Broken Centerboard Help!

[Keith]

Re: Broken Centreboard on Telstar 28

I headed out at dawn today to sail from Crystal Springs to Tarpon Springs. We turned around in adverse winds and discovered that the Centreboard on hull #348 has sheared off at the hull. AccordIng to the depth guage we were in water as shallow as 8 feet. I must have hit bottom without noticing it. We were sailing at 8 knots with a reef.

Has anyone replaced a Telstar 28 Centreboard? My centreboard case is 6 ft. so my centre board should be 5 feet. I recall something about the Telstar Centreboard being almost the same as Gemini's. The Tri is a 2007 model.

I hope that I can sail/motor the 85 nm to Tarpon Springs in one day. I intend to find a marina with a lift and get the boat out of the water and the centerboard replaced some where along the west coast of Florida.

We've taken Star Hunter from the West Coast of Canada to Seattle, trailered it to South Dakota and motored down the Missouri and Mississippi rivers to Alabama and sailed across to Florida. The rest of the trip is now on indefinite hold.

I just have an iPad on the boat, and Internet access is intermittent. If you have helpful suggestions please reply directly as I can often receive emails, but can only send replies when in range and moored.[/b] KeithMWebb@gmail.com.

I have a Globalstar Satellite phone but it also works intermittently.

Thank-you, Keith Webb, Banff, Alberta, Canada

[Ron]

Keith -

I believe hull 359 (my boat) was the first one with the 5+ foot centerboard. I recall that it's approx 5 feet 3 inches. Your board is about 4 1/2 feet deep, maybe a drop more. There is a pretty good video floating around that shows how to replace the board. It was filmed by Tony and Will about 3 years ago. If you can't find it let me know. The procedure is a little tricky but it can be done. Your got to drill out a hole in the boards sleeve to punch out the pin holding it in place. You may need to order a replacement board as well. Good luck.

[wingman]

My centerboard broke going upwind at night in a race. The wind was blowing at 15-20, and i did not even notice when it broke, except that for the rest of the race I had poor performance upwind and a lot of lee helm. Usually I have neutral helm.

I need plans to get it fixed. I will try to contact Tony Smith to see if he has the drawings. If not, then maybe Will. If anyone has the drawings, i would appreciate a copy!

I have a very good shop in Annapolis that makes new Gemini centerboards and he has agreed to make mine if I can get the drawings. If he does, he will then have a template so that he can make one for anyone else who needs a board.

John

[petrel]

John,

T28 centerboards are getting a reputation for breaking - even under moderate conditions. Is it because there were some defective units or is it a design issue? Whatever the cause I think It might be prudent to have your centerboard maker strengthen the new one. This could be done by adding some carbon fiber layers to the both sides. When doing this it is critical to keep the same cross sectional and thickness as the original so it may require reducing the overall chord thickness of the wood substrate to accommidate the extra materials.

Good luck with the project.

As for sailing without using the centerboard. On my old 8 m I found that having the centerboard partway down was better than none at all and in a slightly down position it seemed to work best. I suspect this was due to the centerboard being only partially out of the slot, closing somewhat, and reducing the slot turbulence. I also found that if the centerboard was about 75% down the boat gained lee helm. Which I suspect was caused by the angle of the board putting the center of lateral resistance aft. Have any other Telstar sailor experienced this?

Geoffrey

[Rick]

Hello John,

My centerboard is gone. Would like to know the phone number of company that makes them.
Lost the board about two weeks ago in strong winds. I will never let the board down all the way again.
Thanks,
Rick

[wingman]

To all who want new centerboards.

I got Tony Smith and John Harris of Chesapeake Light Craft (www.clcboats.com) in Annapolis together and CLC is going to build me a new board, using Tony's plans. This will be a hardwood core, not the foam core that was in mine. No, the old boards are not even plywood. I have pictures to prove it!

I do not have a price yet, but CLC also makes the centerboards for the Geminis, which are much more complicated than the ones for the T28.

I hope to have the new board by December, but I am not sure when I will put it in. I usually do not pull the boat, preferring to sail on nice days in the winter.

John

[Ron]

"Do you think you could get the original plan from Tony? It would be nice to add it to the Members info center."

A very good idea. I'd be happy to add it. I don't think Tony would mind, but the vender who's making it might. But it's not really his call, and he probably won't even know it. 20 years from now it could come in handy, long after this company is also gone.