Should your leeboard hit ground, unlike a centerboard, where your boat will come to a dead stop, the hull of the boat will do a spin around the leeboard when you ground it. Then it's a simple matter of pulling the leeboard up to be on your way. Leeboards are for preventing or lessening leeway, not to assist in steering the sailboat.

"A leeboard is a lifting foil used by a sailboat, much like a centerboard, but located on the leeward side of the boat. The leeward side is used so that the leeboard isn't lifted from the water when the boat heels, or leans under the force of the wind.

Disclaimer: Always wear life preservers, drink and party responsibly, sail at your own risk, and please pass the word that leeboard sailing is now a blast from the past that will soon be in the news as being the latest sailing craze.

Kayak conversions and this website contains a lot of information about leeboard sailing.

One Idea I have is to design the leeboard in such a way that the hydrodynamics of the foil force the board into contact with the hull at all times. The faster the boats speed, the harder the board is pushed against the hull. Unfortunately, the drag increases as well.

Do you think this phenominum of luffing up, is due to not having a leeboard on the lee side of the main hull, or to something more fundamental, like the position of the mast or seats? On the subject of the seats.

Disclaimer: Always wear life preservers, drink and party responsibly, sail at your own risk, and please pass the word that leeboard sailing is now a blast from the past that will soon be in the news as being the latest sailing craze.

"My question is how to calculate the area of a leeboard that should be in the water. I can't decide how large or small to make them. At the moment I use leeboards on my 17 foot long Folboat folding kayak and on my 14 foot long homemade cedar round bottom double ended rowing skiff.