WOW! Glad to be getting all these feedback. Very useful. I realized
that I should have been a bit more descriptive about the boat. I'll
take a picture of it tonight and post a link to the picture for those
of you who wish to see it.

Unfortunately the mast and sail are already at my cabin while the boat
is still at my home (so only pic of the boat tonight). I think it is a
catboat design but not sure. The mast is metal (or aluminum) and is
quite long (my guess is 14 feet or more). Sail is triangular if I
recall correctly. I have not put the boat in the water yet since I am
not sure if it would float without a centreboard (I'm planning to tow
it behind my boat to the cabin). By the way, I did not know that there
was a difference between a centreboard and a daggerboard. Until
someone explains the difference, I only mean "the piece of wood that
you stick through the (near) middle of the boat" :-) I know my old
winsurfing board uses a daggerboard so perhaps I should stick to that
name for the sailboat!

I will also measure and take picture of the opening (under the boat)
for the daggerboard/centreboard (from memory it is about 1/2" X 20") as
I would like to know how far it should stick out in the water from the
hull.

Any WEB sites where I could look at daggerboard/centreboard and rudders
so that I can pick (and copy) a design that appears suitable? Thank
for everyone's help so far. Keep those suggestions/ideas coming!
Andre


Melandre wrote:
Warning: I also posted this question in rec.boats since I couldn't find
a sailboat specific newsgroup...

Newbie question: I was given an old, very small sailboat (just 8' or
9'). The hull was in a poor state but the sail and mast were in good
condition. I cleaned the hull and repainted the boat and it now is
seaworthy. Well, almost seaworthy. The people giving it away told me
that two things were missing and they could no longer find them: the
centerboard and the rudder.

I figured I could probably build these things so I agreed to take the
boat. I have yet to build a basic centerboard and rudder for it but I
also realized that the boat does not have a boom! Is it possible
that, given that it is such a small boat, it may not require one? I
cannot figure out if they simply forgot to give me the boom
(unfortunately I cannot contact them anymore), if they didn't have a
boom anymore or this type of small boat simply doesn't need one...

If it does require one, how difficult would it be to make a simple one
and what material (wood, metal, etc.) would be most appropriate.

Keep in mind that I am not trying to turn this thing into a competition
sailboat. Just want something to float around and have something to
play around with on a windy day (when it is too wavy to waterski behind
my powerboat). Cheers! Andre