Remove centerboard

[Jack Vandelinde]

I damaged the centerboard when taking my 95Mac S out of the water.Can anybody tell me how to take the board out so I can repair it?Thanks Jack Vandelinde

 

[Curtiss Grant]

Center Board Repair

I had to repair my keel but fortunately, did not have to take it off the boat.I did have to hoist the boat off of the trailor and suspended it while I fixed it. I was lucky and found a hoist rate at $50 for an hour but many in my area was asking $4 per foot/ $100.I read where an individual actually removed his keel in his drive way without a hoist. He let the tongue of the trailor clear down on the drive way, put supporting bunks or barrels under the back of the boat, jacked up the tongue of the trailor, supported the front of the boat, and them removed the trailor. Seems risky to me but if you need the boat up for a long period of time, may be possible.Once you have the boat up - there are metal covers/plugs in the bottom of the hull. I did not have to take mine out, but it appears that those plugs uncover bolts which secure the keel mechanism. It did not appear to be a big job once one can get to the keel.Good luck and BE CAREFUL!!

 

[Mark]

My centerboard cracked along the front edge when the wire that pulls it up broke in heavy weather. To repair it, I jacked up the trailer, put blocks under the boat, removed the wheels, and dropped the trailer. I could then remove the board by undoing the two bolts under the plastic covers. This is not recommended for anyone who does not thoroughly understand the mechanics - would hate to hear of someone being crushed while working underneath the boat.

 

[JB]

Keep the trailer under it

My centerboard split where the lift cable enters -- I actually used parts of both responses. I lowered the trailer tongue to the ground and built a stand for the rear of the boat using 4X4s etc - placed this under the rear and then raised the tongue very high and built a stand for the front. This allowed the twelve to fourteen inches needed to slip the CB out from the rear. Yes the two plastic covers do allow access to the CB bolt in the water tank - but the B---ch is that you can't reach both sides of the bolt so help will be needed to hold one side whgile you work from the other-- and if you are a nice person, you'll work the bolt end under the galley. I left my trailer under my boat for two reasons (1) if the boat fell - I didn't want to be crushed (although you might lose an arm)(2) once the stands were in place, you couldn't get it out anyway. Best of luck and be carefulJB

 

[Mark]

removing bolts on mac 26s centerboard

The previous response from JB jogged my memory about a part I glossed over - on my Mac, the plastic covers allow access for a wrench to hold the nuts while you turn the bolt head with a screwdriver. Unfortunately, this takes a short wrench that I had to make a special trip to the hardware store for, and very nimble fingers (mine were barely up to the task), but it only takes one person. It sounds like JB's boat has a somewhat different configuration for the bolts.