Centerboard Sticks, Need Width Measurment

[Retired & got a sailb]

My centerboard takes considerable effort to move, except when almost completely retracted, then it moves freely for about one inch. I pulled the centerboard out and found on the port side toward the bow, if it was in the retracted position, that from about one inch ahead of the pivot at the top all the way around to the bottom (almost 180 degrees) that the gelcoat coat on the centerboard was worn away completely for an arc about three inches wide on the outer edge. With a flashlight, I could see a one eighth inch mound in the trunk on the port side about 13 inches up into the trunk about an inch ahead of the pivot point. It appears mound was part of the original mold and is intentional. I am wondering what the width of the centerboard should be where it rubs against the mound found in the trunk. Does anyone know? If I make the centerboard nine tenths of an inch wide along the edge where the 3 inch wide arc is, that would give me enough clearance for the centerboard to move freely. To further complicate my problem, on the starboard side of the centerboard opposite the 3-inch wide arc, I found that the resin on the outer curved edge breaking up. I took a hand grinder (Mototool) and knife and started cutting away cracked resin. There was very little fiberglass in the material and the resin popped off in square inch sections about an eight of an inch thick. After removing this and other cracked resin, with the centerboard in the retracted orientation, I had to remove three eights of an inch thickness plus or minus a bit for undulations in a strip about five inches wide from the pivot hole forward. This is in the area on the centerboard opposite the 3-inch wide arch I mentioned above. Have others experienced build quality problems on the DS II centerboard? I could also hear water sloshing around inside the centerboard and water is seeping out at the pivot hole. I drilled a hole on the wide edge of the centerboard opposite the pivot hole to remove the water. I purchased Don Casey’s Sailboat Hull & Deck Repair book and have replaced most the fiberglass that I had to remove. I probably should have used epoxy instead of resin, but it was cheaper and I thought the repair would be stronger than the original since I used fiberglass layers where the original had very little. To summarize, what is the width of the centerboard ahead of the pivot hole where it rubs against the mound in the trunk, have others seen really poor build quality in the centerboard, and my last question is how long should the cable be that is used to retract the centerboard?

[talbot]

I'll give it a shot. As far as I know, there are no blobs intentionally molded into the CB or trunk. I've owned DSII's of different ages, with three boards between them. It sounds like you have an old style board that has delaminated.

This may not be helpful, but I felt that there was no way to repair my board to achieve permanent hassle-free operation. I purchased a board replacement kit from D&R Marine. The board was thinner and denser than the old board. It had no blobs, and it came with new cables that I threaded through the holes in the trunk and cut to length. I also replaced the pivot bolt and gasket. The total cost was about $600 (the boat only cost $900), but the bilge has been dust-dry, even sitting on the lake all summer. The board always raises and lowers smoothly. I rankled at the cost the when I made the repair, but considering how important the CB is on a dinghy, over the years I've decided it was worth it.

[Retired & got a sailb]

My CB has a weight of 10 pounds 36 inches from the pivot while balancing the CB at the pivot (the CB weighs 20 pounds total). There is ten inches from the pivot to the tab with the cable to lift the CB. With a 2 to 1 arrangement with the single pulley I calculate it should take about 18 pounds pull to lift the center board while out of the water. While in the water, the CB is given given some lift by the water it displaces so the effort would be about 11 pounds. By the way, I added about 12 layers of alternating mat and woven fiberglass to bring the CB out to three quarters of an inch width. It was more work than I thought it would be as only about two layers can be done at a time because of the heat generation from the resin curing. Tomorrow I put the CB in.