C/B & S/K gripe & praise thread!

[deniseO30]

C/B - centerboard S/K= swing keel

I've pretty much decided my next boat will (if, maybe, ) be 33ft or larger, with a CB like the vintage pearsons. I had a hunter 23 before my fin keeled Oday 30 and I liked the way the S/K (swing keel) worked and allowed for shallow draft. But that was a small boat!

I would love to hear the problems!

How did you solve said problems?

Are (in your opinion) CBs and SWs a viable choice for coastal crusing and shallow bays?

What kind of "high tech" ideas could be applied to CBs and SKs?
example: depth sensor auto retract

my boat is only on the hard one day, and i'm already catching up on my forums!

[tommays]

My first boat yard experience was sawing through the barnacles so a centerboard would go up and down

I am still unsure you you paint up in the trunk to control the issue ?

[chef2sail]

Denise,

We have a c/b 35 C&C mkIII. It is great. There is no noise or rattleing of the C/B or problems raising or lowering it as it is done with a line on a winch on the cabin top. It takes our relatively shoal 4'5" to 6'8".

Huge difference in heeling close hauled on winds greater than 15 knots and helps with pointing ability. When the winds pipe up we just drop it down.

[deniseO30]

tommays, I never would have thought of that! Would high content copper paint help? sprayed in?

[tommays]

I am sure it can be kept under control BUT it would require the boat being lifted enough to fully lower the board so the slot and board can be painted

I think you would have to really let it get out of control to require the saw BUT

[CalebD]

Denise,
Our Tartan 27' has a mostly full keel with a centerboard (C/B). With the board up we draw about 3'6", with it down we draw about 6'. I am quite partial to this design feature as in shallow areas the board will hit the bottom first but can always be raised to get off the bottom - it doubles as a kind of primitive depth meter. I am pretty sure that the C/B for this boat was originally designed to break away in the case of a hard grounding so as not to rupture the trunk. I believe our C/B weighs a little over 100#.
Our boat will sail to weather with the board up but will make a lot more leeway (sliding) without the board deployed. Our board does not lock in place when fully deployed and can swing back up into the trunk, which is not a good thing in rough weather as the board is free to swing about as the boat rocks. I have never experienced conditions where this would be a problem yet. A mechanism for locking the board in place would be better for blue water activities. Until then I can always pull my board up and slide a little.
I have always thought that a C/B was indicative of a light weight protrusion from the keel and a swing keel (S/K) was a much heavier (lets say sever hundred #s) affair. There is also the term 'dagger board' which mostly applies to wind surfers or board sailors - just to clutter up the issue.
In any case, C/B and S/K are largely used interchangeably although I believe this is a bit imprecise.

[GaryHLucas]

Then there is a retractable keel. My Etap 26 keel has bulb which weighs 1500 lb and is raised straight up and down by a powered screw. Because it travels straight up and down there is very little change in trim up or down, just a changing in heeling and pointing. It was nice when I came down to the boat and it wouldn't even rock because it was solidly perched on the bottom. I just pushed the button until we were bobbing again.

Gary H. Lucas

[deniseO30]

Gary... I'd love to see pictures of that one!
my Lil hunter 23 had a SK I didn't lock but I know the laterial pressures kept it locked in the down postion. It could only be raised when in slack water or when docked.

[CapnRon47]

I have a 35' swing keel sailboat the model is named Clearwater and it was built by Holby Marine in Bristol, RI back in the late 80's and early 90's. They only made 7 of the 35' version, there was also a 45' version.



The keel is nearly 4,000 lbs of lead and it swings almost entirely up into the central salon area (there is an 8" wide water tight trunk that divides the salon in two). With the keel up (the rudder also kicks up) the boat draws 1'10" (you read that right) and with it down about 6'. The original owner had it commissioned to explore the many small creeks and rivers along the coast in Maine. We purchased the boat last year for use in North Carolina where we live on a creek that can get pretty shallow (2-3') depending on how the winds blows.

I have only had the boat a year and so my experience is limited. The keel is raised using a 2 speed winch on the cabin top. It takes some effort that could be reduced if that winch were electric. The boat is designed to sail with the keel at any position, but you do sacrifice leeway with it up. Dropping the keel definitely stabilizes the boat and makes heading to wind possible. Downwind it runs fast with the keel up. And it motors well with keel up as well.



this is what the keel looks like partially raised. It has a foil shape, so it provides the forces of a full keel. I have no problem with barnacles as the keel fits the slot tight and is self cleaning when lowering (4,000 lbs removes anything in its path)

The keel will swing up if you should run aground on something hard. There is a hydraulic system that prevents the keel from just dropping back down after going over an obstacle. The PO found out the hard way that when the keel just drops it puts too much strain on the keel pin and other structures. So the hydraulics were added to slowly lower the keel from any raised position.

There are modern manufacturers that make similar designs (Southerly of the UK is one).

We are very happy with this boat, we could not have this size boat in our creek without the swing keel (except for cats of course).

[deniseO30]

CapnRon.. now that is shallow draft!