Hi Sal, my limited experience has been with a steel ~150lb center board from my former '75 M-17 and of course the current ~350lb board from the '79 M-23 that I am refurbing. Since both boards are steel they have both needed maintenance that my fibreglass encased M-15 board did not. I have had both blasted and coated etc. to keep them from rusting. As far as weight it would be a compromise like most things, I know the center board weight is different from the keel weight in that the lower center board provides a lower center of gravity which helps the moment arm formed with the main sail center of effort or whatever the term is. I don't have any bright ideas about the pendant access since your really need some room to work ideally if you are going to unscrew the shackle and change out the pendant. Not sure an access hatch would really do it, but it might. If it could be possible to "overextend" the board with the stop pin removed but pivot pin still in that would simplify replacing the pendant and or shackle somewhat. Seems like that might be possible to design in. I do know that the 150lb board was much more user friendly in that it could be handled by one or two adults without much problem vs the 350lb which requires hydrolic assist and lots of planning to move and work with it. So if possible I would stay toward the 150lb end of the scale. Cheers Robbin On 11/26/2010 2:26 PM, SALGLESSER@aol.com wrote:
Hi all, As some of you know, my wife Gail and I are involved in the development and eventual production of a new Jerry Montgomery design called the Sage 17. As all trailer sailors know, a shoal draft offers real advantage in launching and sailing shallow waters. Also, as most sailors know, going upwind efficiently is best with a deep keel. Some feel the bigger the stick, the deeper the keel. The keel-centerboard is a logical synthesis of the two needs and that’s why Jerry Montgomery and Lyle Hess chose this option. In fact, as I understand, the early Monty 17’s had a deep (3’7”) keel and the design was later adjusted because of the associated problems (launching& shallow water) with a trailerable deep keeled sailboat. I have followed problems with the pendant on some of the Monty forums as well as the current dilemma Sean Mulligan is facing with his pendant on Dauntless. Gail and I feel that the owner of any product should be able to perform, with the assistance of the factory, maintenance and repairs on their product. As Robbin suggested, early thinking of this problem would be beneficial. The Sage 17 is a keel-centerboard design with a fiberglass / lead centerboard of approx 150-250 lbs (pending Jerry's decision). While we’re in the development stage of the boat, we'd like to find and incorporate a “built in ” solution to the pendant / centerboard maintenance question, preferably without using a hoist. Jerry has come up with some well thought out ideas on centerboards, but we would also like to solicit any thoughts or solutions that trailer sailors, especially Monty sailors might have entertained. It would be nice to offer a new Sage 17 to any great ideas, but it is a bit beyond our means. We can offer a very nice high quality knife to anyone that comes up with any idea that we use. Pending Jerry’s approval, of course. Thanx in advance for your thinking time. Salngail M-15 “Justus” 1986 #361 _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
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