I have a Macgregor 22', it's my first boat so I don't know if this is normal or not but when my centerboard is down it makes a 'humming' that sounds like it is vibrating in the water. Can it be loose or broken? The boat is on a trailer and I can't let the centerboard down to check it without finding some jackstands. Thanks
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humming
It is not uncommon for a centerboard to hum at higher speeds, especially if the board is not completly fair. I think that the shape of the trailing edge can also affect it - but I forget what the best shape is! A taut cable can also do it as noted by tom, if you can put a small amount of slack in the cable it may go away.
It is not uncommon for a centerboard to hum at higher speeds, especially if the board is not completly fair. I think that the shape of the trailing edge can also affect it - but I forget what the best shape is! A taut cable can also do it as noted by tom, if you can put a small amount of slack in the cable it may go away.
Enjoy it
I just sold my V22 and am sailing a 26S now. One of the things that I miss about the 22 is the cable hum. I would intentionally leave it a little taught so that I could get a sense of how "fast" we were going by the tone of the hum. I've even heard other sailors say that they thought the hum attracted dolphins. I doubt that you have anything to worry about and if you'll just make sure that you have a slack winch cable and the hum goes away, then youv'e found your vibration. Anytime you want it back, just tighten the cable up and you'll find that pleasant hum rising and falling with the speed of the boat. I would really doubt it is the swing keel (that's what you should have on a 22) since it weighs about 600 lbs and 6-7 mph through the water would really be unusual to set up a vibration on it.
I just sold my V22 and am sailing a 26S now. One of the things that I miss about the 22 is the cable hum. I would intentionally leave it a little taught so that I could get a sense of how "fast" we were going by the tone of the hum. I've even heard other sailors say that they thought the hum attracted dolphins. I doubt that you have anything to worry about and if you'll just make sure that you have a slack winch cable and the hum goes away, then youv'e found your vibration. Anytime you want it back, just tighten the cable up and you'll find that pleasant hum rising and falling with the speed of the boat. I would really doubt it is the swing keel (that's what you should have on a 22) since it weighs about 600 lbs and 6-7 mph through the water would really be unusual to set up a vibration on it.
Different strokes...
for different folks as they say. The noise a swing keel makes is one of the reasons I could never own one (sorry!). What you are hearing is the nature of the beast, it's the cable that hauls it up and drops it down.
for different folks as they say. The noise a swing keel makes is one of the reasons I could never own one (sorry!). What you are hearing is the nature of the beast, it's the cable that hauls it up and drops it down.
keel hum
Likewise, I just let out more cable when its down so the curvature of cable doesn't hum.
Likewise, I just let out more cable when its down so the curvature of cable doesn't hum.
Larry's right on
Frank, when I had a boat with a steel swing keel I just loved to hear that hummmm, since it was the equivalent of a knot meter.....the boat was telling me that everything was tuned and we were hiting maximum speed. Kevin
Frank, when I had a boat with a steel swing keel I just loved to hear that hummmm, since it was the equivalent of a knot meter.....the boat was telling me that everything was tuned and we were hiting maximum speed. Kevin
Thanks!
Very reassuring to know that it is normal. The first few times I sailed I stayed within the break waters and it didn't make any noise but we didn't go very fast. Yesterday was the first time we went directly out into the lake and the first time it hummed my wife and I just looked at each other and checked to see if we were close enough to swim back to shore when the boat sank!. THANKS FOR THE REPLIES!
Very reassuring to know that it is normal. The first few times I sailed I stayed within the break waters and it didn't make any noise but we didn't go very fast. Yesterday was the first time we went directly out into the lake and the first time it hummed my wife and I just looked at each other and checked to see if we were close enough to swim back to shore when the boat sank!. THANKS FOR THE REPLIES!
Happy Boat
When our kids were little,we started our sailing with a Chrysler Buccaneer 18' daysailer. The kids were somewhat apprehensive about the whole 'boating thing', my wife used to tell them that when the centerboard hums the boat was happy. When the swing up rudder started to hum, the boat was laughing. Sounds kind of childish when you think about it, but it's a normal occurance to the boat, and the logic worked with the kids. Thirty years later, we still sail together whenever we can.
When our kids were little,we started our sailing with a Chrysler Buccaneer 18' daysailer. The kids were somewhat apprehensive about the whole 'boating thing', my wife used to tell them that when the centerboard hums the boat was happy. When the swing up rudder started to hum, the boat was laughing. Sounds kind of childish when you think about it, but it's a normal occurance to the boat, and the logic worked with the kids. Thirty years later, we still sail together whenever we can.
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