Centrecase Padding reduces centreboard maintenance by protecting the sliding surfaces of rudderbox or Leeboard case on sailing dinghies. It can be quite inexpensive
Who doesn’t want to reduce maintenance.
There are cool and expensive pads and chafe protectors you can buy. But what are they made of and are there cheaper alternatives for rudderbox and centrecase padding.
The case for accurate foils and foil finish
Centreboard and Rudder shape are at least as important as sail shape. As is the finish.
Weekly racing results in Australia have shown
An accurate centreboard and rudder is worth about 10% upwind. The other boat will be doing another 20ft each minute.
After 10 minutes that is about 200 feet.
Half an hour 600ft.
Without any sailing effort!
And the worse the weather, the more the difference.
These results were derived from club racing handicap systems and seeing the improvement of boats with good boards. Over a 90 minute race the difference was about 4 minutes. But that is all upwind. So it rounds out to 8 to 10 percent performance improvement.
But boards tend to get beaten up over time. These are a pair of OzRacer/OzGoose foils ready to be sanded and given a final coat of epoxy. Most people using templates to make accurate foils say it is ‘one of the most satisfying parts of the build” because the result is just so amazing.
4 Part Series – Homemade foils for better Performance and Safer Handling
Reducing Centreboard Maintenance – My Oz Goose Centreboard and rudder Finish is getting hammered!
On most of the oz goose fleet the foils are very very good. We get them computer milled in the Philippines. Then take great care with the glass.
Mine too. But after a season there is work to be done.
Maybe I can reduce centreboard maintenance?
This is my centreboard right now. The leading edge blister is from the bottom front corner of the centrecase. Desperate need of centreboard maintenance.
Side scratches from the sides of the case and trailing edge damage from the back of the centrecase.
Padding the centreboard case to prevent scratches and dings
I’ve been poring over the racing dinghy sites to find out the best solutions used by dinghy racers for their Centrecase padding.
They need function, but also they need durability.
As home boat builders we are interested in low cost without loss of function.
Everyone is interested in reducing maintenance.
Polar Bear Pubes to prevent scratching your centreboard and rudder. Sides of cases with closer tolerances.
Years ago, centrecase padding of my racing boat was with vertical strips of the terry towelling padding that was used to wrap tennis and squash racket handles. Vertical is nice because it doesn’t trap sand and the board doesn’t pick up the edges of the tape.
See what a dinosaur I am – that handle tape has been uncool for about 40 years.
I started hearing about polar bear pubes for centrecase padding
Thankfully we don’t have to do battle with polar bears on their ever reducing ice floes.
But the product is expensive. Please keep reading – it sounds high cost, but I have found a cheaper way.
Would you believe a little pack of precut bits for a Laser can set you back $60.
A bit more digging reveals that the polar bear pubes are the soft side of velcro tape. It can be self adhesive or use contact cement. Don’t use the hook side!
There’s a price drop for you! Though, a sailmaker or good fabric shop has better velcro off the roll than a Two Dollar Shop!
Most have a much more fluffy loop side than the picture below which is also better as centrecase padding.
Downside of Polar Bear Pubes – not so durable for high loads and another way.
So the fluffy side of velcro doesn’t like the high loads of the front and back edges of the boards.
So only use it on the sides of the case. And where the clearance is relatively narrow. If the case has a wider tolerance solution two heading down
Front and back of centreboard case and rudder box have high loads and need more protection to reduce leeboard and centreboard maintenance
As we saw from the rudder and centreboard maintenance on my Oz Goose there’s a lot of pressure on the front and back edges of the foils. Without centrecase padding the boards wear through the epoxy and glass eventually.
The Polar Bear method won’t hack these more intense loads.
So I kept digging on the sailing dinghy racing websites.
The answer is seat belt webbing as we use for hiking straps. It is normally about 50mm (2″) wide and a 125mm/5″ piece in all the corners of your centrecase or leeboard case or rudder box will be a long wearing solution to reduce centreboard maintenance. Diagram at the bottom for what I think is a good setup to reduce rudder blade and centreboard maintenance.
I have a drawing to show what I mean further down.
How to fill up extra centreboard, leeboard or rudder space in the case to prevent slopping around – outdoor carpet
Some cases are made too wide and some too loose. With my boats we work on making the timber blank around 3mm smaller (1/8″) than the case internal width. Then adding the glass to the centreboard (one or two layers of 6oz/200gsm) cloth leaves enough clearance (unless your board is warped or your glassing uses too much resin).
It also stops water shooting out the centrecase!
The right amount of resin for the first coat looks like this. Cloth clear but with a matte finish. When the epoxy is sticky put another coat on.
But for a really wide case where the centreboard or leeboard wobbles around, what are the choices?
The Tasar website recommends a “long nap” outdoor carpet. It pads the board and damps down turbulence in the case. So less chance of water shooting out.
There are lots of outdoor carpets that have a rubbery/grabby feel. You definitely don’t want one of the them! Or you will be fighting the centreboard and rudder every time you leave or close on shore. Of course that is a way of increasing centreboard maintenance! BANG!
A nylony or woolly feel. Fluffy rather than grippy. Your hand will slide over easily as will the back of your phone.
Too much space at the back of the Centrecase? Build a shock absorber.
My friend Simon Lew who sails a Goat Island Skiff in Florida (think the shallows of the Florida Keys or the Everglades) uses layers of outdoor carpet. He glues them together with contact cement to make a pad for the back of the centrecase.
Glue for centercase and rudder pads
It is probably going to be contact cement. Read the instructions.
It is not a slather it on and whack it together type glue.
Put thin film on both sides, let it touch dry and then push the two surfaces together. You only get one shot so logic out how you are going to put the two surfaces together.
In Australia (probably the same in the UK) – I have been told to always use Gel Grip around boats rather than Kwik Grip by the same company. I don’t know the North American equivalent. But then … most failures are from not following the instructions.
An alternative might be sailmaker’s extra strong double sided tape.
Drawing of how I would arrange my centrecase padding for a cruising or expedition dinghy
With a racing dinghy I would go with the webbing as shown here but fit the carpet along the edge of the slot as shown above.
However for a cruising dinghy we want to avoid getting oystershells, sand and other gurry sticking inside the case. So a vertical side pad is best.
Do you have other strategies for reducing rudder, leeboard and centreboard maintenance? Add a comment!
