Plank Attachment n Older Style DNs

[DonTyerman1]

Hi all

I have an older DN that is in excellent condition.  Last year I rebuilt the cockpit floor and put blocking in to allow for in-cockpit mounting of the plank.  I have the appropriate hardware but am a little uncertain about whether I should mount inside the cockpit or not.

My concern is that the cockpit is considerably narrower than in the wedge-style boats.  If my memory serves me the distance betwen the mounting studs would be around 13 inches.  Is this wide enough?  With the external mounting plates I gain about 2 inches.

Has anyone gone with the inside-cockpit mounting plates on a pintail-style hull?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Don Tyerman

[wnethercote]

I built a minimum width Becker style boat (towards wedge-shaped, but with max width near the plank) in 1994 and raced it every year before I sold it this autumn. It had 'modern' plank mounts, but spaced at 14 inches, rather than the usual 16, so they would fit in the narrow hull.  Would 13 inches be a bridge too far?  Probably not.  If not, you would very quickly see loosening of attachment plate screws, or distortion of the attachment plates.  I did replace my attachment plates after 14 or 15 years because of distortion, but perhaps that is to be expected. 

[DonTyerman1]

Thanks for your information - now I have the courage to get the drill out!

Don