Bavaria 47 cruiser 2001 - rope clutch

[Pythzepf]

Hi,

I'm replacing the Rutgerson 75C triple+one rope clutch set on both starboard and port deck on my 2001 Bavaria 47 Cruiser. The clutches are worn, including the base plates.

I'm all new to Bavarias and my question is what do the clutch plate screws screw into? Are they simply screwed into the fiberglass laminate of the deck or is there something else there? There is no way to access the crews from below. The only way to do that would be to cut a hole in the cabin ceiling underneath the clutch.

I've read that some Bavarias (a 38ft I believe was mentioned in a post) have an aluminum plate molded into the deck that gives the needed reinforcement and hold for the screws. Is this the case for the 47 cruiser too?

I'm asking because I'm thinking of changing to bigger clutches with aluminum handles, however the mounting holes do not match. If I know that there is an aluminum plate below the surface of the deck, then I can drill and thread new holes. It'd be nice to know the size and location of the reinforcing plate. Does anyone have a picture perhaps? Thanks!

[Pythzepf]

Just checking in on this topic. I took a stud-finder (finds metallic objects below surfaces, a hint I got from another forum) to the deck of my 2001 Bavaria 47 cruiser and here are the results (in SI units):

With safe margins (where the stud finder was giving a maximum amplitude signal), the aluminum plate measures 15x30 cm, where 30 cm measures along the long axis of the boat and 15 cm along the short axis of the boat starting from the cabin hatch edge.

The attached images below explain where the plate is. The plate is below the red outline in the hazy-superimposed image.

[NYSail]

Try calling Bavaria as well. They may have a schematic