Jon

Right. I'm looking for the keel killing rock sticking up from the bottom in front of the boat. I'm planning to also install a DST800 so that will give depth as well.

 

If you think of the sound signal as a 60 degree cone coming from a transducer aimed straight down, thirty degrees of the cone is fore and aft of perpendicular to the bottom. Even using a 0 degree transducer on a 17 degree deadrise, 13 degrees of the cone will be on the aft side of perpendicular. Airmar thought it was not a good idea. Their concern was that the signal return angle would not be aimed at the boat. Maybe so unless it was that keel killing rock. I dunno.

I've been wondering if the seemingly endless story of modern race boats losing an appendage - Volvo boats with keels and spars, numerous boats with rudders, etc. - doesn't point to a bigger problem, has the the engineering design of light, planing boats kept up with hull designs and the advances in light weight materials. Snapper talks about the loads the FT10 was experiencing in the confused seas, and I believe in some of the narratives on the terrible "UU" tragedy similar comments were made.

There are two elements at play: does the design generate abnormally high loads in these situations, and 2) are these boats really designed to safely handled those loads?

Do we need to start asking, are the current trends in modern race boat design seaworthy enough for what we are asking them to do?

That may well be a conversation that awaits a better time.

More information on the Non Profit School building the Sliver Project can be found here:

http://www.nwboatschool.org/ & https://www.facebook.com/NWBoatSchool

Lots of very cool boats get built there out of wood.

(Donations to help them train future boat-builders are always welcomed at this non profit school.)

One good thing to know about the boat school is that you can take a short term summer class on a number of subjects. It's a great way to treat yourself to a wonderful time - great teachers, great spot, great classes. I took a 10-day class building a Whitehall with Ray Speck who was mentioned earlier in the thread. Although I had been a professional woodworker for many years, Ray opened up a whole new world of woodworking. I still remember the thrill when the absolutely lovely form of the Whitehall came off the strong back.

Give yourself a treat, check out summer at the boat school.

"If so, not much an owner can do about that . . . quality control at the factory?"

Did you read that Vince Valdes was part of the crew?

What is the difference in size between a regular chute and a chicken chute? Less leech? Less girth? If it's size when does it get too small? Does it fly differently, let out some halyard to bring the chute lower?

Tnx