MacGregorSailors.com

Hello Group,

I surveyed a 1999 26x today and found a problem. The centerboard's catchment hole had been worn oval from the metal bolt that holds the centerboard in place. The bolt had chewed through the centerboard about 1/2" and the foam at the center of the centerboard was visible. Has anyone else had this problem? Is it fixable? If so, how? I did a search and could not find anything on this issue. Thanks for your help!!
Marc

I remember this being reported quite a bit back on the old board, but I haven't heard too many people complaining lately. I wonder if you have a real early model 99 cause I thought maybe MacGregor had beefed up that area of the CB in later models. On my 2000X, when I took the CB off last year, the hole still looked like new but the pin was pretty badly pitted (boat spent a couple years in the sea water).

I've heard that it is not too difficult to do this kind of fiberglass repair work and I think some folks have even put in an extra collar when re-glassing that part of the CB. I have a sailing dinghy which I need to do a similar type fiberglass repair job too... pretty easy stuff to work with, although takes some skill to make it look pretty. No problem for centerboards though since they don't need to look pretty underwater.

Try checking out this Mod. I hope the link works.


http://www.macgregorsailors.com/cgi-bin ... record=211

Paul

THis Board is getting to the point of maturity where every issue is almost already in the archives...amazing....>1500 posters

thanks for the link, Paul.

A bit off topic but, how does one access the archives? Will the search function search them as well? Is there a way to "browse" the archives?

Paul

Marc,
I bought a 26X in 99 and after its first season found this problem with the centreboard (it was a known centreboard production fault on some 99 models). The UK dealer swapped my centreboard under warranty with a board they had modded. The mod was a 3" square cut around the pin hole through the board. Then a hardwood core was glassed into the hole and gel coated. Finally a new hole was drilled for the pin. The modded boat has been fine since.

pclark wrote:A bit off topic but, how does one access the archives? Will the search function search them as well? Is there a way to "browse" the archives?

Paul

do you see the search icon at the top of this page?
click it...then write in the "search for" space your search topic.
sometimes you need to change the wording a bit to find exactly what you're lookling for.

I did something similar to my keel, used a 1/2" copper fitting to make a bushing and epoxied it in place. Seems to reduce the slop and I have had no problem after two seasons of use.
I hope the image shows(my first try)

Looks like you got the format right, but the image isnt on photobucket any more....

I put my center board back in today. After reading about the pivot hole wearing, I looked for something to extend its life. I found that a 1/2 inch copper water pipe fits nicely in the centerboard hole and around the pivot pin. Admittedly, it is not the best bushing in the world but as easy as it is to drop the board and replace it, I have a hundred year supply in my junk box.

Catigale wrote:Looks like you got the format right, but the image isnt on photobucket any more....

Well, the picture is indeed still there, just the name is not correct in his posting above. Here's the right pic, I think:



wtelliot, here's your error: ...and the correct code:

My error, I had two photos on photobucket depicting the bushing in my board and deleted the wrong one. Thanks guys.