by Guest » Mon Aug 16, 1999 12:00 am
The correct term is combings. On a Spindrift, these board are mainly decorative. In fact, according to class rules, they can be completely removed on Rebel and Spindrift DS1's and you will still be class legal for racing. This is not true of the O'Day DS1's as the combings are considered structurally necessary in that design. That said, I still wouldn't remove them as I think the boat would look bad w/o them. Have you tried all the teak restoration products available? I bet your original combings can be salvaged, if not, I would replace them w/ teak. I have seen mahogoney used on the early plank seat DS1's from O'Day. These look good, but I'm not sure if they last as well as teak around the water.
Kevin Clark
DS 11791 (a Spindrift DS1)
Kevin Clark (clarkr-at-aud.alcatel.com)