Posted by Mike Field on August 16, 2014 at 18:21:07 user mikefield.
In Reply to: Re: Amazon and Scarab's keels/hull bottoms posted by Chris Rosindale on August 16, 2014 at 10:40:31:
I've no first-hand knowledge of any of these dinghies, but your "handle/slot" system would imply a (vertical-lift) daggerboard rather than a centreboard, which I don't think any of them had. Amazon's case, from the two illustrations mentioned, is clearly too long to be for a daggerboard anyhow.
Although there are several designs of centreboard, typically that for a small vessel would be roughly triangular, point forward, and pivoted near the bottom of the case at that end. A lanyard fastened to the upper corner of the trailing edge would pass up through the case, over a sheave in the case's covering-piece, and be either made off to a cleat on the c/b case when not fully down, or perhaps held in the hand if racing.
Here are a couple of (not very good) views of Aileen Louisa's c/b case, she having her (steel) c/b rigged this way --
(In the first photo, forward is to the left; in the second, towards you.)
Instead of leading forward like this, the lanyard might instead be led over the sheave in the opposite direction and made fast to a cleat on the vertical after end of the case or elsewhere nearer the helmsman (which is possibly a bit better for single-handing -- although I never found AL's arrangement awkward, and at 15' she is a bigger vessel).
Much would depend on the position of the case vis-a-vis the thwarts of course, and going again by AR's drawings, I should think the lanyard would have been cleated off on the after-side of the case.