Centerboard Lifting

[Rick Thompson]

Hi,

I am a new owner of an old Daysailer I. I cannot find a number on the transom, but some paperwork that came with it implies 1968 or so. It has SpinDrifter accross the Transom, but has O"Day sales. It has the lever activated Centerboard.

A couple of days ago we were on a Broad Reach moving very fast. I don't know what "hull speed" is, but we must have been close. We noticed the centerboard lever moving up and my wife had to work hard to keep it down.

I do not see any way that the latch on the forward end can be used to keep it up can be engaged to keep it down, and the screws are pretty tight, so it takes some effort to put it down.

Is there some way to secure the centerboard in the down position?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Rick

[swiftsail]

Actually on a broad reach you want your board some what up to reduce drag because you don't need much lift. There are some cases when you don't want the board to come up. Like reaching back and forth on the starting line.

One fix is to tighten up the screws on the plate that holds the centerboard handle against the gasket, but that will make it more difficult to raise and lower the board.

Another way is epoxy a small block of wood to the hull right below the end of the handle and screw an eye strap to it. Then put a loop of line on the eye strap that you can flip over the end of the centerboard handle when the board is down.

[kokko]

THe cb is held down by friction with the three screws as noted. Since yours seems to retract under way, check the gasket - it may be too worn or it may have hardened and is not providing enough friciton

[Bob Damon]

This may seem overly simple but check to make sure the screws on the cb plate are tight. They often come loose during travel and over time.

[Imgaryo1]

You did not mention the depth of water at the time your board lifted. Is it possible you were in very shallow water (less than 39") and the board was scraping the bottom? In that case, the board did exactly what it is supposed to.

I would not recommend creating any kind of system to lock your board down unless you know for an absolute fact that you will not hit bottom at any time.

[GreenLake]

Schockcord or bungee?

[Imgaryo1]

Shock chord would work. You just don't want anything that prevents the board from lifting when you hit bottom.