AMF Sunbird 16 Swing Keel Removal

[Simon Sexton]

Hey Everyone,

Good morning! Last night I was working on the AMF Sunbird I've been restoring. I've finished most of the fiberglass work, re-run and replaced most of the rigging, and serviced the sails and trailer. However, just when I thought I was done with this project, I discovered that the swing keel doesn't drop past three inches when I release the drop line. My only assumption is that the keel is swollen; thus, I will have to remove it and service it. In order to do so, though, it looks as if I'm going to have to cut a hole in the trunk (since there is no service port, despite what the manual says), remove the swinging mechanism, and pry the keel out of the slot. I also don't want to make any cuts I don't have to, so if anyone has some more advice, that would be fantastic!

God Bless,
S.S.

 

[LakeShark]

Noooooo.... Don't cut it!!!

Pull the boat over on its side on the lawn and lower the keel. If its jammed you can use a dowel to push it free from where the line leads into the cockpit. The keel will lower and reveal 2 screws on a small metal tang. Remove the screws and the tang and lift the keel toward the hull and back. It will "unhook" from the pivot point and come free. This is a common issue and removing the board is an easy thing to do.

Now for the bad news. Usually it's not the board that swells but the trunk itself which is a bear to fix so most just do what they can and carry a dowel to push the centerboard down if it jams. Mine stuck once just with lake weeds even though it was free in the trunk normally. There is a Yahoo group just for Sunbirds that has loads of pictures and advice. The archives are immense though it's not all that active currently. https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/amfsunbird/info I think Bruse still runs the group and has his own website if you want to contact him directly. https://claritysailingadventures.wordpress.com/2013/10/21/amf-sunbird-sailboat-manual/

Manual: http://www.rvharvey.com/sunbird-manual.pdf
see page 17 section V (page 15 in actual document pages)

 

[Simon Sexton]

Noooooo.... Don't cut it!!!

Pull the boat over on its side on the lawn and lower the keel. If its jammed you can use a dowel to push it free from where the line leads into the cockpit. The keel will lower and reveal 2 screws on a small metal tang. Remove the screws and the tang and lift the keel toward the hull and back. It will "unhook" from the pivot point and come free. This is a common issue and removing the board is an easy thing to do.

Now for the bad news. Usually it's not the board that swells but the trunk itself which is a bear to fix so most just do what they can and carry a dowel to push the centerboard down if it jams. Mine stuck once just with lake weeds even though it was free in the trunk normally. There is a Yahoo group just for Sunbirds that has loads of pictures and advice. The archives are immense though it's not all that active currently. https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/amfsunbird/info I think Bruse still runs the group and has his own website if you want to contact him directly. https://claritysailingadventures.wordpress.com/2013/10/21/amf-sunbird-sailboat-manual/

Manual: http://www.rvharvey.com/sunbird-manual.pdf
see page 17 section V (page 15 in actual document pages)

Thank you very much! I was pretty confused as to what to do; I'm not too experienced with swing keels, haha.

 

[LakeShark]

If you do wind up doing glass work to the CB check to see if the small brass tube is still in the tip at the leading edge. It was originally there from the factory to help pull the board back out if it went back in after a capsize. Without it they can be hard to pull out without a 2nd set of hands from the other side.