Maxi Keys

My marina unfortunately lost my spare set of keys so I needed a replacement set.  I tried Najad but the message was “we only have spares for the 1060 and the 1300 except for rudders”!  The keys are unusual with a special blank but these were found from Onmar in Sweden on www.onmar.se and can be cut at a high street cobbler.

Thanks to Jullian Trimming for this information June 2011

A number of Maxi 95 owners have had to replace their cabin windows and various ideas have emerged on suitable materials. One such material is “Lexan”, a high impact polycarbonate sheet.   Another Maxi sourced some material from “Talking Plastics” in Havant.

More recently, Ken Johnson suggests that “GE (GENERAL ELECTRIC) MARGUARD a polycarbonate with anti scratch and chemical resistant coating is available from a supplier in Hull (look on Ebay for address) for around £100 for one boat. Easily cut and drilled, don’t use acrylic, as it’s not strong enough.”

Since we sailed our Maxi 38+ to the Algarve & left it there over the winter, we will need it to be antifouled before proceeding to The Med next year. I therefore contacted the chandlers/marine paint shop to check prices & found that a 2.5 litre tin cost 51% more than in the UK. So I started enquiries with the manufacturer in the Southampton area & they have sent emails to & fro Denmark/Portugal/Spain & I think I now have the price down to UK levels BUT that was not the main problem!

In the UK, antifoul is called by a trade descriptive name whether it be eroding or hard & it also has a code number. In other countries the paint is also given descriptive names with a code number,
e.g. “Hard Racing” but that term does mean the same as “Hard Racing” in UK!! So whatever antifoul paint one uses in the UK, it has a code number & that number has to be used if one wishes to continue using a compatible paint when purchasing it in another country.

I was confused when informed that I should use “Hard Racing” over my existing eroding paint & this confusion was at first also experienced by the UK subsidiary manufacturer/supplier.

Hugh Rowan

Most modern Maxi Yachts (along with many other makes of yacht) are fitted with Volvo Penta engines with sail-drives. It is essential to understand how the anodes protect the saildrive and the prop, and to test/inspect at appropriate times…

Galvanic protection to the saildrive installation is implemented using a ring anode bolted to the sail-drive leg. This anode protects the leg and sometimes the propeller from corrosion. If this anode doesn’t work properly or replaced when worn, your saildrive may corrode – horribly expensive! Later models of saildrive anode can be replaced without removing the propeller.

The two and three bladed folding propellers currently use anodes bolted to the propeller for galvanic protection. Older propellers (and some non-Volvo-Penta folding props) do not have these anodes and rely on the leg anode for protection.The Volvo-Penta folding propeller fitted with anodes is electrically isolated from the propeller shaft, the propeller without anodes is not.

The anodes are intended to reduce the risk of dezincification, which makes the prop very fragile: you can tell if dezincification has occurred by the reddish colour and a dull metallic sound instead of a clean “ring” when tapped.The Leg anode only protects the leg as the leg is electrically isolated from the engine. Owners should ensure that additional electrical work does not electrically connect the leg to the engine or electrical ground. My opinion is that additional hull anodes connected to the engine ground will not have any effect on leg or propeller corrosion.

Related topics: 1100 propeller size, Rope cutters, Propellers and Anodes,

Mick