There seems to be a lot of different approaches to our Dolphin centerboard winches. On this page we will try and collect info on centerboard winches and related items from other owners.

Marionette's centerboard winch is located in a locker system I built under the bridge deck. The center locker has the winch, the right locker contains track slides, blocks, winch handles, etc. The electrical panel has its locker access on the starboard side. You can see the hinges - it folds down for access to the wiring and has a shelf for fuse spares, bulbs and a couple of flashlights. The red tube contains the ss wire that runs down to the centerboard.

This photo also shows Marionette's 'unique' steps, her OB motor storage location and her icebox.

Marionette's pipe connects to a fitting just before it disappears below the sole. I have been told there is a 'guiding block' housed in the elongated section wrapped in red plastic tape that changes the angle of the wire as it enters the bilge/deadwood/keel. I have never seen it.

The winch control line is rope and feeds out through the back of the locker into the cockpit to a camcleat mounted on the backside of the bridgedeck. There is a picture later on that shows this. I've thought a high strength synthetic braided line might be better than a  stainless wire and shackle because of the corrosion potential between the board and the shackle - check out the long term corrosion we had on Passage's Bronze CB tang http://www.dolphin24.org/technical_centerboards.html Ok, that corrosion took 45+ years but still... Then synthetic line might be exposed to abrasion/cut risks that we can't see. Probably ss wire is overall better.

Webmaster Note: I know you all really want to know what's with the red plastic tape? Ten years ago I noticed a drop of water oozing out of the fiberglass surrounding this section of the pipe. As I was in the middle of a cruise somewhere, far from epoxy repair kits (I now carry a small kit), I wiped it dry and tightly wrapped the area with black plastic tape. No drops. Ten years later, when repainting the interior I removed the tape, repainted, and decided that red plastic tape would be nice....Have never seen a leak since.

The Control Line

The control line passes out into the cockpit through the back of the bridgedeck. I am guessing there is about a 4/1 mechanical advantage with the winch.

On Marionette the line passes over a Harken cam cleat mounted on a small wood plate. The loose end hangs as you see it, or sometimes over a winch handle located in the pocket. The receptacles are 1) square is for Otto's (Autotiller) juice supply 2) oval is for Otto's remote control. Note the two cam cleats on the inside edge of the cockpit trim - these are for the jib sheets leading down off the winches - works well for single handing.

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Passage's Centerboard Winch

There are centerboard winches, and there are centerboard winches. This is a centerboard winch.

Of course this bronze beauty probably weighs 4 or 5 times Marionette's winch. Passage is all stripped out and, fortunately, I remembered it was in her parts area just waiting to be photographed.

This winch is so beautiful I am speechless....

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November 30, 2008. David Baumer is restoring Aeyla Makaira, Yankee #81 and sent in the the following pictures and comments of her centerboard winch (edited).

When I purchased Yankee Dolphin # 81 in June of 2008 I knew that both the centerboard and winch were both a concern.  The board was stuck in the trunk and the fastenings that hold the winch together had oxidized and needed replacement. The board was hung with this awful green oxidization stained braded line.

 At present, I am just planning a course of action to make both centerboard and winch new again.  I want to both contribute and fish for technical information from people who may have worked this stuff out.

 The centerboard winch is very much like the one that was on my Dad’s 1972 O-Day Mariner.  We had that boat many years. I never had a single concern about the winch, its design, materials, how it came apart, or went together.  It always worked flawlessly.  

 I took these photographs to document the condition of 81's winch before I bought the boat, or shortly after I got her home.  I have added some observations, comments, and questions to go with the pictures.

Ayla Makaira’s Centerboard Winch

The winch hangs from a wood bracket that is fiberglassed to the bottom side of the bridge deck. The winch itself consist of a big spool (6“diameter) and a small spool (3/4” diameter) that turn on the same shaft.  A line runs into the cockpit from the big spool. Another line runs from the small spool to the centerboard. I can only assume the centerboard should be hung with braided stainless wire not this tainted green line. 

Mechanical advantage is acquired by turning the big spool by pulling line wrapped around it into the cockpit (up comes the board).  Gravity pulls the board down wrapping the line back around the big spool (I wish gravity worked on my board - it’s bent and stuck in the trunk)

From the small spool of the winch a wire leads through a piece of hard wall exhaust hose to a watertight fiberglass bracket that I assume holds a sheave.  The bracket changes the lead of the wire to the proper angle to raise and lower the board.  The exhaust hose is fastened to the fiberglass bracket with two stainless hose clamps.  This creates a waterproof housing for the centerboard lift wire well above the boat’s waterline.           Look at the rot in the plywood sole, after dinette seat, and awkward location of circuit breaker panels (the companion way steps land in front of them).  Is the sheave or what changes the lead of the centerboard wire prone to deterioration from stray electrical currents and fresh water soakings?  I wonder, what is really inside that bracket? We all do...

The winch is fastened to the wooden bracket with bronze screws. Note the green powdery look to the fastenings that hold the winch together.  It does not make me too confident that the winch will stay together with out refastening. The whitish/green corrosion product is a mystery that I will solve when I get in there remove the winch from the boat. A big plastic washer around the shaft separates the bracket with the small spool from the big spool on the port side. On the starboard side of the winch there is what I will call a plastic button bushing that holds the shaft.The big spool is constructed with a 2" diameter cylindrical core made of the same composite material as the majority of the bracket. I wish I could remember what that stuff was called in the late 1960s and 1970s. (Formica, melamite - melamine impregnated paper)

The six inch spool is created by what appears to be stainless steel or chrome plated brass spacer tubes with through rivets fastening the sides of the spool together.  If they turn out to be chrome plated brass tubes that may be the source of the greenish white oxidation product? At first, I assumed that the winch was held together with long aluminum rivets that ran through aluminum spacer tubing.  I guess I will find out when I pull it apart. Does any thing related to the centerboard require lubrication? If so, what will I use?   Note: Marionette used waterproof grease on the bearing surfaces of the axle pins - 12 years ago, and then again 2 years ago, nothing in between. Probably regular grease would be fine. No problems     The plastic bushings are worn out and I am researching suitable replacements.  RWO Screw Down Bushings are similar and available from Annapolis Performance Sailing (R3112, aperture 3/8”)