building up performance DS III

[michael adkins]

Greetings all,

My name is Michael. I am currently in the process of purchasing a 1994 DS III found on this site. Thanks to Bill Shea and his daughter Pam for all their patience, help and assistance in making our new boat possible. A special thanks also goes out to Rick for his prompt response to all my questions, he has a fine looking DS II for sale also posted on this site.

Now the greetings and thanks have been covered I have a question for the group concerning building up performance DS III. After several hours of reading postings from this site I now know that the DS III is not class legal.

Disregarding class issues (no offense indented) if one was to modify a completely stock DSIII with the intention of rigging the fastest boat possible what would some of your suggested modifications and equipment out fittings consist of ?

Best regards,


Michael

[rnlivingston]

Here are some go fast items you may want to add to your boat:
tapered mast, race centerboard, race rudder, race sails, good vang, cunningham. There may be more, but important thing is to "tune" your boat for maximum speed in all wind conditions.

Good luck with your new boat.

Roger L.
DS 111538

[Roger]

add to that a traveler, tiller tamer (for managing single handed), gps ( for noting speed and course made good), heel and trim indicators, tactical compass, telltales and windex, hiking straps, spinnaker and turtle to name some others. Other than hiking straps, (I hook my foot under the traveler), I have added all these options and am amazed at the speed I can get out of my boat, even with a 64 pound motor hanging off the stern. I can easily exceed hull speed in light winds. I can't imagine how fast it would go if I left the motor on shore, and chucked out all unnecessary gear like anchors, water supply, repair kits, extra fenders, sleeping pad, gas tanks, docking lines etc. I could loose close to 200 pounds of ballast.

[michael adkins]

Greetings from the big sand box (Al Asad, Iraq)

Thanks guys you both have provided me a lot of good ideas to ponder. I had already planned on the traveler, boom vang and hiking straps. Without giving up your competitive racing advantage, a little more detail on these items would be appreciated, such as configurations, set up, equipment brand? The tapered mast, racing center board, and rudder seem very interesting to me. Where could I find information on these upgrades? Any suggested vendors?

Thanks for the suggestions and I look forward to further discussion on this project. Your input is respected and valued.

Wish you all fair breezes, blue skies and calm seas