Yeah. I marked my (painted white) daggerboard with a felt tip marker to
show how many inches were below the keel and then experimented with various
depths vs. point-of-sail. Zero was never the correct answer unless you were
running up on the beach.

Roger

http://home.earthlink.net/~derbyrm

"William R. Watt" wrote in message
...

"Roger Derby" ) writes:

Depending on the hull shape, a little (3" ?) daggerboard protruding from
the
bottom gives the rudder something to work against. At least on the
Sunfish,
no daggerboard means no steering.

I had a 20 ft centreboard boat with an auxilliary outboard motor. Nobody
told me to put the centreboard down when using the motor. It was quite a
challenge trying to motor in and out among the moorings, impossible with
any wind blowing. Had to sail in and out of the harbour picking my
way among the moored boats. Today I would drop the centreboard a tad.