Centerboard Problems

[wsloan 908]

Hedllo: I have Bombay Clipper 26 forefunner to the Island Packet 26 and 27) with a center board, with the board up, which is usually the way I sail, she draws 28", I have a PERSISTNT leak somewhere around the board, I pulled the boat twice, ground down the area to bare glass and glassed over it, I am thinking abou sealing up the entire centerboard trunk from the outside sealing the board inside the trunk for ballast to eliminate the leak. Has anyone any thoughts on this, i.e. decrease in value of boat - affecting performance etc. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks, Bill, s/v "Denise M."

[Blue Stocking]

IMHO I wouldn't close the board up. Sailed on a friend's Clipper,and felt the difference with/wo the board was like night and day, on the wind.

[nautical62]

Find out from where and why it's leaking before you do anything else.

[Jim Cate]

What you describe will most definitely reduce the value of the boat, and may not cure your problem. A foolish repair IMO.

Cheers

Jim

[wsloan 908]

Hi All: After digging further into this I think you are all correct, haven't located the problem as yet, may be a couple different locations as water can travel a long way, boat back on the hard and the search continues, any other ideas are appeciated, If anyone knows someone with a 26 Bombay Clipper please have them contact me, Also, any ideas or suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks to all. Bill loan, s/v Denise M.

[ozskipper]

If its a swing keel it could be one of two things that used to happen to a boat of mine. Firstly the it could be a leak at the pivot bolt. (Remove and re-silicone).

Secondly, it could be water being forced back up the wire that hauls the board up. The solution is a bit more difficult depending on the design. We found that a float added to the wire tended to stop water spraying back up. But this fix will really be relevant to the design. We also added some rubber strips further up. The surface tention of the strips tended to stem the flow. Hope this helps

Cheers
Oz

[wsloan 908]

It is definitly in the cenbterboard trunk, I will knock out the pin then drop the centerboard (no easy task) then be able to inspect in interior of the trunk from the exterior, expect to find problems around the seam and possibly the pin, not much room to work but must drop the centerboard to see what's what. The beat goes on.