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While dropping the centerboard on my 1997 26X, the centerboard apparently became wedged against a bunk board on the boat lift and the cable broke; some parts went overboard. All that is left of the lifting hardware is a cable which is broken inside the loop and a corroded flat head machine screw going through the hole in the keel.

Can anyone describe the parts I lost? I am adding some weight (no more than 20#) and prefer to stay with a stainless cable rather than the line that has been used for some time.

Just today I replaced the bolt through the centerboard that holds the cable to my 1996 26x Mac. The bolt I used is 1/4 " DIA x 2 inches long. 2 inches is too long, but 1.5 inches is a little too short. The centerboard is 1-5/8 inches thick, although thinner where the cable attaches. So I used the 2 inch bolt and hack sawed off the excess that protuded past the nut. I used a stainless steel washer and a lock nut from West Marine. Last year I used a 'stainless' bolt from Home Depot which rusted off in 1-year.

You didn't mention the centerboard bracket. This is a special part that you will probably have to order if lost. It is a ' U ' shaped bracket and has a threaded bolt that goes through the bottom of the hull to under the forward dinette seat. This is the part that attaches the centerboard to the boat.

I hope this helps.

IF you have to saw off a bolt to get the right length, a cute trick is to spin a nut on it first, then saw, then use the nut to straighten the thread from any burrs ...a lot easier than trying to thread a nut onto a burred bolt

Brrr this morning in Albany

Thanks for the replies.

Fortunately I didn't loose the centerboard bracket. Still not sure how you secured the cable to the 1/4 inch bolt. I scrounged around my spare parts bucket and found a sheet metal shackle. Put it in a vise and squeezed down the ends but left a loop .large enough to accomodate a rope or cable and attached it to the CB with a bolt. Ended up using rope as the cable was in worse shape than I thought.

The reason I removed the CB was to add pads to the CB to reduce the lateral movement when it is down as well as the slapping in the trunk when it is raised. See separate post.

The centerboard cable is 5/32 DIA SS wire. It has a loop in the end made with a copper swage. The bolt goes through the centerboard hole, this loop, then a washer, and finally the nut.

If your centerboard cable doesn't have a loop on the end then you'll have to make one (I guess? -- unless you take a different approach).

It is the high flexibility type wire layup (as opposed to rigging wire that is much stiffer.

The wire just has an oval swaged on each end to make a loop. A simple nut, bolt and washer hold the wire to the centerboard.
The other end gets the rope tied to it for the cam cleat on deck.
I made my replacement easily by just buying the wire and a nicopress swage die tool. I don't recall the exact length though. I had my old one to use as a guide, which was helpful.

Normo,

Since you converted to rope then it might be better to drill another hole in the CB, look closely at the angles and this will tell you where to drill, thread your rope through the new hole back through the old hole Make overhand knot and melt the end. Now you have no hardware to scratch or break and less chance for abrasion where the line enters the uphaul tube. If you don't want to incur any more drag you can also vee out one side of the CB so the line will lay inside. Have been lifting my 48lb board for years with this.

Newell