About a month ago I inquired on this list if there was an interest in a new centerboard for the "old" M-17, and got quite a bit of interest; looks like enuff to ppursue the matter.

Interest was divided between a bronze board and a lead-filled glass board. There is no bronze foundery around here and after a quick search the closest one is in the Los Angeles area, which would mean shipping the boaards to here (Sacramento), where I would grind and drill them, then ship them to the customer. The cost would be in excess of a thousand dollars, which seems like a lot to me. A glass board with a cast lead core would be lighter (120 lbs???) and there is no good, simple way I can think of to mold in the tang which stops the board from overdropping so it would have to be supported from the hoisting line, which PROBABLY wouldn't be a problem considering the lesser weight of the board. The good side is that the board should be less than half the cost of a bronze one.

Something to consider is that several (many?) of the older 17's have a problem of swelling cb trunks, probably due to water getting in and causing rust. I could help this problem by making the board about 3/4" thick instead of the original 7/8". Owners of boats not having this problem- hopefullly the great majority- could shim the boards around the pivot hole (a simple matter).

If I do this project it will be either in mid-summer, when I am finished with the 23 project at Nor' Sea, or next fall sometime. Also, I need an accurate paper pattern of a board as I have no good measurements. The original foundry pattern disappeared during the bankruptcy of the iron foundry that had made the boards for many years. So if one of you pulls your cb in the next few months, please lay it on paper (newspaper is fine) and trace around it with a marker pen, not forgetting the pivot hole.