DaySailer.org Forum

^ +1 Talbot! Well put ... ;-P

Nice thread Guys. I'm new to Daysailers too and have have had centerboard issues and haven't even sailed her yet. My trouble was that the UH cable slipped off the side of the CB and jammed. When I got the CB out I could see that this has been a long problem and that the surface edges of the CB where the cable and the rope lie was all torn up. Also the fact the the cable and rope pass each other in conflict as the both want to exist in the same space needed some thought.

I rebuild the CB by first sanding it down with 80 grit and a DA sander. Then cut the edge back to fresh undamaged gelcoat. Used blue tape for a form and filled the space up with "Hysol" by locktight. Once hardened sanded smooth. Then I drilled out the epoxy that hold in the DH rope (the rope was shot). Then it occurred to me. Why not use two thinner ropes with the cable riding in the middle. And that's what I did yesterday with 1/4" rope and put it all together.

The ropes should keep the cable on track and if one of the ropes slips off then the other will work the board until it's fully deployed then both will be back in place. (Would have taken photos but I was in the moment.)

But what if I hit something? The bungee idea on the DH would work great! Now to figure out how to rig it. (I did notice an old crack in the face of the cuddy by the upper pulley on the DH system. Could have been caused by hitting something and yanking the ropes really hard.)

Nice idea. If you put a bungee around the mast step in the cuddy to keep tension on the UH when the board is deployed, there shouldn't be any more jamming problems, but the double line is an elegant backup.

FYI, the "standard" rebuild (standard meaning, what D&R Marine sells) is two steel cables (UH and DH) that are mounted slightly offset on the edge of the board so that they pass each other on the top forward corner of the CB. The old rope that came out of the top of the board isn't used, and the hole where it was installed is filled in with epoxy putty.

Let us know what you figure out for the DH shock absorber. Another approach is to anchor the end of the DH line to a breakaway Clam Cleat in the cockpit. But your elastic idea might be better. As a former skier who spent lots of time falling and twisting out of bindings, I know that any slop between the force and the binding make release unpredictable. And there is a lot of slop in the DH version you have (stretch in the line, friction in the purchase system) before the line ever gets to its cleat. Some DS owners actually retrofit their control lines to an older version where the DH cable comes directly into the cockpit out of the top of the CB trunk. That allows a shock cord (pictured earlier in this thread) or release cleat to be attached almost directly to the board.

Maiden Voyage --- centerboard okay. The two ropes worked but with not much wind there was no need to tie them off. Gravity worked just fine. Centerboard went down with a clunk. Now that I see it in action I think the down haul bungees are a great idea.

The DS II centerboard rigging was changed twice during the 1971 to 1985 production run (that I know of, Rudy Nickerson at D&R originally only knew of 2 versions until I found evidence of a third).
Original, 1971-sometime in 1974, 1974-october 1976, and October 1976 to 1985.
Some owners of boats with the original setup have had luck attaching a length of stainless-steel sail track to the forward (with CB up) edge of the CB (top if CB all the way down) this will tend to contain the cable and stop it from slipping off the edge and jamming between CB and trunk side. My boat is a later model with the 5/16" rope to pull CB down (actually, I replaced with 1/4" double-braid since that was what I had. Works fine).

Here are the rigging diagrams that I include in my expanded DS II Owners Manual.