2006 Hunter 146 Centerboard Repair

[Hunter146Owner]

I just bought a 2006 Hunter 146 that is in very good condition. To my dismay, the cleat holding the centerboard up was not as robust as I expected, and the centerboard came down sometime during an 80 mile trailering, mostly asphalt. The result is that it appears that someone took a belt sander or saw to it. Besides being shorter and blunt on the bottom, it appears to be in OK shape.

I am handy with epoxy fiberglass and foam, so if possible would like to repair it myself. Does anyone know (1) the materials it is made of; (2) the length and shape.

It appears to be a high-density foam more like injected polystyrene or urethane than styrofoam beads. The surface is clearly fiberglass and some sort of resin, with a nice smooth finish. According to the specs, the draft of the boat with centerboard up is 6" and down is 30," suggesting that it should extend 2.5' from the bottom of the boat.

Does anyone have any information that would help me restore the centerboard close to its original composition and shape? A new one is $775, more than half what I paid for it.

Thanks in advance,
Pete

 

[BobbyFunn]

Sorry about that. That would be devastating to see.

Its probably of foam core with a plastic shell covered in fiberglass and gelcoat. I dont know if you have thin lead sheet in the foam like some 170's do.

170 Centerboard Repair

If this happened to my 170 i would use this opportunity to put depleted uranium, oh, no i cant do that?...depleted uranium is not permitted in my HOA..Ok, lead sheathing from Home Depot as the replaced material, along with a fiberglass and replacement foam and gelcoat cover.

This will easily cost you $300-400 in consumables. If you have this on hand, then go for it.

$50 resin
$30 faring compound
$50 1708 glass
$100 gelcoat
$100 rollers, sandpaper, mixing containers, gloves, tape
$50 polishing supplies.
$50 2part urathane structural foam.

Do not even think of painting. Gelcoat only. Paint wears off too quickly when beached.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Picture please

 

[Hunter146Owner]

I will pull it this morning and post a pic
(Boy, do I appreciate getting some help on this)

 

[Hunter146Owner]

Here are some pics
My guess from the specs is that there should be about 2.5' of centerboard in the water, so I am shooting for the 30" mark on the tape. It appears that I had shaved off about 11" from one side and maybe 3" from the other.
The composition seems to be a very dense urethane foam, covered by a solid layer of mat fiberglass & resin, topped off with gel coat.
At the moment I am more concerned with getting it in the water than doing a picture-perfect repair, as my crew goes off to college in a few weeks. So for now I was planning to
- cut and shape a piece of cedar and epoxy it on the end; fine tune the shape
- feather back the edge of the glass/resin edge
- epoxy/fiberglass over the cedar on onto the feathered edge for strength
- put on a final coat of epoxy for a smooth (enough) finish.
I'm much better at judging cure rate of epoxy over polyester, so I tend to use it for everything from woodworking to surfboard repair to boat repair (another story).
Thoughts?

 

[BobbyFunn]

In a rush...id just put high density filler on the end, shape it, put glass over that, fair an gelcoat. See how it goes upwind, then come back later with the cedar filler.

Going to be tough to get a good grip on that cedar. Might want to dig out more foam and set the cedar end into the existing glass abount an inch or two.

You sound like this will be no problem for you. Lead Flashing...

 

[Jim26m]

Dismay may be the understatement of the year...

The manual gives an overview of the construction, pg 21, and the shape pg 26. If you're lucky, that drawing will be to scale and you can blow it up to make a pattern, for the shape. The foil will have to be copied from what you have left, unless someone has one to measure for you.

Sounds like you have some game for glassing. Looks manageable in the time frame - especially if you don't need a lot of sleep. Good luck, and post pics after you take the kids sailing! It doesn't need to be perfect, just strong and functional.

https://www.marlow-hunter.com/wp-content/export/Owners-Manuals/146 Owner's Manual 2008.pdf

 

[Hunter216]

This is screen capture of the outline from the SBO store listing

 

[Hunter146Owner]

Thanks everyone!
I like the idea of using filler instead of cedar; easy to pour, fast to set, easy to shape, and waterproof. A couple layers of glass over that and we're in the water.

 

[Hunter146Owner]

This is screen capture of the outline from the SBO store listingView attachment 167661

I'll see if the scale matches my estimates and adjust accordingly.

 

[BobbyFunn]

This is screen capture of the outline from the SBO store listingView attachment 167661

That picture could be for anything, so it might not be scale. Be awesome to get a real end to end number for the poster. If that is to scale, you might have lost about 1/3. To clarify my earlier post. Just fill the end with high density filler so you can seal the foam and lamination and put a radius on the end. If the boat cant sail upwind, then you need to fall back on your cedar idea back to a longer length.

 

[Jim26m]

 

[Hunter146Owner]

Since I've gone this far, may as well post the rest of the repair
*BTW, I re-read your thread BF and caught the nuance of seal vs repair with filler*
Being bold, attempted a rebuild with epoxy and filler, but it kicked to fast I ended up with a solid mess. It would make a nice, light, solid fill, with about 1/2 liter of epoxy and twice that of filler. Did not have enough of either, so moved on to wood for now. Used as big a piece as I could get out of 5/8x6 cedar.
Also found a CB for sail on eBay, so was able to get dimensions from that (*thanks for all the screenshots though, I'll double check with them!!*)
So far have the wood cut, shaped, and glued; I sanded back the gel coat/fiberglass for adhesion of glass. The fiberglass is a solid 1/8" thick in the middle, and the foam core is very high density. I will go back and sand the joint deeper, anddo a thicker wood/CB adhesion when the snow sets in.
I'll glass it up this afternoon.

 

[BobbyFunn]

Thats looking great! Youll be back out in no time.

 

[Hunter146Owner]

Thanks!

 

[KeukaSailer]

Nice job! I've got '04 146 had the same problem (almost) with my centerboard. Mine would bang down on the center support beam of my trailer (sharp! couple of cuts to show for it too). So I built center bunk on my trailer to support it....haven't had a problem since (sorry about the crappy pictures) Also seems to make launching, and retrieving easier too. Used Ground contact PT lumber Stainless bolts, and bunk carpet. Wonder when they went with foam core....mine is an '04 and is 100% wood....pine to be specific painted with a thick coat of some kind of white gloss finish . Was actually thinking of making a new one in either teak or Mahogany/ spar varnish or epoxy...pretty easy to do just use the old one as a template. Just a little time with the bandsaw and sander..also would install a better cleat to, support the heavier board.

 

[Hunter146Owner]

Nice job! I've got '04 146 had the same problem (almost) with my centerboard. Mine would bang down on the center support beam of my trailer (sharp! couple of cuts to show for it too). So I built center bunk on my trailer to support it....haven't had a problem since (sorry about the crappy pictures) Also seems to make launching, and retrieving easier too. Used Ground contact PT lumber Stainless bolts, and bunk carpet. Wonder when they went with foam core....mine is an '04 and is 100% wood....pine to be specific painted with a thick coat of some kind of white gloss finish . Was actually thinking of making a new one in either teak or Mahogany/ spar varnish or epoxy...pretty easy to do just use the old one as a template. Just a little time with the bandsaw and sander..also would install a better cleat to, support the heavier board.

Thanks! I had pics of the final product, but they disappeared when I took my phone swimming with me in the lake <:-( Looks about the same as the initial pic, minus green tape.
Great idea for the bunk board:
I re-vamped my trailer yesterday, re-centered everything to properly distribute the load, and among other things the centerboard cannot drop to the ground (grrr...) but a bunk board on the cross member to avoid contact with metal is a great idea.
And the clam cleat for the centerboard lift? WTF? small, simple, but ultimately not worth it IMO
This is the second boat I bought in which the front of the boat was supported by a flat bunk board sideways across the trailer, instead of depending on the long boards to support the boat. Result was significant damage to the hull in both cases. No breach of the hull, but I will repair anyways. Eventually.
Here she is on the first run out
oops, wrong one.............this one:

I like the idea of making a centerboard, but I'll be happy if I can just restore the one I have. The job right now is pretty hack.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Nice addition to the top of the mast, mast float poss. from Hobie?

 

[Hunter146Owner]

Says Hobie on it!
Came with the boat; it kinda detracts from the otherwise clean lines of a sailboat. And I have not flipped a boat for 30 or more years, so debating the disruption of the feng shui vs. the turtle insurance. Maybe paint a skull and crossbones on it...? *eye roll*

 

[Shorefun]

The Hobie stickers come off easy.