: airfoil shaped. Problem is I know very little about the physics of
: sailboat design, how do dagger boards (or keels) help in countering
: heeling? Is it a function of lateral area and leverage, generating
: opposing lift or is it simply a ballast effect, and if it is how do you
: -Chad

Chad, a daggerboard, centreboard,leeboard or whatever does not in fact serve to counteract heeling. You counteract heeling by shifting your body weight and controlling the sail. The purpose of the centreboard is to resist sideslipping, and thereby convert the force of the wind on the sail into forward movement, rather than sideways movement. Large boats with displacement hulls have heavy keels that do resist heeling, but dinghies, sailing canoes, etc. use crew weight for this purpose.

Cheers,
Roger