Hey guys,

I noticed last weekend that I was getting a fair bit of water coming up through the centreboard while sailing while I had the centreboard both up and down. I thought I'd check it out on Saturday to see if there was anything wrong with it. I discovered that I have a screw missing in the gasket, and from what I can see I have no idea how to access it to put a new one in there...

The other thing I found is that the rubber seals are coming away in small sections from the gasket. They're not perishing, just looks like they've come "unglued" or however they are attached to the gasket.

I've looked online for replacement gaskets for the Mistral One Design, but only found one for the Equip which I understand may not be the same size??

Any ideas on how to get a new screw in there to fix it up, and also what the best thing is to fix up the rubber seals? I thought about superglue-ing it, but If I can I'd rather do a proper job to avoid any dramas down the track if possible.







Thanks!

First you should have made mention of the board type in the main heading, I'm sure you would have gained much more information that way. Whether I can be of any help with what is a very old part of the MOD; anyhow I'll offer my experiences in the maintenance of a 90's MOD board.
I myself have 'googled' for new gaskets, but to no avail. I personally don't think any exist or are being made. The very latest
MOD's (a few years back) I've seen in the Far East seem to have very different components altogether.
Just how the factory made our gaskets is beyond me as they only have a mere 1mm of surface attachment of rubber to plastic. May be some type of 'welding' was used to fuse the two parts together ? Aligning the two edges whilst being attached is also
interesting to think about.
For all the use they can get they are reasonable study when new, but after so many years they will eventually start to break up.
I've tried many (all but kwik grip contact) glues, and while they hold for a week or so, they do not last ! Lately I've just applied some duct tape along the sections that have opened up to at least hold the parts together and avoid any more tearing whilst sailing at high speeds. Place the tape half over the plastic, and half over the rubber.
Even when new the gaskets never form a full water tight seal. You will always have some water churning around in the centreboard case.
The attached pictures show how the gasket is hinged with the male 'pin' section being positioned above the female 'groove' section. They just snap together when pushed / lightly hammered down.
To remove, just start at one end and prise a small length open (it a tough material & won't break), then using a screw driver run the shank of the blade horizontally along the whole length separating the 'pin' from the 'groove'. It takes only moments before
the whole length becomes open and you then have access to all the screw heads. Replacing them is the very easy part.







Hope this is helpful.

Thanks robhow2!

I wondered if it would be a simple as this but didn't want to take the risk in case it broke, and then I'd be stuffed with no replacement parts!

You might also want to track down some silicon spray and do the track and the centreboard gaskets.

Sailkote mclube is very good stuff. Just don't get it on things you don't want slipping. Like the top of you centre board or the head of your boom.

Also handy to tape the start of the gaskets with sticky back cloth.

Pretty sure dave modified an rsx gasket to fit his mistral. If you can pop down to rq saturday arvo he can probably give you some tips