By Jorg Pawlik Jorg Pawlik won the 1994 Canadian Albacore Championship, sailing in CAN7544, a standard, experienced community club boat in a fleet that included the fastest of the old and brand new Albacores. In this article he continues his description of the adjustments and fixes that can benefit most older boats in the fleet. In the last issue of Shackles I discussed fixes to the hull and promised fixes for the rig in this issue. Before getting to the rig, there are a few more hull type things to check. The centerboard gasket must close smoothly and lie flat when the board is out of the water.
Most gaskets are permanently deformed so that they protrude below the hull.
If yours is like that, replace it. While you're at it fill the screw heads and any roughness along the aluminum gasket hold-down strips and around the bailers. If you have a standard rudder, it is probably too big, too blunt in the leading edge and too fat in the trailing edge. Furthermore, it probably doesn't communicate well with the helm. The resulting blade has a significantly better 'feel'.