Fighting the centerboard while launching

[Mark Prouty]

My centerboard hangs down about 1.5" from being flush with the bottom of the boat. It hits the crossbar on the trailer when I try to launch. I removed the centerboard from the boat and all seems ok. There is a strong nylon line attached for pulling it up. Has anyone else experienced this problem. If so, how is it resolved?

I'm new to this game and the benefit of your experience is appreciated.

[Don T]

Hello:
The board is not supposed to hang down that low. If the line is free and the knot is not hanging up at the hole then maybe the pivot hole in the board is worn larger than it is supposed to be.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

You should be able to lift it all the way up flush with the line. Something is not right if you can't.

You also may not be backing in deep enough. You should go in until the trailer fenders are completely submerged. At this point, the rear of the boat will be floating and even if your board is down 1-1/2" it should clear the crossbar.

I guess I'm lucky. When my boat is full up in the bow pad of the trailer the centerboard still sticks back over the trailer cross member at least 2". There is no way it can fall dawn infront of the cross member. It seems like the late model boats sit further forward on the trailer and have the problem more often.

One of the boats at last years San Juan trip had the board fall down in front on the trip up from California. It was a real bear to get free, the boat was stuck to the trailer like a fish on a barbed hook. After repeated launch attemps the final solution was to remove the bow rubber to get more room, do a mac bump to slide the boat even further forward, and then the board was finally able to be lifted.

[Mark Prouty]

I just got done putting the centerboard back in. I did get it to pull up all the way but it was a two man job - one to pull directly up on the line going to the board and the other to cleat the line. I wonder if I need a different type of line. The nylon line might be able to stretch too much. There is an extreme right angle over a stainless steel curved piece at the deck where the center board line enters. A different line or some kind of wire might work better. Well, were going to the launch again. Fortunately, it is only a few blocks away. I swear I'll get the hang of this.

After just reading Duane's post, I think I'll mount something on that cross bar so that the the centerboard can't slip down in front of it. It could be a real problem if that line snaps on the road.

Coincidently, we were considering removing the bow rubber. Instead we were able to put a jack under the centerboard to get it to go back in place.

Thanks
Mark

[Norm]

Our problem was that I had forgot to tension the centerboard line before we left California. By time we got to the Deception Pass to launch, the centerboard had jiggled it's way down far enough to get jammed to the extent that we could not launch. Thats one downside to getting a full on forward "Mac bump". If the boat had been a couple inches further back, the board would have rested on the trailer bunk no problem.

Sincerely, Fish on a barbed hook:) Thanx for your help on that unusual launch Duanne, much appreciated! Norm.

[Sloop John B]

Yeah, the 2002 allows the board to 'slide' down past the bunk and drop. The centerboard line has to be wound around the winch and cleated for trailering. The blue line that replaced the cable is not flexible.

I'm lucky my board didn't drop on the highway at speed before recognizing this.

[Tom Root]

I agree, my 2002 has had the dropped Centerboard problem also. I was at a ramp with many other X boat owners, and they have not experienced this. It was just after a MacBump proceedure in my case. I am going to put some of that composite wood (2" X 6") across the beam rails. Just forward of the bunk on the trailing edge to catch it in the event that it may happen again! For temp use I have a rope that I rig when trailering!

[Steve K]

I've seen two things that cause this.
1. The rope is actually tied through the wrong hole. The drain hole, just aft of where the rope is tied in the picture (link below), is where my centerboard rope was tied, when I first got my boat. This hole doesn't line up with the compression post, so it's impossible to pull the board full up.

2. The dealer or last owner looped the rope throught the single centerboard rope hole and used a large knot to tie it off. (like a bowline).
If the loop was made too large, the knot itself is jamming against the top of the trunk (or bottom of the compression post, as the case may be) before the board is pulled up fully. Also, if there is a bail, or shackle on the board, that the rope is tied to, this could cause the same problem.

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/stevek47u ... oard8a.jpg

The smallest possible knot in the centerboard rope, to secure it to the board works best and never jams in the trunk either. You'll notice in the picture, I've drilled a second hole just below the first. This way the rope threads through the board and can be secured with a simple stopper knot. Thread the rope through as I have with the stopper knot in the recess and you'll never have a problem again. It's been 3 years since I replaced the rope too, so I guess it doesn't mind the pivoting, at the hole. I did smooth the edges of the holes with a cone made of sandpaper, before installing the new rope.
You'll notice also there is no shackle, or anything to stop the board from going up completely.

The factory centerboard rope has a kevlar core and has almost NO stretch. If your rope is nylon it will be really stretchy. I would suggest getting the factory rope (it wasn't expensive) or using something like Staset X, a low stretch rope from New England Ropes.
Hope this helps.
SK

[Steve Smith]

I can confirm the 2002 X and trailer combination can hang the centerboard forward of the aft bunk.

I regard it as one my few great successful foresights in boating (Im a beginner) that I threw a 3/8 line between the trailer beams "in case I ever forgot to secure the CB line"

Trailered home one day and when I got home and looked underneath the CB was resting on the rope...

..To the poster who wanted to put a 2x4 between the beams, I worried about the hull clearing this when launching..the aft beam of course is deeper in the water..to me the rope (which you can droop well below the trailer beams) is a simpler solution!

sps

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I wouldn't bridge between the beams, you only need something that sticks out 3-4" in front of the middle one to support the rear end of the board if the lifting line is not tight. You could even have a small plate welded on and then put a carpeted block on just like the bunks. A 2x4 width along the front is all you need.

[Tom Root]

Duanne,
That's probably what I will do, I know one owner already who has replaced his board at the tune of $230 dollars, so I will probably fab that up!

Also, I am toying with the idea of putting copper tubing on all leading edges of the foils. I purchased 20' of thinwall copper tubing, 1/4" I.D.(18 bucks) and chopped off a few pieces about a foot long each. I smashed them with a rubber mallet in half,(molded first) and cut one side with a dremel diamond blade metal saw. I would like to find a better blade, but I think with patience it may cut it! The stuff is easily bendable, even without heat, or a tubing bender. I was able to do the bend on the rudder with my hands for the leading edge, and bottom pretty easy. It seems to cover the edge area, but I may go larger diameter possibly also. I spread it open with a nail punch.

I am just tinkering with this idea, I know it seems like alot of work, but I want to make the foils more durable. I have destroyed rudders on other boats, not X's, so that is my main motivation to protect them! But others have mentioned on here and the Sailnet LIST, that they have hit flotsam with disastorous results also!

Any reccomendations are appreciated, cutting the copper (along it's length! ) is my main problem currently! Then comes adhearing it and fairing it properly! I am thinking, 3M-5200, and then fair it with gel.

[Frank C]

I wouldn't bridge between the beams, you only need something that sticks out 3-4" in front of the middle one to support the rear end of the board if the lifting line is not tight. You could even have a small plate welded on and then put a carpeted block on just like the bunks. A 2x4 width along the front is all you need.

I have not experienced this problem, but maybe I've just been lucky. ONe owner several years ago reported a rather elegant solution that I've kept in mind ... he replaced the center bunk with pressure-treated 2x10 material, recovered with marine-quality bunk carpet. The wider bunk extends forward enough to trap the board up.

[Chip Hindes]

I've had the same problem twice, and I believe at least in my case it's been caused by coming in on a steep ramp with the board partially down. As you pull onto the trailer with the boat still floating well above the bunk, the board slides over the bunk and drops down.

The last time it happened, I discovered it immediately (and noisily) as I pulled up the ramp. I attempted to relaunch to correct it, but was unable to do so. I believe if I had backed further into the water it would have worked. I was by myself, and as the temp was around 25 degrees and the water temp just above freezing, I wimped out in wading into the water to climb aboard. I finally tied it up with a piece of line, then when I got home dropped the board to get it back above the bunk where it belonged.

If you put an extra wide board on the bunk, will you be able to drop the board while on the trailer? I was thinking maybe a piece of angle bracket projecting forward a few inches and screwed to the wooden portion of the bunk or clamped to the existing steel bunk in some fashion. Then you could just remove it if you wanted to drop the board.

[Billy]

If you're worried about the cb falling, why not tightly string a long bungee cord across the trailer frame instead of a rope. This would then give under the weight of the boat yet be strong enough to support the cb. This would also allow ease of cb removal and you could still do the Mac bump with no damage to the boat. Just a thought. (I love those bungees.)

[Jack O'Brien]

Few things are better than a really simple, excellent solution to a problem for which others are reinventing the wheel.

Y'all should realize Billy got an "A+" grade in Bungee Cord 101 when he attended The Appalachian School of Engineering. Oh, and don't laugh at what he uses for suspenders to hold up his pants either.