Lubber
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Posted: Oct 18, 2009 - 09:27 AM
Thanks Guys... All are options I'm considering. I also just found out that I have access to a CNC router, and I'm toying with the idea of building carbon boards. I found a neat site where a guy built carbon boards for a trimaran by using a CNC router to make symetrical female molds in MDF. I have done quite a bit of fiberglass work and I think I can tackle this one. Now I need someone with a geometry major who can figure out how to understand and draw NACA profiles into the said CNC router. The glass I can handle, but I'm in over my head with shaping and understanding the foils. -
- Rank: Lubber
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Posted: Oct 18, 2009 - 09:30 AM
Check out this link:
http://www.nwmultihull.org/builders/builders_mods_02.htm
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- Rank: Lubber
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Posted: Apr 11, 2010 - 02:31 AM
5.2 boards work fine - I have both a 5.2 and an Alpha. The glass boards are nicer, the c/f are sexy... Mahog is cheap and pretty reliable. I glassed mine, single layer of 6oz.
sorry not to have loked at the post earlier - hope you're in the water now!
