Camper and Nicholson 44, 1961 - Centre Board stuck!

peterriches

peterriches

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Hi, I have just become the proud owner of a classic cruising yacht after many years of racing plastic rocket machines!

She is based in Spain and today we tried to free the steel centre board from the housing without success. Any ideas?

Some say the board has not been down for the past 20 years and I should simply fibreglass her in the box - total sacrilege I believe.

Would also like to know your thoughts on how the centre board will aid performance upwind- I have my own ideas and plan to race her in the Classic Yacht Regatta in the Med.

She is teak below the waterline and mahogany topsides - on oak frames. All the wood is great - just the metal that is giving us problems.

I look forward to hearing from anyone with similar challenges.

Thanks,

Peter
 
No idea - but you will get helpful reponses from wiser contributors than me when they're not asleep in bed.

I'm posting 1) to welcome you to the forum, and 2) to congratulate you on your new boat!

Cheers

Little Knot
 
You'll probably need to get her out the water to make a proper go of getting the centre board down.

As for how it aids performance upwind, to put it simply, you will have no performance going upwind with out it. You will just go sideways, same goes for reaching and anything else that isn't a run.
 
Yes, Have taken her out of the water and removed barnacles. Have placed flat wood saw - blunt side first up both sides of centre board - still no joy. Concerned that too much activity may disturb the actual casing and lead to a rather large job. Next plan is to drill into centre board and tap in a fixing point and draw her out - but I will await the comments of other members over the course of the next few days.

With regards to performance...I am told by the previous 2 owners they never used it as it did not make any difference - but I agree with your comments entirely.

Thanks

Peter
 
Have you looked at the job from the top. On Kala Sona there is an inspection plate which gives access to the control mechanism. It could be that a former owner has clamped the centre board in the up position in some way. My centre board makes a huge difference in performance under the right circumstances.
 
I imagine that the pivot bolt/pin has seized, is it possible to either drift it out from inside the boat or at least give it some persausion with a hammer.
 
Not at all an uncommon problem!

My guess is that the problem is any, or all of a combination, of mud, barnacles and rust. I doubt if a seized pin is the problem as the weight of a steel board on a 44 footer should overcome that.

I don't have any specific knowledge of how C&N built centreboards and this answer assumes that "standard practice" has been used:

Before starting, plan to make a dreadful mess in your saloon - remove cushions, cover delicate woodwork, etc!

First - please don't feel that I am insulting your intelligence, but centreplates are usually fitted with a "keep pin" to keep them in the "up" position when the boat is on moorings and take the weight of the board off the hoisting tackle. It is entirely possible to miss the existence and location of this pin, and a previous owner may have been unaware of it. You may need to take the weight of the plate on the hoisting tackle to get the pin out, and if it has been in for years you might need a drift.

Now, assuming that was not the problem, you should be able to get at the board from top and bottom.

From the top, the top of the c/b case should be unscrewed, ideally for its full length, but certainly as far as you can manage.

You should now be able to poke a metal lath, say 1/4" x 2", down along both sides of the board, poking the accumulated crud out through the bottom of the slot as you go. You will probably need a lump hammer, and it may take a day. It is helpful to keep the accumulated crud wet, if mud forms a part of it.

Assuming that the boat has been chocked ashore without a chock in way of the c/b slot (yes, it's obvious, but yards do forget!) I guarantee that the board will now descend!

As I said above, this assumes standard practice. Boats built for offshore racing sometimes have funny arrangements. The worst one is one where the centreplate houses entirely within the ballast keel, with no top access. In this case, the only way is to bash the crud out with a lath from underneath the boat. a lengthy, tiring and extremely dirty procedure - and quite obviously you don't want to be guillotined by the board when it does drop, so in this case you need a chock in way of the slot for safety. You ought not to rely on the keep pin until you have seen both it and the hole in the board to which it relates, and never, ever, rely on the tackle when under the boat. You can put a temporary chock in way, of course; it just has to take the weight of the plate, not the boat.

Good luck. It WILL come down!
 
Reading Mirelle's post has reminded me of one other important fact discovered when removing Kala Sona's centre board. When the hinge pin was removed the board could be lowered but would not come out unless it was moved aft by a couple of inches to slide it out of the internal housing. It took a lot of sweat, blood and tears before that fact was realised but became obvious when the plate was out of the boat. Good luck, all it needs is patience and a lot of help from one's friends!!
 
[ QUOTE ]

As for how it aids performance upwind, to put it simply, you will have no performance going upwind with out it. You will just go sideways, same goes for reaching and anything else that isn't a run.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't see how you can say this without knowing the boat. True a topper without a dagger board won't go upwind, but a long keeled yacht with a board for just a little extra grip may not really need it that much. I rarely use my plate: only really needed in very light winds. or when I feel the crew could do with some exercise.
 
I think I know the man that should be able to give you the real information. It is Jeremy Lines, former technical director (I believe) of C&N. He is now keeping the Nicholson archives as a volunteer. If anyone knows how the centreboard contruction on your Nic 44 was, it is he.

You can find him if you go to the site of the Nicholson circle of the Low Countries, click on the union flag for the English version and go to Links. Here, you will find a link to his email adress. ("If all else fails...")

Hope this helps.
cheers
 
[ QUOTE ]

Don't see how you can say this without knowing the boat. True a topper without a dagger board won't go upwind, but a long keeled yacht with a board for just a little extra grip may not really need it that much. I rarely use my plate: only really needed in very light winds. or when I feel the crew could do with some exercise.

[/ QUOTE ]
To be fair I was working to assumptions. But if a vessel has a board then one could feel safe to assume it was fairly important when sailing upwind at least.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Don't see how you can say this without knowing the boat. True a topper without a dagger board won't go upwind, but a long keeled yacht with a board for just a little extra grip may not really need it that much. I rarely use my plate: only really needed in very light winds. or when I feel the crew could do with some exercise.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a Barbican 33 - a Maurice Griffiths (OK, so not high performance!) which has a long shoal draft keel. Some have bilge keels as well (like mine), some (most) have a centreboard, and some just have the long keel. All perform acceptably to Barbican owners, and the ones without the centreboard don't just slide sideways when working upwind.

I had a Finesse 24 a few years ago, which was seriously shoal draft, and did slide sideways without the board lowered.

I am sure that a thoroughbred such as a C&N, built with a centreboard, will point (even) better with the board lowered, and that someone planning to race should definitely seek all the advantage they can get!

Little Knot
 
Thanks for your detailed suggestions - and no - no insults re the locking pin - had not thought of it at all. Back in UK at present - out again in 2 weeks - will have another good bash -and yes - the "guillatine" senario had been covered...could be rather nasty on a 44. I have no inspection hatch and the CB recess is an integral part of the long keel aft section and the lead forward section. I'll try to worlk out how to post a pic tomorrow.
Cheers,
Peter.
 
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