suggestion for curbing centerboard rise

[William]

I have just finished my first season with my O'day Ospray from the early 60s. the boat has been extensively reworked and refitted over the years. I don't think the sails are original and the centerboard is white plastic and looks homemade. It works fine except it tends to start to rise up on a long run or less commonly when tacking. In my research of the old manual it seemed there used to be locking devices of some kinds on the old O'Day Osprays and Daysailers but I don't see any sign of them. Any suggestions on how I can keep my centerboard down and still have it be able to go up if it hits an underwater obstruction?

[seandwyer]

Hey,

I don't know for certain that the Osprey and Daysailer both use the same mechanical method to keep the board in place, so take this with a grain of salt.

First - the only locking mechanism I'm aware of is the pawl used for keeping the board up all the way - not down. From what I know, if the board is rising, the first thing I would think about is just tightening the screws on the triangular casting that the handle goes through. This exerts the pressure you are looking for to keep the board in place. If this doesn't work my guess is that the centerboard gasket needs to be replaced because it isn't taking up enough space anymore. You can get one of those from D&R inexpensively and replacing it is pretty easy - just take those same screws I was talking about out, remove the gasket, replace and then reassemble. If your centerboard is not a stock board though, it may be that the gasket will never be able to take up enough of that space and provide the necessary friction to keep the boar where you want it.

Good luck.