Raising our Center Board

[tgrass462]

Just completed the chore of painting the bottom of our 1999 H260. We were requested to raise the centerboard while it was on the sling to help facilitate the placement of the boat back on it's trailer.

After winching the pull up line as far as it would go - the center board, while raised a lot - was not fully retracted (see attached photo). Is this normal? Do I have a problem? We've raised and lowered the CB many times without incident in the past ... but it never occurred to me that when fully 'raised' it was truly not.

I do appreciate the opinions of the other 260 owners on this forum.

Tom Grass
Lake Carlyle, Illinois (St. Louis)

 

[BrianW]

Tom I don't have an H260, but I have it's older sister, an H26. Tom, it's not normal. I think you have a problem, but not sure of the size of the problem. Could you push the centerboard by hand to its fully raised position? Does the centerboard properly line up with the "trunk" (slot), or is it striking the side of the trunk? Is there anything visible in the trunk that would get in the way? Can you tell by the uphaul line position/length whether the line is in the fully "up" position? BrianW

 

[soling42]

Mine never goes fully up and I just went through the whole assy last season. It's a heavy dog with a very limited amount of leverage on the line at the head. A low stretch line on the uphaul may help but I'm not too worked up about it. Go sailing and have a good season.

I'm starting to get broasted down here and counting the days until we haul out to put it away for the broiling season around june 1st-Oct 1st. Have a good Summer and enjoy that nice new paint.

Mike

 

[BrianW]

Good info to know Mike! My main comments were if the centerboard would not physically go up into the trunk if manually pushed or when run onto a trailer. I'm right with you if the uphaul line simply won't pull it up all the way. BrianW

 

[soling42]

Hey Brian,
I was just under mine yesterday and thought about this issue while holding my breath and brooming a little slime off. Although it won't go fully into the trunk solely with the uphaul line on dry land, I think the trailing edge of mine was about even with the hull while it was in the water......so slightly higher than the pics tgrass posted above.

I have it in the shop all summer so I may replace the line with some higher dollar very low stretch line to see if I just used cheap limp line. I don't think it'll help much but we'll see.

Always wanted to sail Pensacola at the B.E.E.R. regatta or watch the Blue Angels practice but haven't gotten to loading the boat and going that far. Have a great season, sure glad they got that well plugged last Summer before it made a mess down here too.
Mike

 

[Bob 04 H260]

Tom, I have the original line on my center board and it hangs down like yours when on a sling, it tucks back in when it sits on the trailer.

How did you get the aft sling off when placing the boat on the trailer ? They had to lift the stern of mine up with a fork lift to get the strap out ! I would like to have a piece of bunk that is removable in the strap location to make it easier to lift the boat on and off the trailer.

Bob

 

[Deucer]

What do you guys think about when you replace the line, cut it a little short (so, after initial installation, the centerboard might not drop completely). Then, once the line stretches, the centerboard will drop completely and the line will pull the centerboard all the way up.

If you think about it, if you let the line run freely when you drop the centerboard, you'll hear a solid clunk. That's a lot of weight pulling on the line, then a lot of stress pulling the centerboard back up.

One of you guys might want to measure the old line when you remove it and compare it with what the factory measurement is. That way, you could determine the amount of stretch and factor it into the new line.

Don't know...but might solve this issue. OBTW, guess if you're somewhere where the water is clear enough (unlike the Mississippi Sound), you could dive below the boat with the centerboard up and see if your's goes all the way up in the water.

 

[soling42]

If I'm killin' time next weekend I'll ease the boat/CB up on a sand bar that's about 5' deep and re-tie the CB uphaul knot at the 2 to 1 purchase on the deck so it's slightly snug to the deck organizer. Any stretch should allow full extension but give me a little more room to haul it up.

That said, I'm still leaning toward not worrying about it too. I have to learn to accept that some stuff just droops with age.

Mike

 

[tgrass462]

Raising our Center Board - follow up

Everyone who responded to my e-mail regarding the inability of a H-260 centerboard to fully retract when on a sling - Thank You! In addition to asking this forum I called Hunter Marine - Customer Service. I received a prompt call back from Al Fooks. I asked him the question - and then e-mailed him the photos of Grasshopper III in the sling with the CB 'fully' retracted. His reply is copied below ...

Tom,
>
> By looking at your pictures it appears to be ok with the way the centerboard is hanging. When the boat is being loaded on the trailer in the water the centerboard will come across the centerboard bunk and push the centerboard up some as it goes further on the trailer.
>
> There is no adjustment centerboard line at the centerboard.
>
> As also mentioned with the boat being more than 10-years old you may want to consider replacing the centerboard line and you may have less play on a new line.
>
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Al Fooks

I'm taking from this:

a) While my line might have stretched a bit - it's essentially OK.
b) Next year I plan on replacing the CB retraction line.

Thanks again. Now if it would only get warm here in the mid west (possibly some snow in a couple of days according to a weather forecast - not a lot - but still snow) we'd launch our boat and start the season!

Tom Grass
Grasshopper III
Lake Carlyle, Illinois

 

[isaksp00]

I don't have a boat with a centerboard, but I would guess that (despite the weight on the end) being in the water may help reduce the load. How much of the board is foam or glass vs lead? If some is, there'd be some flotation effect that should make it ride higher than on the hard, and reduce the pull on the line. But that may all be "hot air" since I don't have one on which to base experience. When I had a Thistle a long time ago, which had about 75 lbs of lead on the end, the board did benefit from flotation in the water.

 

[Deucer]

You mean they don't make little blue pills for you sailboat?

 

[soling42]

The boat is fine, I need the little blue pills for my droopy CB. Sage advice.......lol