Centerboard Crack (by tang)

[FYC7.9]

In the market for 7.9 and while looking at one recently I noticed a crack at the top of the centerboard near the tang for the lifting mechanism. Anyone have this happen before? Is this something to be overly concerned about? It would seem that the tang should be attached to the metal structure inside the centerboard and that it could be just cosmetic, but I'm not 100% sure.

Any help/ideas would be much appreciated. See attached picture

[AJ Oliver]

Dear FYC -

I would not worry too much about that. It is not a difficult fix. But what you should do is have the dagger board pulled out of the boat as part of the survey. That will give you more information about the CB's overall condition. Check the CB trunk too while the board is out - repairs to that are much more tricky than to the CB itself.

Also get a pro surveyor to use a moisture meter to check for water intrusion around the mast step and the area around the winches on the coamings - probably the transom too.

7.9's with these issues can still be very much worth while (I love my #445!) - but you should not have to pay top dollar for such a boat. There is lots of help available on the 7.9 web site on these repairs.

[Tom Elsen]

Very common. Not a big deal at all.
Would recommend letting the boat dry out over the winter, then painting the top of the board with something dense and reasonably waterproof.
You may want to add a thick layer of elastomeric sealant at the base of the tang after that's done.
Good luck.

[Stef]

I had this problem too. Was devastated, but the the fix was easy, real easy. Tang was bent too. Straightened it out and filled all the pockets with epoxy mixed with microfibres.
Have had the board out 2 times since the repair and all is perfect.