Centerboard control cables

[Red Ron]

Hi just bought a 1973 DS 11 and need some help attaching the tangs to the keel. The old cable that was embedded in the keel broke. Where do I attach the tangs on top of the keel, there is a drawing in Your Personal Gallery under Red Ron to show the dimension I need, any help would be appreciated. Tnanks Ron

[Roger]

Your personal gallery does not have any photos in it. It may not have been loaded properly or has not yet been uploaded from the server. Either way, I'll need more information as to which line broke, the uphaul or downhaul. The uphaul is attached to a ss tang on top of the aft upper quadrant of the cb. The downhaul is embeded in the cb and has no tang. It attaches on the forward upper quadrant of the cb. Both positons are relative to the cb in the down positon.

If you e-mail me at roger02 att mts dott net (replacing the atts and dotts and removing spaces of course), I will e-mail you the picture of the exact attachment points and a rigging schematic.

I also have a book on DS II repair and maintenance if you are interested.

[talbot]

The CB that Roger describes fits the description for a '79 DSII that I used to own. However, on my present '73, the cables have no tangs, but are both stoppered into a puttied-in space (similar to the downhaul on the later models).

Because my old board is delaminating, I ordered a new one from D&R Marine. It came wtih two tangs and cables, not one. I was going to guesstimate placement of these on the upper aft quadrant, but if there's a diagram, I'd welcome the advice. (I already have the book. It's worth it.) I'm particularly interested in suggestsions for keeping the two cables (which have to cross above the board) from fouling each other.

Note that on '73 models, the downhaul is a cable that leads aft through a hole on top of the after part of the CB trunk in the cockpit. On later models, the downhaul is a rope that leads straight up through a hole on top of the very front of the trunk, inside the cuddy.

[Roger]

That confounded me for the longest time, until I removed my CD one day a few years ago and examined simple ingenius workmanship. Using the upright CB position for position discription, the aft top corner which is the uphaul was tabbed into the cb on the right side of the edge of the board, while the downhaul which was tabbed on the forward top corner of the board was on the opposite left side of the board, still on the top edge mind you. The lines cross each other but due to their originating anchor places are kept from rubbing each other by mere milimeters (if that) as they enter their respective holes in the top and forward portions of the cb trunk. If you look carefully at the two taut lines as they come into the cuddy, as viewed from directly above, you will note that the lines are separated by about 1/16".

My uphaul did have a metal tang, and it was twisted slightly so that the wire lay to the right of the middle of the board, whereas the downhaul line was imbedded into epoxy to the left of centerline. If the new lines are tanged, this could be easily engineered.

If a person decided to effect a repair without getting the OEM parts from D & R, a 3/8" hole into which the knotted line was inserted then epoxied would work, ensuring of course that the holes were on opposing sides of the centerline at opposite corners. I did this to my downhaul, and to add a measure of strength screwed in a small ss screw into the knot lengthwise into the board before filling it in with epoxy.

Thanks for the clarification of the differences on earlier and later models, Talbot. I think one of the reasons that these are amazing boats is that the builder was constantly improving little details as the years went on.

[talbot]

I have my old board out of the boat and cut free from the old embedded cables. I'm ready to drill a pivot hole in the new board blank.

I realize the old system required almost no clearance (just the width of the cable), whereas the new board will require space inside the trunk for the extererior tangs. In other words, I can't just put the old board on top of the new one as a template, and drill the pivot hole in the same spot. I've thought up a couple of estimattion appoaches, but before I mis-drill and ruin my new board, I thought I'd ask.

--Anyone gone through this operation?
--Got a way to coordinate pivot hole and tang placement so that the tangs don't jam against the inside of the trunk?
--Is there a downside to leaving a little extra clearance? (Such as, the board angling forward when underway.)

Finally, an endorsement for Roger's book. His explanation of how to extract the board with the boat on the trailer worked nicely. I was able to do the job in my side yard without careening.