I have searched the articles about the centerboard and they are very helpful.I was in deep waters i pulled on the cable to get the center board down when i launched the other day in long island sound. The wire usually stops at a certain point, but i gave it a good tug and for some reason i got 6 more inches out of the cable and actually heard the centerboard moving meaning that it was never down all the way to begin with. (This boat is new to me)I then ran into a sandbar and i saw the wire retracting, and upon retracting i pulled again and it pulled right off. So as promised by all of you, i now have a centerboard problem. Im going to look at it today and see if i can find out the problem and what actually broke if anything. I ll report my findings here and see what can be done. It does not appear that anything broke, i didnt here a snap or anything, it sounds like the wire just came off track... I hope so...