I have been periodically checking and watching the pivot hole in one of the 3 mm thick GRP centreboard shims, wear on my new Phantom 380. The board is only 1/2 a season old and the pivot hole in one shim is already showing signs of enlarging. As I see it the shim wear problem could be reduced if the brass pivot pin was made slightly longer. The centreboard slot in my board is 30 mm wide, the brass pivot pin is 28 mm long, so the pin can “float” across the slot by 2 mm. The current system does not allow any “lateral control” of where the pin sits. In the worst situation the pivot pin would be seated fully in one shim (3mm) and be seated only 1 mm into the other shim. That is what I think has been happening with my board. I am thinking that if I make a new brass pin that is (say) 29.8 mm long, then the pin will only be able to “laterally float” 0.2 mm and therefore remain reasonably seated in each shim all the time. Is anyone else seeing the same sort of wear on their centreboard mounting shims at the pivot?

Sounds like you may need to shim your dagger box to reduce the amount of play in your daggerboard. If you dagger can move back and forth (up and down if your board is on its side) too much, imagine the forces involved with a fully powered sail attached to the board, your body weight pushing againts it, etc. So the 'play' in your dagger will wear that hole oval in no time. The brass pin is probably the correct length, just shim the dagger equally on both sides with very thin plastic sheets (old water bottle, javex bottle, etc) to reduce the play in the dagger board and this will reduce your wear problems.

I have done this to both of my Phantom 380's (1st & 2nd generation) and it works well.

Good winds!

Thanks Woody, I am interested to know whether your thin shims make the operation if the centreboard more difficult. I spray the C/B with silicone before every sail to try to reduce the friction. Occasionally it still jams, but not often. On my board the assembly of the 2 GRP mounting shims and the C/B total 28.7 mm thick. This assembly is fitted into the 30 mm wide slot so that means there is 1.3 mm of play. I assume that you glue your thin plastic shims to the sides of the C/B slot. So each plastic shim could be a maximum of 0.6 mm wide.

Were your mods made with a view to reducing wear or was the motive to enhance the operation of the centreboard ? I am interested to know if others are experiencing wear at the mounting shim pivot point.

We have made 2 new longer pins and they have been trimmed to length to match the C/B slot width of 2 Phantoms 380s so now it will be interesting to watch what happens regarding wear on the shims. There is a 3rd Phantom at our club that has not been altered so I hope we can do a comparison over the rest of the season.
.

I spray my dagger and gasket with McLube (silicone spray) to ease the operation of the dagger as well, seeing as the gasket on the Phantom 380 is very stiff. I never took any measurements to the 1/2mm on my kits, I just shimmed with different shapes and thicknesses of plastic until I found out what worked best. Minimal play with ease of operation was my final goal.

Now the dagger on my board is rather stiff getting it into the fully-down position, but I prefer it this way so it stays down, and doesn't have a tendancy to ride back up during a race in chop. I also wear booties, so that helps me with 'foot wear' when operating the dagger. Again, I have it tailored for my style. Everyone else may not do it that way.

Just to note; I didn't glue any of my shims in place. I just cut them in a fashion so they are forced to stay in place in the dagger box area. I'll post some pictures of my shims in the spring when I get my board out of its current Canadian hibernation!

Good winds..

Woody - CAN757

Since reading your post, I checked my phantom 320 and I have the same problem.

I have posted your question on the Starboard "Ask our team" forum. I think it would be a valid waranty claim. I will also send a note to the shop I purchased my board from.

Starboard have provided new improved design plates to replace the worn ones under waranty.

Hey Tony That is good news. Do the new mounting shims look much different to the original shims? When the construction problem with the 2007 Phantoms 380s was discovered and the boards were recalled the 2009 Phantoms 380s came with longer mounting shims.
They looked as though they were made exactly like the previous mounting shims but because they were longer (along the deck) they provided a reinforced area for the nylon stop-pin on the top of the centreboard to bear against on the deck when the centreboard is in the fully down position. On the 2007 version the stop-pin had crushed its way into the deck of the board and left localised dings either side of the centreboard slot. I guess some of that crushing came from excess foot force being applied when the *?%$^@ thing would get jambed when we 1st started sailing the new boards. On re-reading your post is your Phantom a 320 or a 380?