Hi All,

That was my question as well.  I’ve never heard of this kind of centerboard failure.  Is there any way we can get some photos and an inspection of the remaining stub of the centerboard?  One potential mechanism to break it like that would be a spiral fracture.  Somehow, the tip of the lowered centerboard would have to be held rigidly.  Like say, the centerboard got wedged in a crack in a submerged rock.  While the centerboard was thus held, the boat was forced to yaw thru many degrees of rotation, say by wave action or tidal currents.  The centerboard would store potential energy like a torsion spring, eventually failing in a spiral fracture.  The story behind that scenario would make an interesting tale I’m sure!

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
1978. Sanford, MI

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 18, 2025, at 9:19 AM, peter beckerman via Rhodes22-list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> wrote:
> 
> What in the world caused a centerboard to so completely break?  Was there an accident (trailering perhaps)?
> Has anyone heard of this happening before?
> 
> Peter
> 
> [ Sent From rhodes22.net ]
>