DRAGONFLY Trimarans User Forum International Dragonfly Trimarans User Forum
OLD DRAGONFLY TRIMARANS USER FORUM 2001-2006
DF800 HULL
These are archived postings from the first Dragonfly User Forum from 2001-2006. Lots of useful information to be found here!
Here you will find all the information about the Dragonfly 800’s Hull.
To jump straight to a category on this page click on any of the words listed below.
Antifouling | Cleaning | Floats/Amas | Hardtop Sprayhood
How do you remove the hatch/companionway lock ? |
[from: Walter Siebold, USA, 27 Oct 2006] |
I need to replace it. I called a locksmith and he was not able to remove it. Thanks, Walter |
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How to install a bathing ladder ? |
[from: Christian Ehrenborg, Sweden, 23 Oct 2006] |
Hi Any ideas on how to mount a swimladder on a DF800 SW? Has anyone mounted a ladder on the end of the hulls? Any ideas on how to mount a ladder on the beams? Grateful for any feedback |
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DF800 Stern Pulpit installation ? |
[from: Jean Philippe, Switzerland, 3 Sep 2006] |
I would like to get and install some stern pulpits at each rear corner of my cokpit a bit “a la Scobby III”, maybe not as high though (see Gallery). Are parts like those for sale from the builder or someone would have plans to have them made? Also were are they fixed on the hull, any detail picture/drawing? Thanks in advance for the help, Jean Philippe, DF 800 SW “Calopteryx” |
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Re: Has someone a diagram of the DF800 centre board ? |
[from: Brian Pickersgill, United Kingdom, 4 May 2005] |
Quornings are very helpful and sent me a diagram. Try them. The bungee cord holds up a wooden block which I think acts to stop water splashing up the centre board case. Unscrewing the table top gives reasonable access and you can see how it all works. |
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Has someone a diagram of the DF800 centre board ? |
[from: Walter Siebold, United States, 28 Apr 2005] |
Has someone a diagram of the centerboard. I would like to understand how the mechanism works. I noticed a bungee cord under the table on the port side. What is this for? My boat is a 1992 and the cord might not be elastic anymore. Is there a gasket inside the well? |
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How to replace the mooring cleats ? |
[from: Brian Pickersgill, United Kingdom, 31 Mar 2005] |
The mooring cleats on the outside of the cockpit, aft of the winches, on my 800 SW are going rusty and need to be replaced. The problem is that I cannot see any access to this area from either the stern locker or the space underneath the cockpit that extends from the cabin. Can anyone advise on the best way to change these cleats? I do not want to cut inspection hatches in the cockpit sides if I can avoid it. |
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Re: How to replace and readjust the centerboard line ? |
[from: Paul Erb, United States, 27 Feb 2005] |
During a haul-out, I found that the centerboard on my 1994 DF800 would not go down all the way. The knot was very old and tight, but careful work with marlinspike eventually made it free. It is well worth the trouble. We set the height of the centerboard while the boat was in slings at the haulout yard. The boat has no lee helm tendency now. When I made the new knot, I put an old shackle pin in it to provide some scope to free it later on. |
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How to replace and readjust the centerboard line ? |
[from: Hans Peter Broers, Netherlands, 26 Feb 2005] |
I own a 1991 SW800. I have the impression that my centerboard is not going all the way down and would like to replace and readjust the centerboard adjustment line (the knot is probably to old to adjust). How could this be done? After removing the cockpit table it does not seem very easy. Can anyone give me a clue? Best Regards, Hans Peter |
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Message for Roberto Ferretti re Rudder for DF800 |
[from: Stefan Eliasson, Sweden, 19 Oct 2004] |
Please contact me, I have some info about old and new rudder for your boat. stefan.eliasson@edu.kungsbacka.se |
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Problem with chain-plates for waterstays |
[from: MADRE, Germany, 19 Oct 2004] |
Die Püttigs der Wasserstage haben den Rumpf vorallem hinten eingedrückt. Die Eisernen Püttings zur Befestigung der Wasserstage drücken auf den Rumpf. Zuerst waren Haarrisse zu sehen, die sich aber rasch vergrößerten. Auf der einen Seite ist das Laminat an der Kante durchgedrückt. Ist es möglich, dass ich die Wasserstage nicht stark genug angezogen habe. Hatte jemans ähnliche Probleme? |
[The chain-plates have dented the hull, mainly aft. The chain-plats for the waterstays pressing on the hull. At the beginning there were only small cracks in the gelgoat, which enlarged rapidly. On one site is the laminate damaged by the edge. Is it a problem with the waterstays tension? Has anybody had similar problems?] |
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Check stopper knot for centre board |
[from: Paul Erb, United States, 12 Oct 2004] |
When you haul-out your DF 800 (maybe other types as well), be sure to lift her high enough to check the swing of the centerboard. We found that the stopper knot was set too tight on ours. As a result, the board would not go fully down. We had been struggling with some lee helm upwind and close reaching. Readjusting the knot so that the board now goes fully down has solved the problem. |
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Help needed with rudder for DF800 (1987) |
[from:Roberto Ferretti, Italy, 7 Oct 2004] |
HELP needed! We have been stolen the rudder of our DF800 (1987). Can anyone provide even a rough plan of it? A photograph with approx measures? Getting the rudder from Quorning and bringing it to Italy seems to be a hard and (very) expensive task… |
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Thanks for Help + other DF25 info |
[from: William, 13 Apr 2004] |
Thanks Al for the picture with the measurements. That is certainly shorter and wider than what I’ve got now and will give me something to go on if I attempt to build a new rudder. I should amend the previous message about Quorning. I have called them again now and actually got to speak to Mr. Quorning himself which was quite helpfull. So try calling instead of e-mailing. He says the molds for the DF 25 were sent to Canada to a company on license which went bankrupt after one year and he doesn’t know where the molds are now. Another DF 25 owner has lost his rudder on some rocks and is going to mount the 800 system which hangs off the back of the boat with some modification. This is certainly a painful and expensive way to solve the problem, but will be a last resort if everything else fails. On a side note I asked about putting in larger windows instead of the small circles on the front of the cabin. Was thinking of lateral loads from the mast foot, but he said this should go okay as everything is carried by the dagger board box. Would be interesting to hear if anyone has tried this yet. Just installed 4 lights in the boat and it is much better than original lighting. Removed the wooden “roof” and will just keep it off to have more white exposed and roomier feel. Put flourescent light above table for map reading and general use, mounted swivel halogen by the cubby hole over the stove to see what’s cookin, very dim orange colored light near the same place but forward facing with thought of night sailing while having light inside, but not ruining night vision, and then a nice bright double halogen in the “bedroom” or “coffin” up front simply running wires under the starboard bunk. Tried it out last night on a sleepover and it was great! One other comsmetic note is that we have removed the old green stripe around the boat. Like a huge sticky sticker that was old and cracked. It is A LOT of work, but the result was a much prettier boat. Used a heat gun very carefully and scraped it off, and then scrubbed with amonia to get off the residue. Only heat damaged a bit where I will put in new windows anyways. Don’t try to do this in a day. And just a little more ….. the boat was lying tied to a dock by my house, the wind changed and came straight from the side 12m/s with a good run and waves like a nightmare. I had 2 “orange balls” fenders out, but this wasn’t enough, so I set out three cylinders. Looked good, but I was worried that the if the back end ball rope got cut or worn off the boat would smash on the pier. Solution… truck tire intertube lying in the garden from sledding this winter. Put it over the line from the beam stright up to the dock and then centered the beam in the middle of the hole with the outer mast tensioning rope so it wouldn’t chance cutting it. Wonderful. The motion of the boat settled down, there was a huge contact surface of nice soft rubber and it didn’t even make black marks on the boat! What a wonderful thing to have stowed away in the boat on trips. A couple of tubes under the bed and a small pump. Takes much smaller place than conventional fenders, most likely free from a tire place, they are huge, you can play with them too, and greater surface area to spread the load on the hull. Why didn’t I think of that before? Happy Sailing! |
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Re: URGENT Help needed with rudder for DF25 |
[from: Al Wood, UK, 6 Apr 2004] |
Hi William, |
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URGENT Help needed with rudder for DF25 !!! |
[from: Willliam Wood, Germany, 6 Apr 2004] |
I really do like my 25, but this rudder is getting quite annoying now…. We extended the shaft as planned in the last post so that we have 50-60% penetration. The shop built up a significant amount of reinforcement around the whole blade (it is slightly negatively bouyant now due to the extra weight) and everything looks good. You could drive a tank over this thing now and it wouldn’t break. Was out a couple of weeks ago, 16 to 18 knots reaching, and now the shaft is bent 15 deg to the right! I’m dumbfounded and now must figure out how to bend the shaft back, and then cut down the length to reduce the moment. Unbelievable, that stainless shaft is not small…. Anyone out there care to send me some measurements of the height and length of your 25 rudder? Some pictures would be nice to see what they are actually supposed to look like…. the one we have now is from a form used for 18′ catamarans …. The rudder is far from balanced, the worst I have experienced on a sail boat, but I don’t know what else to do…. Anyone have a form, or better yet make replacement rudders? I sent a couple e-mails to Quorning awhile back asking about replacement rudders and never heard anything back. When I called, there was nobody I could talk too .. 🙁 Service? Maybe my wallet isn’t thick enough to be interesting. |
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Please tell me how to free a stuck centreboard |
[from: Peter Wood, United Kingdom, 1 Sep 2003] |
Does anyone have any suggestions for (a) freeing off a jammed centreboard on a Dragonfly 800, and (b) stopping it from getting jammed again? |
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Reply to: Problems with Rudder breakage |
[from: Darryl Brathwaite, Puerto Rico, 8 Aug 2003] |
The rudder blade on my DF25 was broken off while docked during a violent freak storm. I do not think the shaft is too short at 15% as it took extreme force against fixed objects to break it. The construction is the same as the rest of the hull. Foam filled fibreglass. If you still have the blade you can epoxy it back on. Do not try to make a rudder blade. Multihull foils require very precise engineering. I wasted good money trying to build one and after many re-cuts and re-builds, it still is not properly balanced. |
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DF25/DF800: Has anyone had problems with rudder breakage? |
[from: William Wood, Germany, 14 Jul 2003] |
Has anyone had problems with rudder breakage on their Dragonfly 25? Our rudder seems to be quite long, and the shaft only penetrates maybe 10-15% of the rudder. We plan to extend the shaft now and try to stuff it into the rudder again. What are the original rudders constructed of? How about a seperate section for 25’s? |
[As I’ve said before, maybe I find the time in the winter to do a 25’s section; Bo] |
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Wanted rudder or instruction on how to make one |
[from: Sepp Lerchenmüller, Austria, 14 Jul 2003] |
Ich suche für meinen DF800SW ein Ruderblatt. Wer hat eines zu verkaufen bzw wer hat Erfahrungen mit einem Eigenbau? |
[I’m looking for a new rudder for my DF800 SW. Anybody got one for sale or know how to make one?] |
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Possible solution to “Water coming in through the cabin hatch” |
[from: John Leadbetter, Denmark, 7 Apr 2003] |
After at number of experiments, I had a talk with Jens, and he explained how a new boat is treated – and I have tried the same on my boat. You will have to take off the hatch, and set the hatch up between two straight pieces of wood with tape on the sides. Now apply sealer (Sikaflex) in the corner (remember the tape, or the sealer will stick to the wood). It can be aligned nicely with at finger wetted with acetone. Leave to dry, and the water cannot get underneath the hatch. I had to file a groove where the hatch slides into the boat, and I glued a small slider to protect the sealer when the hatch is pushed forward. When the hatch is off, gluing the cloth side of Velcro on the hatch where it slides, enables the hatch to slide much better. (This is how the hatch is on the 920.) |
Please click on the photos to see them enlarged |
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Thanks for reply to removing the centre board |
[from: Bert Meeus, Belgium, 7 Nov 2002] |
Thank you Anders, for your quick reply! Actually , today my boat is on a trailer for the winter. I was just wondering if I could maintain the centre board without external help (new coatings…etc) by removing the center board from inside? ( boat remains on trailer) Kind regards, Bert |
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Removing the centre board |
[from: Anders Andermo, Sweden, 4 No 2002] |
Board has to be removed from the bottom. Just unscrew the hexbolt on the board, board is hooked to a bolt inside the drum. After the hexbolt is removed the board can easily be lifted of the drumbolt. |
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How to remove the centre board ? |
[from: Meeus Bert, Belgium, 3 Nov 2002] |
Is it possible to remove the dagger board of a Dragonfly 800 MK2 from inside after removing the table? Thank you for your reply in advance |
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Check rudder-head on DF800 SW |
[from: John Leadbetter, Denmark, 24 June 2002] |
Please click on the photos to see it larger! |
During the Sealand Round race, we broke our rudder-head. This happened doing 15-16 knots, pressing the boat hard, however I would recommend everybody to check their rudder-heads. Check the weldings for cracks – on the picture you can see, that the welding that did not break has a crack with rust (meaning that this did damage has been there for a while). I have purchased a new (reinforced) piece from Quorning at (what I find) a very reasonably price. My boat is 12 years old – I do not know from what year the reinforced pieces have been put on the boats. |
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Problem with water leaking in from cracks … |
[from: Anders Lindskog, Norway, 30 May 2002] |
I have a problem with water leaking in from cracks where the garage for de sliding part of the cabin hatch is fitted to the hull. Does anyone have a similar problem. I would like to discuss it with somebody before I repair it. If you have any informations or thoughts please contact me (via the User Forum, ed) |
[Please reply to the User Forum] |
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Cracking around the centre hull plates |
[from: Alan Skennerton, United Arab Emirates, 21 May 2002, skenndxb@emirates.net.ae] |
I have Dragonfly 800 No. 166, here in Dubai and have found some cracking around the centre hull plates where the dolphin strikers are fixed. It seems that these plates are sealed in a box section. Have you come across this problem before and is it OK to just cut an access hatch above the plates? My only criticism of the “Fly” is that too many things are boxed in and inaccessible!! |
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Antifouling: |
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Cleaning: |
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Floats/Amas: |
Re: How to remove water from the floats (amas) |
[from: Goeran Carlborg, 20 Mar 2005] |
Forget the small inspection hatch in the forward bulkhead. I drilled a 26 mm hole in the centerline close forward to the bulkhead and fitted a plasic drain screwplug. |
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Re: How to remove water from the floats (amas) |
[from: Paul Erb, United States, 7 Mar 2005] |
In reply to removal of water from DF 800 floats, I kindly received the following from Quorning. It covers the layout of the float bulkheads and also how to watertight the floats. Has anyone developed a clever way to pump out forward area? It is difficult access for a pump! Here is Quorning’s reply: Water from aft will always be located under the hatch in the storage compartment of the float as this is the deepest area. At the forward bulkhead of the storage compartment, the bulkhead goes all the way down and separates the forward and aft areas. To empty forward, you have to pump out via the small inspection hatch in the forward bulkhead. To make the floats watertight again, unscrew the Teflon rings on the ama deck and reseal the screw holes. In addition, reseal around the stainless fittings for the sidestays and ‘backstays’. Check from the inside that the sidestay fitting inside the float is tight and it would be best to check the ‘backstay’ fitting as well. However, this requires installation of an inspection hatch on the deck back aft which I would recommend for you to check if this fitting is 100% tight. |
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How to remove water from the floats (amas) ? |
[from: Paul Erb, United States, 27 Feb 2005] |
Can anyone offer advice on the internal layout of the amas on 1994 DF800? It is very difficult to access the bow and stern compartments through the inspection ports. How can water best be removed from these areas? or does the water somehow communicate with the lower/center compartment? |
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Hardtop Sprayhood: |
Hardtop sprayhood for DF800 |
[from: Olaf Tiedtke, Germany, 12 Dec 2003] |
Anbei ein paar Bilder von meinem Hardtop, dass ich letzten Winter gebaut habe. Es bleibt auch im Winterlager montiert, da der Hauptträger so ausgelegt ist, dass er auch als Mastauflage dient. Die Abmessungen entsprechen der Original-Sprayhood um die Optik zu erhalten. Material 4 mm Bootbausperrholz (Gabun) und Epoxy. Hauptträger Querschnitt 70 x 25 mm. Feste Scheibe aus 3 mm Macrolon. Vielleicht eine Anregung für andere in der Winterpause. |
Please click on the photos to see them enlarged |
[Enclosed a few pics of my new hardtop which I built last winter. It stays in place in winter storage as the main structure is designed to act as mast support (see photo). The measurements are the same as of the original sprayhood to keep up appearances. Material: 4mm marine plywood (Gabun) and epoxy. Main support: 70 x 25mm. Window: 3mm Macrolon.] |
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