Currently own a 1969 Pearson 35 that I've sailed to Hawaii. Seldom put the board down as I'm a cruiser and try not to go hard on the wind. The board makes no noise when up but does clunk when down off the wind or at anchor. Going to weather it's mostly silent. Of course off the wind or at anchor, the board is almost always up so not an issue. The only I know about the clunking is I've forgotten to retract the board a couple of times. My board is a relatively light foam filled fiberglass affair with enough weight in the bottom for it to go down. When I bought the boat six years ago, the cable had been replaced by the PO. Didn't find out till I hauled last year that he had used galvanized wire. It was getting rusty but looked like it would have gone a few more years. Replaced it with Dyneema which will hopefully outlive me. My previous center boarder, Morgan 35, had issues with galvanic corrosion of the centerboard pendant. Even Monel wire wouldn't last more than a season or two. That boat had so many other issues not related to the board, that I never found out why it had problems with galvanic corrosion but Dyneema line would have solved the problem. Replacement of the pennant was super easy. Just cut the nico press swage off the old pennant, taped the Dyneema line onto it and pulled the pre spliced synthetic through.

This is the second center board that I've owned and, like this one, seldom deployed the board. A couple that did a circumnavigation in a center board Tartan 37 removed the board before they left on their journey. From anecdotal reports, sailing without the board is not all that uncommon. Have run aground with both my C/B boats a few times. Not an issue except once did get small rock forced up into the well and jammed the board up. Worked the rock out with a screw driver and everything was back to normal. Some people claim to use their board as a depth sounder waiting till it starts dragging on the bottom to tell them the depth. Wouldn't reccomend it as inadvertant side loading could snap the board off or bend it.

A centerboard boat is not a drop keel boat like a McGregor and others. The centerboard does very little, if anything, for stability and are usual pretty light. Swing keel boats actually use the board as ballast. To my mind they are dangerous boats suitable only for protected waters. A knock down can cause the keel to retract seriously affecting stability. Not the case with a keel/centerboard.