Prototype Lee Board

A few years ago my late Father picked up the remnants of a old wooden dinghy (I think it was a Solo). The dagger board is just the right size for a lee board or centre board, but the end grain had suffered terrible decay.

I scraped the internal core away that had rotted badly but luckily the outer hard wood veneer was in reasonable condition. Further rubbing with a wire brush got me down to sound wood, I splashed on epoxy and waited 10 minutes for it to soak in. Then thickened the remaining and spread it roughly in the end grain. Today it was sanded flat and another layer of thickened epoxy will bring back the original curve:

I think the picture below is worth a thousand words and saves a lot of typing :). I'll experiment with the board clamped in different places whilst sailing. Chris Waite thinks an offset board will be fine on both tacks - if it is I might as well build an offset centreboard case inside Illusion which will leave the centre free for sleeping.

Heresy I hear you say? Matt pioneered chine runners for their simplicity and reliability; he says he has a mental block about anything that can break or go wrong and experienced sailors will always agree with the keep it simple and reliable rule. Coming 3rd in around Florida races you have to take your hat off to Matt for making the chine runners successful.
But traditional centreboards have been proven to work well on racing dinghies who absolutely must sail as close to the wind as possible. As Illusion will be used on lakes, rivers, estuaries as well as lumpy water the extra lateral resistance will always be useful.