I picked up a laser sailboat built in the mid 1970's I think at a yard
sale.
It is missing the daggerboard. I'm hoping to make my own but I need the
dimension. Can anyone help.

What would you suggest to make it out of? Would a thick piece of
pexiglass work?

Thanks

If you just want to get back on the water and race legal, then
http://www.apsltd.com/Tree/d90000/e87992.asp , but $318 + shipping seems
kind of steep (and that's not just Annapolis Performance Sailing's price).
Surely you can find someone with a Laser and take photos and measurements.

I would NOT use Plexiglas!!! All the wrong characteristics (brittle, hard
to work, ... ). When I made a new one for my Sunfish, I found a piece of
hardwood at the big box that was not much bigger than the right size, worked
it down, put a coat of epoxy paint, handles, spring, and it's worked well
since. I think it was mahogany, but I'm not sure. Wood is nature's
composite material. (I had my old board and made the new one to match
pretty well -- allowing for the amount I'd ground off over the years.) Oak
or ash would also be good choices.

Roger

http://home.insightbb.com/~derbyrm
"Matt" wrote in message
ups.com...
I picked up a laser sailboat built in the mid 1970's I think at a yard
sale.
It is missing the daggerboard. I'm hoping to make my own but I need the
dimension. Can anyone help.

What would you suggest to make it out of? Would a thick piece of
pexiglass work?

Thanks

If not able to make one in GRP I think you would be better to make one
from ply as they are quite thick. I do have one to measure but it is
not here at the moment it is at a holiday destination. If no one else
comes up with the info send me a text next week on my mobile and I
will measure it for you. The shape is a parallelogram, the angle can be
obtained from the hull as the top and bottom are parallel with the hull
surface. The foil profile can be roughly taken from the slot it fits
into. There is quite a load on the trailing edge as it is fairly thin,
especially if you touch bottom so you would need to beef up the edge
with grp.
I would be tempted to make one in ply and clad the whole thing in
glasscloth and then a layer of flow coat ( gel coat with a small amount
of wax added to prevent surface tackiness ) and profile it after.
Ian