Daggerboard

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A daggerboard is a retractable keel used by various sailing craft. While other types of centreboard may pivot to retract, a daggerboard slides in a casing. The shape of the daggerboard converts the forward motion into a windward lift, countering the leeward push of the sail.

Daggerboards are often longer and thinner than pivoting centerboards, thus providing a better lift to drag ratio. Daggerboards are usually found in small craft such as day sailers, where their size is easily handled by a single person. Unlike centreboards, daggerboards are not usually ballasted, but are locked in place by a clip.

If a daggerboard is located off center, then it is called a leeboard or a bilgeboard.

The Mirror Dinghy, for example, uses a plywood daggerboard.

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v • d • e Parts of a sailing ship Anchor  · Anchor windlass  · Beakhead  · Bilgeboard  · Boom brake  · Bow  · Capstan  · Centreboard  · Crow's nest  · Daggerboard  · Deck  · Figurehead  · Forecastle  · Gunwale  · Hull  · Jackline  · Keel  · Keel (Canting)  · Leeboard  · Mast  · Orlop deck  · Poop deck  · Quarter gallery  · Rudder  · Steering wheel  · Skeg  · Stern  · Tiller  · Top  · Winch