Oh I agree, anything on a 30+ year old boat subject to fatigue loading is liable to break at some point.
But my point is, there is a line between being cautious and paranoid (everyone has to decide where it is). You have a boat that you, enjoy but you know there are problems with it and what they are so you compensate for that by sailing accordingly.
I have my 1981 Nacra 5.2, its my only boat and I have replaced darn near everything on her. As far as I know it only has two or three seasons of sailing on in and was stored the rest of the time, or the previous owner could have sailed the piss out of it (although it doesn't show it). So should I treat it like a 30 year old boat with 30 seasons under its belt or a 30 year old boat with 3 seasons? If I treat her like the former I am going to miss out on some great sailing! The only thing I know for sure is that I regularly check my boards and they are rock solid.
I'm not going to pull them up and lose performance just because they 'could' break. It is just about as likely that I am going to break a rudder or even the nose off of one of my hulls one day. If they break I will replace them or reconstruct them, same as with a new boat. They are expensive and/or a pain to make but that is part of owning a boat.
I guess what I am trying to say is that I would be more worried about keeping the regular maintenance up because preventing the a mast coming down on me is more important than preventing breaking a daggerboard by pulling it up on a reach. And I would sail the boat as intended (provided it is in good repair) until it breaks down. Then part it and buy a new one. :)
And if anyone knows of a source for cheap Weta boards, let me know.
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Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2 "Lucile"
1986 Nacra 5.7 "Belle"
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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