Planner board idea

[scobar]

I have some 30 year old homemade double wood boards, work great actually. I was getting things ready yesterday  thinking about how they could be improved without buying new ones like otter bds with a keel. 

How about

taking a 8oz torpedo weight and hanging it off the inside board, or trial and error to find a right balance point. I believe it would help control jumping in heavy water and maybe even cause the board to pull harder. I thinking of a 2' lead to make sure it would never come out of the water, thoughts??

Scott  

[Sk8man]

What I did back in  the 70's to my home made boards was I made a sand mold (wet sand) heated up some lead and poured weights (relatively thin strip sized  to the length and width of the boards) that I then screwed on to the bottom of the boards with stainless screws. You just have to measure the depth and width/length of the depression in the sand so that they will be equal weighted and sized properly by filling the depressions in the sand mold evenly and let cool completely. I then filed off any non linear protrusions and they fit nearly perfectly and kept the boards up right no matter the size of the waves etc.

Edited March 27, 2016 by Sk8man

[buckboardjr]

Stick on wheel weights.  Counter sink holes and screw them on or router/ dato out a spot on the side / bottom/ aft end and embed them, epoxy over. They wantto be a little heavier toward the aft end.  Amish outfitters Tow bungees  help  in heavy seas.

[harborcraft]

Good idea include a rudder cut a pc of wood strip attatch it to the lenght of board close to the bottom of board

[bout time]

I made double boards out of cedar and drilled 5 holes in the bottom roughy 1/2 deep and melted some old lead sinkers into the holes. I then sanded them smooth and covered the bottom with a thin coat of epoxy. The boards pull so hard I have to stop the boat to bring them in

[scobar]

I do have holes in the bottom w lead and yes the pull prety good, was just thinking of a lillte extra, you know how we get.... Lol

[flybuster]

Decoy weight strap screwed to the bottom works great the ones I had were 1/2 x12

[scobar]

Im thinking the torpedo may add extra pulling power by bending the fin, thus moving the board further forward. In turn you may be able to run shorter leads, which would be a big help in spring derby times

[Chas0218]

The torpedo will add extra drag to the board. I would recommend modifying the board in a way that it doesn't drag any more into the water than it did previously.