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Foil alignment

Printed From: Yachts and Yachting Online
Category: General
Forum Name: Repair & maintenance
Forum Discription: Questions & tips on the subject
URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7560
Printed Date: 17 Aug 25 at 1:39pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.665y - http://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: Foil alignment
Posted By: Ruscoe
Subject: Foil alignment
Date Posted: 15 Feb 11 at 9:52am

Hi,

Has anyone laser aligned foils at home before? I seem to remember Rick doing it on his 12, but i can't find the thread.  If not via a laser level, how would i go about it manually?  I am refilling and drilling then refitting new pintles to the boat and i want to make sure everything is as it should be.
 
How do you go about doing it? Turn the boat upside down, with foils down and then run a laser level across the foils???


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Replies:
Posted By: Laser 173312
Date Posted: 15 Feb 11 at 10:51am
Don't know about using a laser level, but you need to turn the boat upside down with the foils in place and the tiller centered. If you stand at the bow you should be able to see if the foils are not in line.
In your case though as you are looking to refit the pintels you'll have to find some way to support the rudder so you can locate where the pintels need to go.
Best of luck


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Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 15 Feb 11 at 11:06am
The other way to do it by eye is to hoist the boat in the air (from garage ceiling, perhaps) and then let the C/B down, and then put the rudder on. Might be easier when making any changes to the rudder pintles.

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Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686


Posted By: simonrh
Date Posted: 15 Feb 11 at 3:05pm
Never used it for foil alignment but I have an inexpensive digitial "angle finder" that I use for work. It can be zeroed off on any surface and has a resolution of 0.1 degrees.

I meant to do my rudder with it at some point but I presume you can zero off on the boat / daggerboard and then true the rudder?



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Vortex Asymmetric 1064
Dart 18 7118
Smartkat stunt sailor extraordinaire


Posted By: Menace
Date Posted: 18 Feb 11 at 8:05am

This is how I'd do it in a garage.

1) Firstly turn the boat over.

2) Measure and mark the centre line on the base transom with a pencil, so you can see it also on the bottom of an up turned hull. You can often do this just by measuring to a mid point.

2) Go to the front of the boat, work out where the centre line of the bow is and shine the laser beam through the points of the front and aft centre lines. With the board down (sticking up in the air), you can check the actual alignment of the centreboard and adjust if off centre, to match your laser beam centre line going from point to point. It helps if you get a mate /  partner / responsible child to help with the alignment of your laser line. As a bit of common sense, use your judgement to gauge if your laser centreline is on the centre, I wouldn't guarantee that your transom  is perfectly square to your hull and that may have affected transom centre line measurements initially.

3) Now you know your centre board is alligned to the centre of the boat, you can level the boat. If you simply want your rudder to be aligned to your centre board, all you need to do is make sure your level is 90 degrees to your board. (Assuming your board has no play!)

4) Once you have achieved step 4, you can go to your stern, mark up 90 degrees downwards from your premarked centreline and fit your pintell.

This is the quick way to do it, for more accuracy, you could attempt to level your boat  and ensure your centre board is square to the underside of your levelled boat. The problem is you have to be quite careful when levelling a boat, on the boat yard we use auto-detecting surveyors laser levels and spend a good bit of time working on it as everything needs to be perfectly square and level for fit out. There are ways of doing it with long cross bars or assumptions that deck edges crossing transoms are level, but for a semi reasonable quick do-able thing, steps 1-4 suffice.

Yachts and Yachting got Woofy to do an article on it over 10 years ago. You may be lucky and someone else may have it. Alternatively, I know Simon Hiscocks alligns 49er foils, he may be able to give you some good advice if you contact him through SHOCK.


Posted By: alstorer
Date Posted: 18 Feb 11 at 8:49am
Originally posted by Menace

 I wouldn't guarantee that your transom  is perfectly square to your hull and that may have affected transom centre line measurements initially.

I wouldn't guarentee that your hull is actually symmetrical...


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-_
Al


Posted By: AlexM
Date Posted: 18 Feb 11 at 11:30pm
Russ, I thought you knew how to do foil alignment LOL
 


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Posted By: Ruscoe
Date Posted: 19 Feb 11 at 9:13pm
Ha Alex, forgot about that one!!  That was the result of poor toestrap alignment !!

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Posted By: SoggyBadger
Date Posted: 19 Feb 11 at 9:31pm
Originally posted by Ruscoe

Ha Alex, forgot about that one!!  That was the result of poor toestrap alignment !!


And here was me thinking that you were practising for the proposed new Synchronised  Capsizing Olympic event Smile. Your oppo in the white boat looks well out of synch Smile


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Best wishes from deep in the woods

SB



Posted By: Menace
Date Posted: 21 Feb 11 at 7:42am
Originally posted by alstorer

Originally posted by Menace

 I wouldn't guarantee that your transom  is perfectly square to your hull and that may have affected transom centre line measurements initially.

I wouldn't guarentee that your hull is actually symmetrical...
 
I think the challenge is finding a boat that is truely symmetric..... (more chance of finding the Holy Grail) 


Posted By: Ruscoe
Date Posted: 21 Feb 11 at 2:12pm
Cheers guys, i will buy a laser level.  Making sure the foils are aligned with each other and the centre line of the boat is probably the easiest thing.  Fairly sure the boat won't be symmetrical, are they ever??

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Posted By: DaveT
Date Posted: 22 Feb 11 at 1:23pm
Russ, might be worth looking into hiring one? Good qlaity surveying equipment and so on isnt usually that expensive to hire, esp if its only a one off. 
 
Dave


Posted By: Presuming Ed
Date Posted: 22 Feb 11 at 3:05pm
boat won't be symmetrical, are they ever??

If built in a CNC'd mould, they'll be a lot more symmetrical than anything built by hand. 


Posted By: Ruscoe
Date Posted: 23 Feb 11 at 4:10pm
I'm sure they will be more symmetrical, still not sure by how much though.
 
Thanks for the Tip Dave, interestingly Screfix sell a laser Level with tripod for £25 which although probably poor quality is almost certainly good enough for my job.  or am i wrong?


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Posted By: Pierre
Date Posted: 23 Feb 11 at 4:52pm
I would have thought any laser, cheap or expensive would be fine Russ.
You're not looking to bring down any satellites are you.
A straight line of light is what you need.
It's mounting and fixing the thing that's the issue.



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