I have been following Richard Greenways trials and tribulations to do with losing his X centreboard and getting another one made. I gather this has now been effectivley done, but it occurred to me, that it would be fairly easy and economical to make one up out of marine ply and then lay up with fibreglass mat over it? Maybe this was done, but on the other hand, maybe they made one up as per the original. I know the daggerboard on the M is hollow, is this the same with the X, and does it necesarily need to be hollow?
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Paul
[Ex 'Crackerjack' - 26M]
Hi Paul
The replacement board was indeed made using a marine ply core wrapped in GRP. However, "easy and economical" may be a bit optimistic, as the cost of this, professionally made, was around £1400.
The standard board is hollow, made from two GRP mouldings bonded together, so that it fills with water. The replacement had some lead added to ensure its weight in water was adequate - the wood being lighter than water of course!
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
Hi I would imagine that a centre board for a Max 26 X could be made out of solid hard wood -as many dinghy centre boards are- the same goes for the rudders. I would certainly try this before parting with large sums of money for a fabricated G.R.P one.
Whilst on the subject- many tips can be got from Macgregor forums in the U.S. Also, I read that when replacing the centreboard the board should be allowed to '- WAGGLE' as the HANGER should NOT take the SIDEWAYS forces on the hanger,- it is the BOX that does this- therefore any replacement board should be made to allow this, making sure the HOLE IS THE CORRECT SIZE.
David Phillips MAC 26X SANDPIPER.
Hardwood is a good idea, and taking that idea further, why not use a chunk of aluminium or even steel? It could be ground to form an aerofoil section, would be strong [possibly too strong I suppose, and if grounded, could damage the box] and give a reasonable amount of weight low down.
Paul
[Ex 'Crackerjack' - 26M]
Help ,
I contacted David Heritage Yachts who made a new centre board for Richard Greenway and he can also make a new board for me but he no longer has the dimensions . Does anyone have the dimensions , of at worst the length of the centre board from fulcrum to end?
I have my old one that can be used as a guide but the bottom end is lost, I think I lost about 5 inches but do not know for sure.
I talked to Richard and apparently the new board is working very well and he gets an extra 5degrees of sail into the wind..
I contacted the Tatoo 26 supplier but he could not get one. I can get an original from the US but I do not think it is as professional as the one David Heritage made for Richard. Blue water yachts do make a copy of the original but I cannot imagine a water filled keel can be as strong as a wood/ fibreglass construction with lead weight.
Richard told me his boat does not appear as tippy as before.
Would appreciate any drawing or dimensions
Regards
Robert
Hi Robert
Sorry for not coming back on this earlier.
Having thought about this I checked the specs of the 26X, and the length of the board can be deduced from the draft figures. The difference between min & max draft is 1.45m, so that is the length of the board below the hull.
When the board is retracted the edge is level with the bottom of the hull, so the distance the pivot is recessed from the hull bottom is the distance of the hole from the edge of the board.
Add those two together and that's the length of the board from the pivot hole.
Hopefully David H can make a new one based on your existing one if you can ship it to him. If you've only lost a small bit off the bottom it might be viable & more economic to just have the bottom re-built.
HTH
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
Many thanks Rick,
This is useful information.
I plan to lift the boat out this weekend and bring it back for the winter. I will get under and take some measurements
David H has confirmed that the centre board cannot be repaired, unfortunately ,apart from loosing maybe a foot off the bottom, it has a fracture along the middle where it comes out the box. It is also snapped off at the fulcrum.
It was one of those catch 22 situations on the day. If the weather had been calm I would have raised the board and just sat out for the next tide but the storm was forecast for the next tide and I would have risked loosing the boat. Leaving the board down did buy me the extra time to get pulled off but also broke the board Very happy David will make the new one, apart from the posts here, the managager at Mercury Yacht harbor considers him one of the best builders on the south coast as he does not cut any corners with construction.
Looking forward to trying the new board next year!