Posted by michel.capel (michel.capel@…>)
Gerald,
the CB on my F33/35 was lead pellets and resin surrounded by foam
core material and polyester. I know this because the bottom of my
board had to be patched every year. I dragged it across the sand on
our Waddenzee (NL) too often.
This is what I know of the pivot:
The pivot pin is a 4" thick solid cylindrical piece of stainless
steel. I thought it is glassed in from the outside of the hull
throught the supporting frame. I remember having seen circular spots
on the outside of the hull where the pin might be located. However,
reading Peter Schaeffer’s account, I think my thoughts about the
construction are incorrect.
I’ve been told that problems
with the pivot pin are extremely rare; I’ve never heard of any. The
pivot pin is held in the strong cast metal frame on the forward end
of the CB casing. If your boat’s on shore and you open the trunk
top, you can see the pin. If you remove the pennant and safety line
(I had a safety line) you can carefully drop the board further than
is normally healthy. Thus, you can get a better access to the delrin
or nylon chocks that prevent lateral movement of the CB. I think you
need to keep the chocks in good order, otherwise you risk damage to
the pivot area of the CB itself. I don’t know how the board is
reinforced around the pivot pin, but eventually, lateral movement
will wear or break the bearing which I suppose is around the pin.
good luck.
michel
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “geraldfreshwater”
<freshwater@…> wrote:
Back to F33/35 centreboards: does anyone know how to get at the
pivot at the forward
end, please? There are some bolts through the casing side, but
above the pivot point, and
they are obviously not the pivot itself. Do they hold the bearings
for the pivot in place?
Can the board be lowered out of the casing? I get some thumping
from the casing when
the boat is in a rough beam sea, especially on starboard tack, but
this is probably due to
damage to the chock which locates the aft edge of the board when
it is fully down. That
can be replaced, but it would help my peace of mind to inspect the
bearing as well.All advice gratefully received, (and any action my
responsibility).I am told our C/B is lead in GRP, but so far haven’t made deep
enough cracks in it to
check: we try not to hit any rocks with anything more than minimum
steerage way on! It
certainly seems to weight the half ton quoted, but we cheat and
use a Lewmar electric
winch when we are tired. The pennant is just 10mm (3/8") pre-
stretched polyester, last
replaced 5 years ago. I’ll try Spectra next time.Gerald Freshwater,
Castaway
Lerwick— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, svfantasy@ wrote:
Thanks Herman, that pretty much explains all the confusion.
Jay
----- Original Message -----
From: “Herman Schiller”
To: freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [freedomyachts2003] Re: Beautiful weekend on Boston
Harbor
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 2006 01:27:03 -0000After reading the whole discussion about Freedom 40
centerboards, I
referred to my collection of (near) ancient F-40 brochures.
There
may be an explanation for the contrasting opinions expressed.
One of
the brochures talks of 6000 pound internal lead ballast and a
plastic centerboard, and another talks of 4000 pound internal
ballast and a 2000 pound cast iron and epoxy centerboard.
There are
no indications of the age of these brochure items; no copyright
notice. Possibly there were two flavors of this boat and
centerboard, which would explain why some of you are having
trouble
grunting the things upward.
Herm S.V. Impulse— In
freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, svfantasy@ wrote:Lance/Norm,
I own an F-40 CK 1981, hull # 60, My centerboard winch is an
Barient
27-48 (self-tailing) mounted just port of the companionway
hatch.
I have
1/2 " double braid line running from the winch to the
thimble on
the
centerboard. I had the yard replace it when I purchased the
boat
two
years ago. It just takes a few turns to raise the board, and
its
fairly
easy. Just to clarify, the board on the F-40 is weighted
significantly.
I’ve been trying to determine the weight of the
board,however,
I’ve not
been successful in finding this info. While hauled out, it is
obvious the
board weighs in excess of 500 lbs, and the construction is
cast
iron with
glass over, at least that is what I was told.Jay
“Fantasy” F40 CK
San Francisco Bay
----- Original Message -----
From: “Norm Friberg”
To: freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [freedomyachts2003] Re: Beautiful weekend on
Boston
Harbor
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 07:12:57 -0400Lance, Yes, I’m interested in seeing your system, and also
how
your
dodger is set up. Many Thanks,Norm----- Original Message ----- From: lance_ryleyTo:
freedomyachts2003@: Wednesday, September 13,
2006 4:36 PMSubject: [freedomyachts2003] Re: Beautiful
weekend
on
Boston HarborNorm,
if you’re interested, I’ll take some pictures of my
arrangement,
which seems entirely different from yours, also from a
Freedom
40
CK.In the case of Bright Star, the centerboard winch is mounted
next
to
the companionway where you can get at it from the cockpit.
Our
pennant is cord all the way to the board, but is spliced into
nylon
webbing that actually wraps around the winch. we use a
short-handled
winch handle (so it doesn’t smack the dodger plexiglass),
and I
can’t say I’ve ever had a problem getting the centerboard up.I may be wrong, but I believe that the centerboard in the 40
is
pretty much neutral buoyancy, as opposed to the 33/35, where
they
put some ballast in its construction.If you’d like to see the layout, let me know and I’ll send
some
pictures along.Lance
Bright Star— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, Norm Friberg
<nfriberg@> wrote:Michel,
The knob attachment might be a good idea. I am also looking
into
the idea of the right-angle electric drill with the winch
bit.
I
have to take some measurements to see if it will fit. Maybe
the
thinner line would also help. The position of the winch is
forward
of the mizzen, but it is up higher so you can be sitting of
nealing
on the forward cockpit seat (bridge deck?). Not so
uncomfortable.The extra block purchase is also a good idea if I can work
out
how
to do it. Thanks for the ideas.Norm
----- Original Message -----
From: michel.capel
To: freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 10:31 AM
Subject: [freedomyachts2003] Re: Beautiful weekend on
Boston
HarborNorm,
If I understand you, your CB winch is forward of the
mizzen??
so
you
have to crouch on deck to manhandle it? Not an easy task,
with
this
funky T-ford steering wheel! Perhaps if you mount a
handhold
on
the
wheel, like they have on tractors, that would help a bit
swirling
the wheel around.I replaced the pennant on my F33/35 a few years ago with 5
mm
Dyneema line in stead of the line+wire combination. It made
the
board a lot easier to lift.A few years before that, I put in some extra blocks to
increase
the
purchase on the CB. I had to do 80 turns to fully lift the
450
kg
of the CB. Still a bear, but good for the biceps. It also
convinced
me to finally quit smoking.Michel
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, Norm Friberg
<nfriberg@> wrote:Lance,
It’s an old bronze winch mounted horizontally. I think
you
would
call it reversable. Clockwise is always up,
counterclockwise
is
always down, and there is a ratcheting brake mechanism.
Since
the
winch is only a few inches forward of the mizzen mast, a
normal
winch handle won’t fit. There is a circular handle that
actually
looks like the steering wheel off an old car, but isn’t.
Only
about
25 turns gets the board from full up to full down. A longer
lever
arm (winch handle) would be nice but there is little room.
The
original pendant (pennant?) had a wire section spliced into
the
winch end and was attached to the winch drum by a set
screw.
As
I
didn’t have a spliced-wire option at the time, my new
pennant
is
held onto the drum by friction- ie. it’s wrapped around
itself.
I
added five feet of line to make sure it wouldn’t slip.The new pennant (pendant?) hasn’t made lifting the board
any
easier, which leads me to wonder about the condition of the
centerboard hinge. I have not yet figured out how to access
this
for checking. During my amateur diving under the boat, the
block
that the pennant (I give up) runs through seemed to be in
good
shape
and turned easliy.Reading Garry Hoyt’s book about how sailing should be
easier
leads
me to wonder what he was smoking when he came up with this
arrangement. Nevertheless, it’s only a minor
inconvenience. I
love
my boat anyway.Best regards,
Norm Friberg----- Original Message -----
From: lance_ryley
To: freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:58 AM
Subject: [freedomyachts2003] Re: Beautiful weekend on
Boston
HarborNorm,
has it gotten easier to raise the centerboard since you
replaced
the
pennant? Also, what kind of lifting arrangement do you
have?
Bright
Star has a reversible winch (I think it was a halyard
winch
from
an
Atlantic at one time) and I’ve never had a problem
lifting
the
board, even when under sail.Just curious to hear what may be happening with yours…
Lance
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, Norm Friberg
<nfriberg@> wrote:This discussion is very interesting, guys. First, let
me
say
that
I had a delightful day holding my breath underwater in an
oily
marina replacing the center board pendant on my F40CK a
few
weeks
ago. What fun! At least the section of the hull that my
body
rubbed against is now clean.Regarding the use of the centerboard (is it one word or
two?)
I
have found in the first few months of sailing her that
the
board
does affect heeling angle and maneuvering ability; she
heels
less
and turns more readily with the board down. However,
having
said
that, don’t try motoring into the marina at low tide with
the
board
still down. My poor little diesel was cranking its
28-year-old
heart out, but the brakes were ON. And what a bear
cranking
that
board back up!I have also been relieved, and even favorably
impressed,
at
the
pointing ability of the boat, after hearing, on this news
board
and
elsewhere, that Freedom Cat-Ketches don’t sail to
windward.
My
experience on Long Island Sound this past summer is that,
given
at
least 10 knots of wind, she will tack in about 100
degrees,
that
is,
50 degrees to either side of the wind. While not exactly
Americas
Cup standards, perfectly adequate for my needs. She sure
takes
her
time coming about, however. A real “gentleman’s tack” as
my
friend
put it.Regards to all,
Norm Friberg
SV Freyja