Sailing on without noticing they had lost the keel!!!

[PCP]

This is probably the most incredible story I have ever heard about sailing boats.

It turned out that a charter crew hit a rock and continue sailing without noticing they had lost the keel. You find it hard to believe?

Try this:

After that, the boat was chartered by another crew that went sailing happily in a boat without keel (and ballast). They didn't noticed anything and delivered safely the boat. Only a thirdd crew, after a broach suspected that there was something wrong. The 37ft Jeanneau boat made around 150nm sailing without its keel and ballast without anybody (two crews) noticing that there was something wrong with the boat.

Can you believe this?

The story is on the December edition of YachtingMonthly.

Regards

Paulo

[Faster]

Sailing or motoring?????

[AE28]

Wazza keel?
Does the boat go faster without one?

[btrayfors]

PCP,

No, I don't believe it Paulo.

Somebody on the editorial staff of Yachting Monthly was either on PCP or playing a prank on their readers :-)

Bill

[mgmhead]

Wow... that's some rock they hit.

[mgmhead]

Was this by any chance the April 1 edition?

[PCP]

They struck the rock motoring. They have sailed out Falmouth to the Scilly Islands (that's on this leg they had hit the rock), got some disturbed seas at Lizard Point and then returned to Falmouth, motorsailing with a genoa and 12K of ap wind on the starboard quarter.

They don't mention if the second crew used their sails, but when you charter a sailboat it is supposed to sail the boat.

The third crew was sailing because they have broached when they were already delivering the boat on the return trip, near the base.

Regards

Paulo

[PCP]

Originally Posted by mgmhead

Was this by any chance the April 1 edition?

December edition, I mean next December

[Barquito]

Hey, modern boats have so much of the beam carried aft, do they even need ballast?

[Harborless]

I do not see how this could be true. As soon as the keel detached and a moderate swell came from any angle besides direct to stern or aft the boat would have capsized immediately.