Beaching Brewer12.8

I recently bought hull 6 ( I believe) of the 9 boats made. The previous owner got mad at the centerboard and dropped it in the bay at Luperon DR. Now just the cavity and pin remains. He said it thumped all the time and had a restraining fixed wire that vibrated bad at speeds over 5.5kn. The wire was to prevent the board from going forward and hitting the keel opening. It weighed 300 lbs. So I ask this forum what others have done and for suggestions. George

the centerboard or swing keel, is a pain and useless...
it bangs in a sea way and i get concerned that it would do damage to the hull...and next to impossible to retract..
i have thought about shaping the board so it would fit into "wedge" in the deployed position...
looking at it underwater it waves like seaweed with the current... i don't think it can be deployed
successfully....
if anyone is interested in contracting ted and have him design a "fix"... deeper and maybe a bulb?...
i have a rough estimate from a yard of $10,000 for something like that...

No kidding dick tracy. Why would one go back to the designer who failed miserably in original centerboard design.. The previous owner of my 12.8 got so frustrated he just unhooked it ant let it drop in Luperon DR

I totally disagree. We have owned Blue Prince Brewer 12.8 number 11 for 13 years and have always used the centerboard successfully up wind. We did have one problem when the pennant became disconnected and the board dropped straight down and we had to be hauled in Buzzards bay. That was a hassle and I was lucky to find a yard that could haul me with the board down and they had me out by nine AM and back in the water by 3. I did replace the pennant again after another 8 years before we headed for the Bahamas just to be on the safe side. I find that although the board is hard to raise it will come up with just a little effort if raised while motoring. The speed of the boat does seem to give a big boost to reduce the effort needed. Blue prince is one of the few 12.8 ketches but that should not make much difference. When sailing with the board down the weather helm is significantly reduced.

I guess you got one where the crtboard didn't thunk thunk all the time and the restraining wire didn't vibrate at speed?

Does anyone have a spare board?? Here is sketch of ridiculous hoisting arrangement. As you can see it has a tube within keel that has a 90 degree turn in a 6-8 inch radius ......No wonder its a 1000 lb pull to move a 300 lb board.