Stopping the centerboard popping up!

My centerboard on my MKIII Enterprise will not stay in the position i set it, no matter what sort of pipping i attach to the center board itself and no matter how much i compress it. · Originally posted by bferry

My centerboard on my MKIII Enterprise will not stay in the position i set it, no matter what sort of pipping i attach to the center board itself and no matter how much i compress it.
Never sailed an Ent, but presumably it's a friction system? I've used Jap tape on a Contender, it works very well applied to the board - I've never tried sticking it onto the case, it's much easier to get at the board to do it. You may need a bit of trial and error to get it right. Start with a short 3-4" strip each side of the board somewhere a few inches out from the  pivot. A 2nd strip may help if it's close to being OK with one, or if it's really loose a 2nd strip on top of the first. If it's that loose you are probably going to have a better long term job by increasing the width of the top of the board a bit. I've seen it done very neatly by putting tape around the edges of the top of the board, sticking up slightly, to create a lip. If you then pour resin onto the board and leave it horizontal - the resin will flow and add a bit of thickness across the top of the board. Clearly you need to judge the amount you need to add fairly carefully or you will end up doing a lot of sanding!

Edited by PeterG - 22 Nov 12 at 1:01pm