14' Sloop Restoration: Questions !

[Little Rascal]

Hi, I'm restoring a 1974 Ray Greene Rascal II. I've been stripping everything off in preparation to sand & paint. Just took the folding centerboard off and I knew it was crusty, but much worse than I thought. It's got huge rust chunks and tube worm-lookin stuff, but the main thing is it is really heavy! Like at least 80 pounds, I can barely pick it up. Rather than attempt to clean it and paint could I just make a new one out of some other *lighter* material that is less prone to rust? Is the weight important?

I've got loads of questions since this is my first sailboat, I'll try to search old posts before I ask away, but I haven't had much luck with that feature thus far... any help is much appreciated, thanks!

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Rascal,
You can choose whatever material you want to redo the centerboard but the boat won't act exactly the same. The lighter the centerboard the more tender the boat will be. I remember sailing Ray Greene Rebels back in the 70s and they all had steel centerboards.
You can buy a piece of steel roughly the same size as the one you have and encase it in fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin to make it less prone to rust but it will rust eventually.
If it were me, I'd laminate some fiberglass mat, roving, cloth together to be the same thickness and use that as the centerboard. Pretty expnsive for materials if you use epoxy resin. Not so much if you use polyester. No more rust and just a bit lighter!
Another option is stainless steel. That would be expensive. Another option is aluminum plate and that would corrode too but maybe not as fast if you coated it right with zinc chromate and a good two part paint.
Good luck in whatever you choose.
Kind regards,
JohnL

[svquest2]

If you make it too light it won't drop. If it's made of steel it's supposed to be steel. As the boat heels the weight goes to windward to help create the righting moment. Without it the boat will capsize much easier. When the puff heels you over 60 degrees and you are hanging on over the center of buoyancy your weight will contribute nothing to the boats righting moment, It will come from the weight of the center board.

Joe S

[Starbuck]

Grind it down, fair it, paint it, re-install it.

[roverhi]

The boat was designed with the weight of the steel board. Boat will be very tender without it.

Clean the loose rust off and paint it with POR 15. POR loves to stick to light, but not flaking, rust. It is a really tough hard, finish that's almost impossible to scratch. POR needs two coats but I'd probably go for three. Coats need to be painted on while paint is still tacky. If you let it dry, must be sanded or use a special POR undercoat. Put a light coat of primer on the final coat while it's still tacky so bottom pain will stick to it.

The other choice would be too have it hot dip galvanized. That would keep it rust free for years.
Aloha
Peter O.

[d2jp]

I just sold my Rascal, which I did a bit of restoration on. It had a mahogany centerboard, and AFAIK they all had mahogany CBs and rudders. The boat was built from the early 60's to the mid-80's. My guess is someone replaced the original wooded one w/ steel or aluminum. My boat sailed great w/ the magohany board. It's not the fastest boat on the water but a great, stable boat to learn on and have a lot of fun! I still have a bunch of pictures and bits of information if you have any questions...there are not a lot of active Rascal sailers around.

[cburger]

sandblast, fill fair, prime paint

[Solitude]

Remember that rusty steel looks alot worse than it is... as far as a little steel makes alot of rust. Is there heavy pitting?

As others have said you can grind it down to bright metal and use an etching and coating product. I used Interlux interprotect on my iron keel. The proof will be in the next couple haul outs.

[captnamo]

I'm picking up a Rascal tomorrow (Sat.) morning. I didn't know much about them (and still don't). I had a Butterfly when my kids were little, so staying dry while sailing, now that I'm in my 50's, sounds good.

The boat is a beater (she ain't pretty), but appears seaworthy. Baby is heading off to college and wife and I think this should provide a couple's passtime for us.

So, any info. you've found on these boats would be appreciated. The Butterfly was easy to right after a capsize and was self bailing. Any idea about the Rascal? What kind of flotation it has or any other concerns about sailing an older boat of which I should be concerned? Don't know the first thing about refinishing fiberglass. Any hints, tips, websites would be appreciated.

PS--I thought I read somewhere that the center boards were steel at least from one manufacturer.

[StoneBob]

I picked up a 1974 Rascal this month too. It is in very original shape. Very little has been done to it and it looks like it hasn't had too much use. I started my restoration by polishing the top side and giving it a good cleaning. The centerboard seems to be steel but I will have to drop it on the trailer and crawl under to make sure. I read somewhere that you are supposed to trail it with the centerboard released and hopefully laying on a support on the trailer. Makes sense. It would take all the jolts off the lines holding the centerboard up. Keep me in the loop with your restoration.

[StoneBob]

I just checked the 1971 Ray Greene catalog and it says that the centerboard is "cadmium plated". I would assume that means cadmium plated steel since aluminum would be anodized and stainless steel doesn't need plating.