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Old 07-05-2017, 08:40 AM
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Skywalker Skywalker is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
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I did this project a couple of years ago, and rebuilt the thing.

My board was constructed out of two separate pieces of steel. A 4 inch wide, three foot long piece of milled steel was at the top of the board. It had stainless end piece for the pivot pin. The milled steel had the attachment for the pennant. The remainder of the board was the second piece of milled steel. The whole thing was encased in glass.

After 50 years, it was not in danger of falling out in any way, but there was water intrusion and rust, so I decided to dive in.

My pin was a rather small diameter SS bolt that was bent! I fashioned a new pin out of a 5/8 inch SS bolt. New SS cable for the pennant. I re used the pivot pin attachment piece.

I skinned the board, removed the steel, and kept the skins. I had two new pieces fabricated, the 4 inch piece in stainless, the second in milled. I painted a couple of coats of barrier coat on each, glassed them back into the skins. I'm 55. I don't think I'll be doing this again!

I posted pictures of all of this on the T27 website.

For all the talk around about the complexities of center boards, 15 years of ownership has not been a problem. A couple of times I ran aground and got rocks jammed in there. That's it. While you can sail nicely without the board, there is a significant increase in control and balance with the board. It's worth fixing and enjoying.
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