) 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!
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.
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.
