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RL24, RL28, and RL34 Trailable Yachts
from Rob Legg Yachts
RL Yacht Owner's Discussion Forum
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Replying to:
Inspecting and Changing keel winch wire on RL24
I have a lot of work to do on my RL24 Mk1, and one thing I wonder about is the keel wire. It seems galvanised wire is pretty standard, though my other swing keel boats had either rope or stainless wire to raise the centreboards. I have had a wire fail, and a rope fail. In both cases it was at a very inconvenient time. There's also no real way to check the business end of a galvanised wire to see if it has rusted, and after comparing my old galvanised anchor chain that has lasted more than 30 years, with a new one I bought five years ago that is rusting in many places, I don't trust modern galvanising. I've looked at the RL24 and can't see a simple way to replace or repair a broken wire or a broken shackle when on a trip somewhere, say 20 miles from the boat ramp. Has anybody fitted their centreboard case with screw in access ports big enough to get fingers and tools into? It seems about 150mm diameter should be enough to get a hand in with tools from both sides if the boat was driven carefully into the shallows and allowed to dry out. Just thought I should ask if anyone has done this before? or if there is any reason it could be a problem, although I can;t see that adding a waterproof port each side would make the centrecase weaker - quite the opposite I would think.