Forum - Keel and Centre Plate - Keel reattachment
| Topic | Replies | Latest Post |
|---|---|---|
| Keel reattachment | 5 | Thu 29 May 2014 18:32:43 |
 scroggins Thu 15 May 2014 14:42:52 | Hello, I recently had to have the keel reattached to my Manta due to corrosion of the pivot bolt. The problem is, the people at the workshop reattached the keel while I was not there, and it appears they did so in a very strange fashion. I'm afraid the picture doesn't give provide the proper context, but needless to say the orientation of the keel is quite different from what I've seen in other photos. The front of the keel, under the pivot bolt, is obviously protruding from the hull by a few inches. Given the placement of the hole in the keel it's hard to see how else it could have been attached. Does this setup look like an acceptable alternative configuration? If not, how can I fix it? The location of the hole in the keel itself makes me think that the previous owners had replaced the original center plate, and possibly in a strange manner. Thanks in advance for your help!  | |
Replies | ||
 Mark Thu 15 May 2014 18:23:18 | Hmmm.... that looks a bit odd. The plate should retract fully into the keel when it is pulled up. If the plate isn't a standard shape then this might not be possible. I suppose the most important thing is what is it like when it is down. If your manta points well upwind and feels balanced then perhaps it is OK to leave it as it is. If you do a search on the site for keel, you can see what my Manta's (Sophie) keel was like when I replaced it. | |
| scroggins Thu 15 May 2014 18:36:46 | Thanks Mark. I had seen your post about replacing Sophie's keel, which is why I knew my keel configuration looked a bit odd. The center plate itself appears to be the right shape, but the hole for the pivot bolt seems to have been drilled in the wrong spot. I suppose it could be fixed by removing the center plate and drilling a new hole closer to the bottom, but if it isn't completely necessary I'd like to avoid doing so - using the lift isn't cheap, after all. The boat handles well enough, and when I checked photos from when I first purchased it, I see that the center plate has always been attached like this. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. | |
| StuartH Thu 29 May 2014 13:54:25 | Yes looks very odd. They must have redrilled the plate - in the wrong place, if you have to put it on a trailer it looks like it will cause problems. I took my plate off last year - it was badly rusted but after shot blasting I decided it would last a bit longer, I did however drill out the pivot hole and bush it with a brass bush - I will post a picture next time. My pivot bolt is simply a stainless steel M8 (I think it was M8) allen screw which goes thorugh the keel on one side through the plate and then is tapped into the keel the other side - not protruding like yours. Good luck Stuart | |
| StuartH Thu 29 May 2014 13:55:55 | Just seen my reply I havent a clue where that smiley face came from! | |
| Mark Thu 29 May 2014 18:32:43 | Hi Stuart, the smilies (emoticons) are added automatically for certain character combinations. : ) without the space =  ; ) ---"--- =  8 ) ---"--- =  There is a full list of them in the help pages. Anyway, I changed the function that adds them so that it now only does it if the character combinations are preceded by a space character. | |
