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What type of Keel do you prefer....

11K views 95 replies 36 participants last post by  harmonic 
#1 ·
With all of the different types of keels available, I'm curious to know which are the most popular amongst all of you sailors out there... :cut_out_animated_em
 
#25 ·
Boy, as noted at the top of page three by now not posting here Valenti, about post by t34c Robert Gainer. Jeff saying the same as I am feeling. An old timer, now gone with good info! Just as this person will be missed with his opins on different boat designs, things etc....

As far as which keel, will still to my lackadaisical way of saying on initial posts. Opinions are like a-holes, we all them, they all stink!

ALL keels, no matter the design, have plus and minus's. Choose your poison, do not look back!

marty
 
#13 ·
............ I will say ALL have plus and minus's. "It Depends" is probably the correct answer.

Marty
I agree; it really depends.

A low aspect keel operates similarly to an aircraft delta wing and provides lift through spanwise vorticity . They can produce a large amount of lift at very low speeds and at high angles of attack and high loading that would completely stall a higher aspect foil.
A low aspect keel can suit a slower heavier cruising setup allowing it to sail slowly to windward, and with decent lift which can suit a tired or short crew. They don't have the poor stall characteristics (the sudden loss of lift) of a high aspect foil.

However a lot of keel hung rudders with prop apertures were draggy and had poor turning moments since they work by changing the centre of effort of the keel rather than operating as a separate lifting foil. Modern full keel variants are better with a slightly shorter keel and a separate semi balanced rudder well aft.

A high aspect keel is a foil, or wing, and produces lift from foil action which is quite a different operational paradigm. A light fast boat benefits significantly from the reduced wetted surface area and can usually be kept moving well enough for the keel to develop lift. But they do stall more easily and stall abruptly losing most of their lift at stall.
 
#12 ·
Depends on the kind of sailing I'm doing and where. Currently have and prefer a fin keel, next boat will probably be some type of full or semi full keel. Owned trailerable weighted centerboard boats up to 21', planing centerboard dingies when I was young and wanted to race.
 
#17 ·
A deep, high aspect lifting keel. A large part of the popularity of modern lifting keels is that is gives all those 'deep keel' benefits, with the ability to take the boat into shallow/tidal areas. The keel on the Pogo 12.50 gives almost 12 feet of draft for enormous stability, but comes up at the press of a button to 3 feet. In addition, the mechanism has a hydraulic fuse that opens and protects the boat in the event of a very hard grounding; one that would almost certainly cause structural damage to a fixed keel.



Our smaller boat the First 260 has almost the same keel, just with a manual lifting screw in place of the fancy hydraulics.
 
#18 ·
I don't think the question was "What is the best keel?" but rather, "What do you like about YOUR keel?".

Our Lancer 25 has a shoal keel and draws 30". The keel is long, about 8-10 feet, and 21" wide, kind of looks like a submarine conning tower. It's that wide because you stand in it inside. The setup gives us about 5'10 headroom for much of the cabin. The drawback is performance, as you can well surmise. But we go places that sailboats have no business going. Plus, we can launch in 3' of water. It "aint easy", but we can do it. With our 10' tides, I'm less likely to go keel deep in the flats than others, so I can gunkhole in some private spots. I've sailed into places with people waving me off. I smile and wave back as I pass though 3 foot areas. I would love to have a boat with better sailing characteristics but I gotta tell you, the access is nice too.
 
#19 ·
I don't think the question was "What is the best keel?" but rather, "What do you like about YOUR keel?".
If that is the case... then hard to beat my lifting weighted daggerboard for trailering, or gunk-holing.. Boat literally can float in 18 inches of water (board up), and it's a self-righting boat, even board up...

Downside? If I run aground board down, I might very well, destroy the dagger trunk, or worse, compromise the hull.

We have a very stone-laden bottom lake that is nicely average depth of about 24 feet. The edges drop off nicely mostly around the lake, but there are a few places that one must not sail. I've been lucky - so far.

Prior to the present boat, I had a deep fixed fin keel. Prior to that I had a fixed wing keel.

Loved how the fin sailed (probably best of the bunch), horrible to trailer launch.

Loved the wing keel to launch, terrible point out of it though (boat sailed sideways until it got up to speed.

So among the 3, I'd say the lifting weighted dagger is the best compromise.

L
 
#20 ·
I like my own keel (don't most of us?) that allows sailing close to the wind when it's all the way down, but then can be tucked completely away when necessary to float in less than 2' of water. I still have 6'3" headroom under the coachroof on my 35 footer. Here's a couple of views with keel down, keel up, and a close shot of the keel housed.

These photos were taken last season after the first layer of barrier coat was applied. BTW, the rudder also swings up, but happens to be down here.
 

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#21 ·
I like my keel deep and heavy for safety and upwind performance, encapsulated for easy maintenance (no bolts or leaks to worry about), and made of lead so they will not rust and be a total PITA to maintain.
 
#24 ·
Have moderate aspect fin ( by modern standards ) with bulb but encapsulated. Bottom half of cavity is pored lead. The bulb bolted on ( it's split in half. Then whole thing glassed over again.
Allows excellent avs. Very good pointing ability. Moderate draft of 6 1/2' no no keel bolts.
Have had full, modified full, very high aspect fin in past. Current design fits current use of half BWS and half coastal. If I was going more coastal would go keel/ centerboard. Agree some interesting spots in the nucks and crannies.
Find the asymmetric horizontal wing keels a fascinating idea. Bottom flat. Top curved. Just like a true wing. Deploy one on the leeward side and away you go. The stronger the wind the faster you go. The faster you go the more lift. Flat sailing not dependent on just keel weight but not foiling so usable in a seaway. Pull them in when downwind. No wetted surface so no parasitic drag from a keel.
 
#28 ·
On my current boat, I procrastinated for a long time whether to go for a single keel or twin keels. Going for for twin keels was one of the best decisions I made .In the last 32 Years ,I have never paid to tie to a dock, which has given me the freedom to cruise 11 months a year( which is what a cruising boat is for). I have only paid for two haulouts in that time ( only because I was in an area where the tide was too little ,and I had 4,000 miles of windward sailing ahead of me.)
I lose only about 5% performance over a single keel, and then only to windward. Rolling is greatly damped by twin keels.
In the 80's, 80% of the boats I did went for single keels. Now 80% want twin keels, and those who went single keel, wish they had gone for twin keels.
The advantage is mainly where there is lots of tidal range.
 
#30 ·
We chose this boat specifically for this area. Lots of shallow, uncharted waters with coral heads etc. What we like about our keels are that they only draw a meter of water, which is pretty good for a 40 ft. boat, and they are just over an inch thick, and solid fiberglass. Guess I could say my favorite keels are ones with water under them.
 
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