Greetings, I'm looking at a '79 Irwin Citation. The owner says fixed keel, the survey they supplied says "fixed, centerboard". The seller (owner for only two years)says they never noticed if it had a centerboard, and are a tad embarrassed. I found the brochure which says the draft of the fixed is 5'4" and the centerboard models are 4'. Owner says draft is 4'. Sooo. I believe it is a centerboard. I did see another boat online where the owner removed centerboard, added weight and glassed over it. My questions for the group: 1) Where topsides is the mechanism for lowering the centerboard so I can point it out to the owner (maybe he is right about not having a CB and is wrong on the draft). 2) I'm inclined to pass if it is a CB or if the CB has been removed. I'd be sailing on Lake Ontario and if the designer hung a big plank off of the bottom of the boat he probably had a good reason for it. Your thoughts? John PS I am shopping long distance. I will have an out of the water survey done before purchase to resolve all mysteries but it would be great to spot this ahead of time.
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I would not worry about the centerboard design
on an Irwin 34'. Apparently not all of them have the centerboard feature. This one seems to not have the c/b: http://www.everyboat.com/boat/982-1984-irwin-citation In fact Tartan (a highly regarded boat) had designs with a c/b on boats up to 34' that are sailed on the Great Lakes. There can be many benefits of having a c/b design hull. Check this link and scroll down to a review of the Irwin Citation '34 to read his comments on the centerboard and the hull 'oil canning': http://pages.sssnet.com/go2erie/wind.htm I would worry a lot more about the flexing hull or 'oil canning' than having a c/b. I also would not want to buy a boat that was originally c/b where the PO had removed this equipment. My 1967 Tartan 27' has a c/b and the hull is built quite thick so I had never heard of 'oil canning' before. Good Luck.
on an Irwin 34'. Apparently not all of them have the centerboard feature. This one seems to not have the c/b: http://www.everyboat.com/boat/982-1984-irwin-citation In fact Tartan (a highly regarded boat) had designs with a c/b on boats up to 34' that are sailed on the Great Lakes. There can be many benefits of having a c/b design hull. Check this link and scroll down to a review of the Irwin Citation '34 to read his comments on the centerboard and the hull 'oil canning': http://pages.sssnet.com/go2erie/wind.htm I would worry a lot more about the flexing hull or 'oil canning' than having a c/b. I also would not want to buy a boat that was originally c/b where the PO had removed this equipment. My 1967 Tartan 27' has a c/b and the hull is built quite thick so I had never heard of 'oil canning' before. Good Luck.
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