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.
Jerry