P21 owners board up safely till what wind speed?

[eaglecreeksailor22]

Good morning all,

I sail an inland lake with good water depth. But we also have periods of light wind days. At what wind speed range do you feel is safe to sail with the board up? Mostly because I forgot to lower it.

Not in water yet but hope to this week end.

Thanks,
Rich

[davepowell]

The purpose of the board is more to minimize lateral movement, particularly when close hauled, than for stability. I always have the board completely down when close hauled, at least partially down on a reach, and up downwind.

[Quantico Frank]

What's a board? Ok, never mind.

[tjspiel]

There's not much weight in those centerboards, - only enough to keep them down. And based on a video that Dave posted to Facebook, - maybe not even enough to do that very well.

They do add some stability when sitting at the dock but will make the boat heel more while sailing. The boat will slide more to leeward when close-hauled with the board up but other than that won't have much impact on safety. 

On a P-18 the centerboard weighs 70 lbs or so. Not sure what they weigh on a 21. Probably a bit more but I bet it's still under 100 lbs.  Contrast that to a swing keel on a Catalina 22 which is more like 600 lbs. Those should definitely be left down (IMO)

[Riggerdood]

Don't worry Rich: the board will remind you that you forgot to put it down when there's enough wind and you're crabbing sideways though the water instead of pointing like you want to.