Centerboard cable

[mikefarren]

Help..I just bought my 2nd Mac 1st 25 Venture the new one is 91 26s? Well besides having some issues
I took it out last sunday and could not get it off the trailor. My centerboard cable was broken. Ok searching under the sink for some type of hole or tube? Can't find? Other question how do you raise the boat up to change it.
1.Were is the hole for the cable to attach to centerboard?
2.what size cable should be used?
3.How to raise the boat to change?

[sonofasailor35]

Hi,
I have a 1994 26S. Same thing happened to me 1st year I had it, 14 years ago. This was not an easy repair, but it can be done. Look under the sink, and at the port-side, stern-side corner is a tube where the cable goes - the cable is attached to a rope which goes under the counter and comes out on the starboard side of the sink, then gets tied off at a cleat just below that. The hole where the cable attaches is on the trailing edge of the centerboard. When the centerboard is down and vertical, it is on the "sternward" edge, a few inches below the hull bottom. So, it is not accessible unless the centerboard is down. You can jack the boat up off the trailer and put it on stands, as keelboat sailors do at the marina (probably easiest to use their travel lift to put it on stands). Or, if you don't want go through all of that, you can go diving with a mask, which is what I did. If you are going to use cable to replace it, I believe it is the same size as the backstay, which is a bit smaller than the shrouds ("side-stays"). I used plain old rope, same as is used to rig the sails (3/8"), and it has lasted for 14 years. The key is to use a bowline with just the right sized loop in it. You pass the free end of the rope through the loop and use it as a slip knot. The tricky part is getting the loop just big enough so that the bowline knot can be "hidden" inside the hole where the cable was attached. If you don't hide the knot, it may chafe between the centerboard and the trunk sides. Hope this helps.

[vizwhiz]

You will find that the cable comes up where he said, in the corner of the galley under the sink, but it is inside a piece of tubing or hose that stands straight up so you won't see it down at the hull level. You might want to check that hose while you're at it too to be sure it doesn't leak at the bottom of it where the hose attaches.

[Doug91mac26s]

I replaced my cable with 1/4" low stretch yacht braid. Ran the rope through the same hole on the edge of the centerboard the cable had gone through, and tied a stopper knot in the end, in place of the nut & bolt that was originally there.

Here's where the rope comes through the tube under the galley sink.