Centerboard Troubles

[OldandBusted]

I have a DS1 and I think the centerboard is not staying down. What do people know about this? How do you know if it is staying down? How do you remove the top to the centerboard trunk? Is it glued on? Is there a mechanism that keeps the centerboard down? Can the centerboard itself have problems? Waterlogging? Splitting?

[OldandBusted]

I should add that the boat is terribly slow and my current theory is that the problem is the centerboard not staying down.

[GreenLake]

On a DS1 you should have a CB lever that points up when the CB is up, down if it's down.

The only time that isn't the case, is if the square hole in the CB for the CB lever has worn round. You may pull the CB fill the hole with fiberglass/epoxy or with 3M high strength Marine filler and drill out a perfect square again, then line with stainless or copper.

If the CB is up, when you go upwind, the boat should drift sideways, and it should be difficult to steer (perhaps impossible in some conditions). Mere speed (going slow) could have other causes.

If the CB is banged up it would be less effective and increase drag. Some older CBs can get really beat up. Worth checking and fixing. Ditto for rudder.

For speed, are you sure you are setting the sails correctly?

[OldandBusted]

Thank you for your reply, I think the square hole must be round now. Is the best way to remove the centerboard from the bottom? Do you know how the centerboard trunk cap is connected? It seems like it might be glued on.

I am not sure that I am setting the sails correctly. Where do I find that information? I'm a converted power boater.

Andy

[GreenLake]

The CB gets dropped for repairs. Search the site for "careening" or "levitation" or "yard launch" for suggestions on how to get to the bottom of the boat. (or centerboard, but ignore the special issues for the DSII).

Not that hard to do.

For sail trim it's hard to beat a pair of eyes on the water. If at all possible get someone to sail with you (experienced with any type of sailboat for starters).

Upwind, your jib should be fairly flat - it's easy to sheet it so it's showing a nice "curve", but I've seen people trim it until it gets a crease in the bottom (foot) and then back off just a bit from there. If your trim was very different, experiment.

Put a pair of tell-tales (tape streamers) about 1' in from the luff, about 3' up. Stagger them vertically so you can see both. If you don't have a window, you may only see both of them on some courses (depending on direction of the sun, but better than nothing). Sailing upwind, both should stream - you stear away from the one that flicks up.

Put four telltales on the main, one at each batten (on the back or leech). You want most of them to stream back, with only the top flicking back on the leeward side occasionally. You may find that you are oversheeting your main (except perhaps close hauled).

Experiment with outhaul. See which settings make you faster. (If you lack someone to compare against, use technology in the form of whatever cheap handheld GPS gives you speed numbers).

That's all I can think of - go to your library and check out sailing books on your level - in most land-locked locations you may have to get them by interlibrary loan, I presume, but better than buying them blind off the internet.

Don't drop your CB until the end of your season, unless you are exceptionally quick doing repairs - would be a shame to miss any sailing days ...

Anyway, any of these should allow you to make sure you're not killing your speed b

[kokko]

The cb is accessed from below. I was able to removed mine while the boat was on the trailer, but you may have to jack up the stern. First thing is to remove the cb handle, which is attached by the plate at the side of the trunk. When you remove the handle you should be able to see the square hole it passes through in the cb. Since you report steering and speed problems, your hole may have rounded to the point where the board severely wobbles and tilts up with speed.

[OldandBusted]

Thank you guys very much. This is very helpful.

Andy

[OldandBusted]

So I removed the centerboard and it's hole isn't rounded out but the handle's shaft doesn't connect with it's socket and there is a lot of play in the centerboard. Is the neoprene gasket supposed to be on the outside? Is there supposed to be washers or the like on either side of he centerboard inside the trunk? What position is the handle supposed to be in when the centerboard is down? What about up? Does anyone have a photo of the components of the centerboard and the handle in the correct order and orientation? HELP!!!
Andy

[OldandBusted]

The sentence about washers was supposed to say " are there supposed to be washers or the like on either side of the centerboard inside the trunk"?

[GreenLake]

The easy things first. The handle is UP when the CB is UP. There should be a locking pawl to keep it in the UP position. You then pull the handle BACK and DOWN to LOWER the CB. When it is FLAT the CB is DOWN. (Effectively the handle is at 90° to the CB).

The neoprene washer goes on the outside of the trunk.

If you feel you have too much play, you could cut two disks from some plastic sheet and glue them on each face of the CB (or make that semi -circles so they don't go into the water when the CB is DOWN. That might help space things.

Some people have had a shop drill and tap the CB pin so they could screw a bolt into it from the reverse side. From the factory the CB is suspended only at one side of the trunk, with the system I'm talking about you get in effect of a continuous axle. That's the state my boat was in when I took over.



The picture shows the setup where I assume your boat only has a blank wall. If you were to decide to make that modification, leave the drilling of the pin to a metal working shop but make sure you add a bit of circular reinforcement to the side of the CB trunk before drilling it. Can't remember whether this was left as raw fiberglass or whether there's a metal bushing as well. Almost looks like it from the picture.

[OldandBusted]

Great idea with the bolt! What does the pawl do and where does it fit? I don't believe I have one.

[OldandBusted]

Does the friction from the neoprene washer do all of the work of keeping the centerboard down?

[GreenLake]

I believe so.

[OldandBusted]

What does the pawl do and where does it go? I don't appear to have one.

Andy

[GreenLake]

Keeps the CB locked in the up position (useful for launch, so it doesn't fall between rollers on the trailer...)