Repairing centerboard 'ears'

Submitted by EricG on Fri, 08/06/2004 - 10:49
A friend has FS #202. Recently he discovered that the centerboard has a crack where the cable attaches to raise and lower the board. There is a pin through the board and a gap for the pulley and cable. One of the ears is cracked through with a 1/8" gap, and he felt loss of the board was possible if this went any further. He is now in a quandry as to how best repair. Any experience or suggestions? It seems this is a high load area and strength would be a premium. Thanks in advance! Eric FS 2552
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Comments

Hi Eric: I have FS 455 with no problem, but I had the same th

Submitted by n69262 on Tue, 08/10/2004 - 09:42.
Hi Eric: I have FS 455 with no problem, but I had the same thing happen to my previous Gordon Douglas boat, the Thistle. Slightly smaller (17 ft) and centerboard not quite as heavy (~50 lbs of lead in the bottom rather than 80 if memory serves). However, I broke both ears, and the repair my dad made (in 1957) held for 10 years until we jointly acquired FS 455. We took two thin (~16 or 14 gage) 316 stainless steel straps, about a foot long and ~1” wide (with of ears) and laid them along both sides of the top of the board (as the board is horizontal / raised position). The Thistle centerboard trunk had enough clearance, not sure about the Scot trunk, but I think it is similar. Bevel the outboard edges. We cut holes for the bolt and the rivets (on about 1 to 1 ½” centers) then used 3/16 inch diam solid copper rivets (countersink the holes [100 degree if you have an aircraft counter sink available] to give an almost flat head bucked head on each end of the rivets). We made two more slightly shorter straps down the front sides, the tops of which were secured under the rivet closest to the ears (Just to be sure. As I said, I broke both ears). Stainless is difficult to drill, so use a drill press, slow speed, high pressure, and lots of cutting oil (we just had an old hand drill at the time, but my dad made it work). Larry, FS 455 Larry