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Re: DSII CB Downhaul repair

PostPosted: Thu Jun 11, 2020 11:06 pm
by Nephroid
Hey everyone, sorry I didn't mean to leave this thread hanging but a lot's happened since I started this project including a career change which has kept me busy. Have meant to finish this for a while.

Long story short, the channel seems to have fixed my CB jamming problem. After putting everything back where it belonged, I was able to consistently raise and lower the CB over a dozen times with no issues whatsoever. Here in this photo you can see the CB back in the trunk w/ the downhaul line sitting comfortably in it's groove. A huge improvement from before.

CB 1.jpg
Centerboard re-installed with the downhaul neatly tucked in it's new groove
CB 1.jpg (13.7 KiB) Viewed 4076 times


I haven't taken her out on the water yet. That will be the real test but I'm optimistic that I've solved the problem.

As a sidenote, it's fascinating to see the CB mechanism in action with the boat out of the water. Couple of observations:

1. My CB won't fully retract unless I give the uphaul a swift tug and keep tension on the uphaul. The extra momentum helps get the board fully up. Otherwise there's too much "stretch" in the system to fully raise the CB. I've gone to marking the uphaul with a piece of tape so I know when the CB is fully up.

2. Likewise at full extension the CB sits well past vertical. This can be seen in the below photo where it looks to be at least 20 degrees forward of vertical.

CB 2.jpg
Fully extended CB is well past vertical
CB 2.jpg (44.39 KiB) Viewed 4076 times

Re: DSII CB Downhaul repair

PostPosted: Fri Jun 12, 2020 2:27 am
by GreenLake
I don't know whether there's a situation where you'd ever want the CB forward, so you might want to mark your downhaul...

Re: DSII CB Downhaul repair

PostPosted: Mon Jun 15, 2020 12:14 pm
by Champlaner
Mine is vertical with about 2" of downhaul "capacity" left. I read somewhere that the forward position might work well for heading up light air, but I had to deep-google for that and I'm not really that curious. Though I might have to figure out whether to put tension on the uphaul as well to keep it vertical (?)

Re: DSII CB Downhaul repair

PostPosted: Mon Jun 15, 2020 2:04 pm
by GreenLake
The forward position would put the CLP forward, which would tend to increase the weather helm (or compensate for the CE having moved forward). I can't quite see how this works in light air, so I'll note that as a question in the "Seamanship and boat handling" section, where we might get input from others.

Re: DSII CB Downhaul repair

PostPosted: Sun Jun 28, 2020 1:00 am
by AlaskaDS
What line are you using? Seems my original was 5/16” 8mm dacron double braid, and will be replacing that.

Re: DSII CB Downhaul repair

PostPosted: Mon Aug 17, 2020 6:34 pm
by Nephroid
Just a quick update if folks are considering this repair. While cutting the channel has done wonders for keeping the CB on track, it did have an unanticipated outcome that's worth keeping in mind.

By cutting a shallow channel into the edge of the CB, I effectively reduced its radius and thereby the circumference along which the uphaul / downhaul lines are wrapped. This doesn't really matter much for the downhaul but it does introduce 1/4"-1/2" of "slack" in the uphaul cable. Since mine is a braided steel cable with an eye loop at the end it makes it somewhat difficult to adjust the length. The result is that the CB doesn't fully retract into the trunk and sits maybe 1" below the hull. Not really the end of the world but I'm a bit mad at myself for not realizing its effect sooner. :oops:

In retrospect, I probably should have moved the tang back a bit on the CB to compensate. Will probably try to rig an "above deck" solution for this season as I think about a more permanent fix this fall.