Hi all,

hope this is a lesson I have learnt that may save others some hassles.

When I bought 1760 and sailed it pretty much as was, at the Sauna Sail 2009, it leaked badly in the Starboard hull. After stripping the fittings and fixing up many things, it still leaked and continued to do so, I thought it had to be the centreboard cases. The bottom of the cases looked real ratty.

So I decided for that and more importantly performance reasons to get new boards and cases put in to the boat by a proffesional. Well to my surprise the Starboard hull still leaked badly, so it wasn't the cases after all, I thought . So I went about looking for leaks and found quite a few around the decks, in tramp tracks, hatches etc. So now the leaks must be fixed, wrong . It was still just as bad, where can it be , can't be the centreboard cases, they are new and it leaked the same with the old ones.

Finally tonight after sailing I decided to just fill the hulls with water and see what happens, well you wouldn't believe it the centre board cases had water dripping out of them, from about half way up inside .

The unbelievable part is that by coincidence, the starboard case has the worst problem, so the starboard hull was getting the most water in, just as the boat originally did.

If I had a dollar for everybody that said it must be the plate cases, I could have paid for the job by now, but I ignored them and my own thoughts, because I just didn't believe that it could happen to the same hull twice .

So the lesson is never ignore the obvious, even if it doesn't seem possible, check the obvious first.

That explains why I saw a certain professional's car at your place this morning!

I think it was Sherlock Holmes who said when you've eliminated all the possible explanations then you have to consider the impossible.

What a stuff-up

Hi Gary,

So you won the Nats with a boat half full of water!!!

Well isn't that a cheery thought for the rest of us with the States coming up

Hope you get it all sorted prior. Not really what you need in the middle of the season.

Cheers

Another way of finding holes is to pressurise the hull with the exhaust of a vaccuum cleaner or maybe a mattress inflator, and then go around with a soapy solution, where it's bubbling is where your problem is.
Hope this helps as filling a hull and then emptying it of water is quite labour intensive, and then waiting for it to dry before working on it.
Cheers

Easy fix is get an old shaggy bedspread cover like granny has on her bed, you know the pink one with a line of shag then plain, rip a strip, wrap it around a flat stick until its a tight fit inside the case then use a stiff mix with extra catalyst of Vinyl ester and microfibres. As you go up and down the case it forces resin into the holes and smooths all the other imperfections. Works a treat and can sail in an hour

It's ALWAYS the centreboard cases!!!!

I learn't that trick with my big rig Stingray I got holes where the nylon pin went in that little track for the boards

RE-leaks
Slightly different scenario, my plywood mossie stays dry until you start putting the front beam under the waves, then it will pick up a litre...ish,I have always figured it to be the beam bolts, even with silicon. The ply boats probably put the front beam in earlier than the glass boats, centercases are not above suspicion,though!
Cheers,
Roy.

When I purchased 1728 I was told that the front beams leaked :(, being a novice to the class I was not too keen to remove the bolts from the front beam and silicon them up . So I repaired all the other areas first, rudder bolts, hatch's , etc only to find that it still leaked. So armed with information from this site I removed the bolts and siliconed them up . This fixed the leak........for 2 weeks . I am now now chasing up all the other areas again and now you tell me it could be the centre board case's .

when i purchased 1705 i was trying to find all the leaks and went the wrong way about things and filled the hulls with "a little" bit of water in desperation! THEN i wrote to Tim Sheppard and got the right advice,I know pass this on to anyone who is serious about finding leaks and about not blowing their hull apart at the seams with to much air! You need a Hatch cover-pvc tube-spray bottle-12yo son & normally a tube of silafex. 1st drill a hole in the hatch cover and thread the pvc tube thru to create a valve (make sure you silicon around the tube to prevent leaks as well) screw your new hatch cover in and start blowing up the hull the same way you would a inflatable ball!! you will only need 2-5 breathes of air ) then put your finger over the pvc tube and ask your son to go around the hull and sparay a mixture of water with a drop of washing up detergent over any fittings and cracks & wait for the bubbles!!! I now have my boat so water tight i would be cocfidant to put my mobile in the hull for a couple of hours sailing without putting in a plastic bag!! when you get all the leaks sealed and blow a few breathes in the hullyou can actually put your finger over the pvc valve for a few minutes and let it off and it lets off that hissing noise as it holds all the air!! Thanks Tim for this advice i now do it every season only difference being my sons a year older!!

Thanks for the great advice. I will have a go at that in the off season.

Hi all,

all fixed now . Raced Sunday arvo and just got the sponge wet, what a relief