Quote:
Originally Posted by witzgall
Concerning cast iron keels. We have one on our boat, and I actually like it. I wonder if some of the bad issues following a grounding are not the keel's fault, but related to skimpy construction. We have ten one-inch ss bolts holding ours on, with a beefy stub and supporting framework. I don't think you would find that on a Beneteau.
I wonder how much shock the lead keel would actually absorb, compared to the water surrounding the boat? I would think it would be an insignificant portion. But if the stuff the keel is attached to is not up to the task, well then you have problems. This would be the case regardles of the keel's makeup, but since it is iron, let's blame the keel, instead of the substandard supporting matrix.
Chris
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I have to disagree pretty strongly. Not sure if you've ever seen a lead keel after an impact. Believe me, the lead absorbs quite a bit. I don't care what kind of boat you have, if you have a hard grounding with the front end of an iron keel, you are going to have glass damage at the aft end of your keel boss. And believe it or not, the more stout your hull is constructed the more likelihood that you'll have much more damage. The lighter hull will flex much more and absorb at least some of the shock, whereas a more heavily laid up hull will suffer more damage. Likewise, cored hulls just get ruined in collisions because the hulls are so stiff due to the coring that they don't flex at all, so they just splinter. No two ways about it, lead keels are better in every respect for cruising boats, and not just because of the grounding situation; they are more dense so are heavier and make it easier to have a higher ballast to displacement ratio, and they don't corrode. Sometimes racing boats benefit from iron or steel keels because the cord can be smaller, and thus less underwater surface area, but short of that there's not too much to recommend an iron keel over lead (except cost and perhaps some environmental issues I guess).