Rebuilding keel and adding pivoting centerboard to Tinkerbelle

I have a copy of the Tinkerbelle (Robert Manry's boat), but my daggerboard keel is a big mistake. I'd like to rebuild and put in a centerboard (pivoting) but need some information about that.
The new centerboard has to be at least 100 pounds. Need info on a winch and the trunk. Also need to know nature of pivoting pin (bolt?) and wire required for the winch. Thanks. ART

 

Welcome to the Forum Art.

Would you like to post some photos of your Tinkerbelle please?
I remember getting (from the library) Robert Manry's book about his singlehanded passage across the North Atlantic with Tinkerbelle (I think in about 1968?) and reading it avidly - it was an impressive trip.
And Google found this website about him -
The Robert Manry Project - THE MAN - Remembering Robert Manry | The Robert Manry Project https://www.robertmanryproject.com/the-man/

 

Some images found on Duck-Duck-Go under whitecap Tinkerbelle. The catalog page is from WHCA. The plan is from a blog Arwen's Meanderings The photo is from the SEAS museum in Sheboygan.

Art, it would be great to see some pictures of yours.

So you want to go from the seagoing dagger board back to a centerboard but use a winch instead of the friction lever in the old literature?

I bet I could fit one of these in the dining room...

 

Art-if you have some pictures, you can use the upload file link or email them to me. Let me know.

pictures would really be needed for best advice

 

You need to give us more info. Centerboard can be solid steel or ballasted wood. The keel probably needs a doubler to allow for the longer cutout, but that and the trunk construction depend on how the boat was originally buildt (traditional or glued). The pivot can be suspended in a yoke or go trough the trunk with waterproof endcaps. Winch is whatever you prefer, can even be a big box store special. Nowadays people don't use wire anymore, 3mm dyneema is more then sufficient.

 

Investigate the method used for Thistle class dinghys. If I remember correctly, the board weighs 75 pounds. It has a tackle of about 4 parts that raises or lowers it. Simple and reliable method borne out by experience with the Thistle.

 

Hi: Thanks for responding. Didn't expect much interest in this; glad you did answer. I'll try to post some photos. These photos were taken a year ago, but the boat, which was just taken out of the Long Island Sound (needs repairs), still looks pretty much the same. You'll notice in the photos of the boat on the trailer, that there is an extension of the L-shaped keel (100 lbs) which, when trailered, looms high over the cabin. There's a problem with this (although it allows me to hang the board very low in the water, drawing at least 32 inches). If I hit something - anything - there is no pivoting action, because it's a daggerboard. The trunk gets 'destroyed' if it's a really bad collision. It's happened already. I really don't feel like rebuilding the boat, but if I cut some of this upper extension (the forward part), I'll lose some needed ballast weight, and then I'm not sure that the board will hang balanced (i.e., level).
Robert Manry did not rig his daggerboard like I did. I'm pretty sure his hung by a lip and was not supported by any stainless steel bolts. Of course, he still had the a stainless wire as a backup attached to a winch, as well. But... the reason I didn't copy that was because I thought the daggerboard rigged like that would just flop around. Also, there was nothing to prevent it from guillotining if he turned turtle. Ah, well, big mistake, but I've lived with it all these years (regretting it).
There are other major flaws, as well, but I'll not get into them right now.

 

Hi: Thanks for responding. Didn't know about 3mm "dyneema" - good info. I want to keep the present daggerboard trunk if I can. (If I can't, the whole cabin has to taken out.) The present board is one piece of steel with some cutouts for hanging the board. Weighs 100 lbs. As with Robert Manry's boat ("Tinkerbelle") there is a problem with weather helm if I don't get the balance right on changing this.
ART