Missing Centerboard(Jerry)

Jerry, What's the latest in your c/b saga? Did you ever retrieve it? Don't your racing competitors complain that your boat is not equipped as your rating calls for? Just askin. David Dobbs Cal 29 411, on the hard.

David, Not so much as they out point me going up wind by about ten degrees. Going down wind the boat has a big empty slot in the bottom that acts like a drag brake I'm sailing with a mainsail dating back to 1962. The boat does have a big keel, it is full length of the boat from ahead of the mast to the stern, like any good cat boat, including a cat boat style paddle type rudder. Not very efficient! Inside the forefoot of this super low aspect whaleboat style keel is 800# of lead. The centerboard is like a knife, only 3/4" thick, and shaped like a slice of pizza pie, and flat as a board. It did help a bit with the side slip at low speeds, shoving off from the dock, but not much for pointing before it sank. Going down wind or in a deep reach it didn't make any difference, up or down, based on sailing alongside other boats. And it wasn't heavy enought to affect stability for better or worse. Still I'll replace it someday. Materials for a new one will cost more than my boat is worth, the steel costs $550 to $750 even before it is shaped, painted and installed. Gulp! The Centerboard snagged on an anchor chain when I skidded past the bait barge moored in the middle of the Newport Main Channel. I considered trying to retrieve it, but the next time I went down there I noticed the bait barge was gone. Jerry --- On Thu, 10/30/08, david dobbs <tm… [at] yahoo.com> wrote: From: david dobbs <tm… [at] yahoo.com> Subject: [Cal_Boats] Missing Centerboard(Jerry) To: ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Date: Thursday, October 30, 2008, 7:38 PM Jerry, What's the latest in your c/b saga? Did you ever retrieve it? Don't your racing competitors complain that your boat is not equipped as your rating calls for? Just askin. David Dobbs Cal 29 411, on the hard.