Sailing without centerboard

[vancouver]

It will sail, but not very well.

The first thing you will notice is that the boat will give a lot of leeway. Since you are new to sailing, that means the boat will slide away from the wind in addition to going forward. In the T28 this is very significant. Other than on a run, this will be a significant problem.

The second thing, at least on the T28, is that handling in tight situation is significantly degraded. When the centerboard is down, the boat pivots around the centerboard giving a tight turning circle. With it up, the boat slides through the turns. While I can get my boat out of the marina with the centerboard up, it turns an easy task into a significant challenge.

My advice, leave the centerboard. Any sailor looking at the boat will want it.

[Ron]

I wouldn't remove the center or dagger board from ANY sailboat that was designed to have one. Vancouver covered some of the possible problems while sailing, but I'd like to point out that the lack of a board will also effect the motoring performance, especially in sharp turns or any current and wind. The rudder will have to compensate for the lack of the board, which would slow the boat down as well.

Why not try to incorporate the board's sleeve as part of the new interior? For example - the 28's removable dining table is bolted to this sleeve and it also serves as the support for turning the single bunk into a double. Not sure if I'd want to do this, but you could fabricate a much skinnier board that would act as a dagger with a corresponding smaller sleeve. This would go up/down vertically as opposed to swinging up and down.

[ar99kid]

hey

thanks for your inputs !!!
well now i am in the phase of cabin and interior refit ... i have spend last 5-6 nights in the boat , making allot of drawings , thinking allot of the new configuration ... my goal is holidays cruising in mediteranean sea and islands with 4 people on board and get enough comfort to live like 15 days in one time . but because of this matter this centerboard is killing me ! it is too much space sacrificed inside ... too narrow walk space along the main hull ... i m trying to find my best solution here to make peace between this centerboard and my goals ! i am not afraid of work and i don't care how much work and modifications i need to do , i am even considering to mount a bow thruster electric motor for better manoeuvrability in marinas !!!
is this center board really this important in sailing a 3 narrow hulls boat ? i am thinking that is not a monohull with a wide beam like 1:4 ratio...this is 1:8 ratio on 3 hulls and should keep the direction much better ! am i right ? am i wrong ?

thank you for looking !

[Ron]

I suppose that you could get away without the board, but it will significantly hurt performance. As Vancouver mentioned above, your leeway will be much greater. Rather than sailing 40 degrees into a true wind, it will slip up to maybe 50 degrees or more. The bow will be pointing at the 40 degree mark, but will slide out to something closer to 50. Using the rudder to lessen this effect will also decrease boat speed. Ditto for maneuvering with the motor in tight quarters. But if you can't get the board into your design, then go ahead.

A multihull will experience just about the same leeway as a monohull. It acts as a wing with windward lift, and without one there's nothing under the boat in the water to stop it from sliding out. One thought - you may be able to put dagger boards into both amas, and then lower the one that is downwind. The other could be up or down, and probably won't do that much either way. Some of the better sailing catamarans have these, along with the purposely built racing tri's. Another idea would be to offset the board like Tony did in the 28's. The trunk is perhaps 6 inches closer to the port side, allowing a better walkthrough on the starboard side of it.

[satallite]

Another possibility is to add skegs to the amas. I had planned to do this to my own Telstar to allow level drying out on the beach and had hoped to see what effect it would have when raising the centre-board. Perhaps you can try it first!

Mike

[onremlop]

Have you thought about a leeboard and having it mounted outside the cabin? Just a thought.

[ajaxpc]

I would be cautious about radical arrangements:

Daggerboards or skegs in the amas will dramatically increase the lateral loading on them - the design of the brackets anticipates mainly vertical loadings.

A leeboard on the main hull would also be hard to mount strongly, and unless you mount it out on the 'wing' (which will pose significant design challenges) you aren't going to save much space. The centreboard is already offset to port - a leeboard on the side of the main hull would only be a few inches further over, and would require internal stiffening that might be quite obtrusive.

A fixed low aspect ratio keel might be the best way of getting rid of the box - the reinforcing would mainly be below the cabin sole. The draft would increase, and the boat would tip a long way over when it dried out - although legs on the amas would fix this. Also, you'd get better protection for the hull when you beached.

A carefully shaped LARK might be just about as efficient as the Telstar's rather poorly shaped centreboard, without adding more than maybe 30cm to the draft. And you could have a fixed rudder as well ...

A lot of work, though.

Alex.

[satallite]

There is currently a Mk 2 Telstar for sale at the following link: http://www.multihull.nl/multihulls/used ... .fotos.htm and looking at the photographs there is no evidence of a centreboard internally. It might be worthwhile trying to contact the owner to establish if this is so and how the boat now handles.

Mike