Bre centreboard downhaul

[johnguy]

Has anyone found any use for the downhaul on the Bre centreboard? I ask because twice now the dinky blue downhaul cord has jammed the whole board deep inside because I left it a bit slack when hoisting the board, requiring me to open it all up and lose a few fingers to free it. In 18 months of sailing twice a week I have not needed to use it in practice, so now I have removed it and stuffed a cork in the cord hole. I just wonder what I am missing.

[Jonathan Stuart]

I didn't know Swallow had started fitting downhauls to the BRe and my BRe was was sufficiently old not to have this. I never missed a downhaul - the board was sufficiently weighted (and presumably still is) that it went down and stayed down under its own weight. On a very few occasions pressure on the board stopped it going down, but it always eventually lowered or I'd briefly turn the boat to remove that pressure and it would drop; I don't think a downhaul would have much helped in those situations so I'm not sure I missed one.

[Peter Taylor]

My BC20, Seatern, lives at a jetty where it dries to mud. On two occasions in the last 4 years I've had to work the downhaul/uphaul combination back and forth to get the centreboard to drop (the BC20 board is not ballasted except what's needed to stop it floating).

The other thing a downhaul will do is stop the centreboard falling into the hull if you were so unlucky as to turtle the boat. I try to avoid that with Seatern but if the worst happened I suppose the centreboard would give me something to hold on to while I waited for rescue - I can't imaging my weight would stand any chance of righting the boat!

Peter

[johnguy]

I raced yesterday, board up and down like a yoyo, no downhaul to worry about - bliss. My guess is it was added to solve a problem but created another one.

[Sea Simon]

My BC20, Seatern, lives at a jetty where it dries to mud. On two occasions in the last 4 years I've had to work the downhaul/uphaul combination back and forth to get the centreboard to drop (the BC20 board is not ballasted except what's needed to stop it floating).

Peter

Found i needed Peter's  up-down jiggle manoeuvre to free up my jammed board last weekend. My board would not drop on departing the mooring at high tide.

Thank you Peter!

In fairness to the boat, she had been dried  out completely for an afternoon on a sand bank over low tide, during which time i had been clambering about getting a few odd jobs done.

It had jammed up, and was very solid, resisting a straight pull, but luckily with about 4" of free play in the up/down cordage, i managed to get the board to drop.

A technique worth remembering!

[Tobias L]

Yes, I also need the downhaul for the centreboard on every trip, as my BRe falls dry twice a day. It takes quite a bit of force to release the centreboard with the downhaul.
I would like to know if anyone knows the relation between the length of the uphaul and the depth of the centreboard. for example, 50 cm longer uphaul means approx. 60 cm draught.
Does anyone have a drawing of how the hauls are guided in the centreboard box? Can you look into the box when the wooden lid is opened?

[Sea Simon]

Q1. I don't  know. Depth of board v length of rope is something I never got around to establishing.

Q2 etc. See https://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/?page_id=17&URL=https://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/smf/index.php?topic=2613

Lots of info here. Rigging photos  and drawing attached.

Strongly recommend removal of centreboard top wood cap for internal inspection.

[Tobias L]

Thank you very much for the answer.
Q1 I am reassured that even experienced BRe sailors do not always know the actual draught of your centreboard.

Q2 I will look at the link in more detail at another time. Now the weather is finally favourable and I want to sail on the Elbe tomorrow morning to check out the tide.