Am 01.08.2014 03:01, schrieb Francois Labreque:

>> Am 31.07.2014 23:05, schrieb Francois Labreque:

>>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig8ilsiloVE
>>>>
>>>> Fascinating when a good wind blows like the last couple of days.
>>>>
>>>> Thomas
>>> Two questions:
>>> 1 - What are the big planks on the sides of the boats? Are they
>>> daggerboards? and if so, why are they on the sides of the boat, rather
>>> than on the center of the hull?
>>
>> Why should they be on the center? They work just as fine at the sides.
>> With the added avantage of not having to cut a gaping hole right into
>> the bottom of the wooden hull :-P
>>
> I figure that having an essential part of your boat out there in the
> open where it can easily get caught on other boats, floating
> tree-trunks, etc, would be a disadvantage, especially if these boats are
> made for navigation in crowded waters, as Dr. John mentions.

You'd raise them when getting so close to other vessels that you expect 
close contact (which would essentially be in the harbour only; mind, the 
idea in crowded waters is generally to steer clear enough to /not/ make 
contact at all ;-)), and you'd also have fenders dangling down the side 
of the ship in such conditions.

> Also, I've sailed boats from 3m-long Optimists, to 50m long sea-going
> cats that had no problem with the gaping hole in the middle of the hull. ;)

I guess those weren't the traditional wooden-hull type, were they?

A hole in the hull is no problem if its upper opening lies above sea 
level, but achieving that with a wooden construction is pretty 
challenging. Aside from providing additional surface and edges for water 
to potentially leak through, it would also be a structural problem. All 
in all, maybe it wouldn't be impossible, but just too much of a hassle, 
and mounting the daggerboards at the sides is certainly a far more 
practical solution for this type of ships.

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