Hey all, sailing 2039 in Ireland as often as I can but not as often as I'd like. She's shipping a wee bit of water around the housing of centre-board and under the front buoyancy tank. Can't seem to locate specific leaks. Is there any kind of clear sealer /resin etc. that I can paint on under varnish/instead of varnish/with varnish? Any ideas greatly appreciated.

Many older merlins leak like that. Does it stop after a while? When the wood gets wet it swells and 'takes up' so for now it might just be a case of pouring a few buckets of water inside a day or two before you sail. When you do that, you will probably see where it is leaking out from underneath when it's on the trolley. I use sikaflex 291 to seal up the persistent leaks which you can sand and varnish over. In emergencies I have put some on a cracked joint and sailed leak free within an hour. Or you could use rigging tape which will stay stuck under water but may remove paint or varnish if you leave it on too long.

Cheers thanks John. The boards needing a bit of swelling makes a lot of sense as I keep the boat in a shed and get out on the water infrequently. Will try chucking in a few buckets before the next outing.