Where do I put my boards when coming/going through big surf.

On the deck is not a very safe answer.

Stephen

Put them in the dagger slots in the up position. Also a good idea to attach them to the boat.

On my Stealth the boards have short lanyards on the handle with snap hooks on the end. I simply clip these to the adjacent shroud. In this way the board is free to move up/down in the slot but still be attached to the boat by the shortest possible piece of line.

Well that is exactly the way I do it, even in big surf that requires me to power through at speed. But then again the boards are attached to my boat by a bungee. This bungee also pulls the board towards the sidestay so that is stays at the level I set it. I have a homebuild boat however and thus don't have that carpet stuff in my daggerboard wells. So I need this trick to prevent my boards from floating up on me during tacks. Yes you heard that rights, they float upwards through my daggerboards wells.

Another trick is to just make them flush with the keel line and make a mark on the board so you can place them that high before you come in.

Ohh by the way when I come in, my lee daggerboard is on the trampoline still attached by bungee to the sidestay (it always just lays there without any trouble), my luff boardis partly raised and I or my crew are holding it. As soon as my luff rudder comes up will lift the luff board fully up and lay it on the trampoline. By the time it is layed flat, we have beached.

Leaving the beach in any surf is the same procedure in reverse and I do it like that singlehanded as well. I sail from sandy beaches with only 2 or 3 sandbars. My rudders are uncleated before I enter the surf and the friction between rudderboard and its housing keeps the boards down. Now only a very very very small touch of ground it needed to unstick them and have them floating up. My rudder boards still look like new after 3 seasons of sailing, so this works very well. Additionally you have full control all the way to the surf till the water is less deep then about 2 feet by that time the danger is gone.

Wouter

Yep that is the way I do it to. I use a bungee and this way it jams the baord up sufficiently to keep it in its set position. By pulling the handle slightly backwards it unjams and is very easy to slide up and down. This method is also the least in the way of all setups. Works like a charm.

Wouter

I did this on my OLD boat the Nacra5.2

Until the day the tang on the sidestay parted trying to take the daggerboard as the mast fell. I had a daggerboard trunk repair after that.

Now with bungy cord, one can hope that the cord breaks first. Or you can do better inspections than I did.