Are lifting keels worthwhile?

[Old Thady]

I'm planning to buy a 25 foot(ish) yacht which I'll keep on a swinging mooring in West Cork. The idea is to use it for day sailing and the occasional short cruise. The mooring has plenty of water at all states of the tide and I don't propose towing the boat anywhere. The boat would winter in a local boatyard.

These factors would suggest a fin keeler but I quite like the idea of being able to nose into small bays, get close to beaches, explore rivers etc. Some sort of lifting keel/centreboard would make this possible whilst keeping reasonable sailing performance.

My question is whether people who have experience of sailing this size of boat in this kind of area actually use the draft-reducing facility. Do you think it's worth the extra item on the 'things to go wrong' list? My budget dictates an older boat where parts are more likely to fail. Also, requiring a lifting keel greatly reduces one's choice on the used boat market.

I used to own a 22 foot centreboarder and it was great to be able to step off onto the beach. However, that was in a warmer, calmer climate. I'm not sure if a lifting keel would get much use
on a relatively cold and mostly deep coast.

My thanks in advance for any thoughts.

 

[Tranona]

You already seem to have summed up the pros and cons, so the decision is up to you. People who own lifting keel boats usually have them because they meet their requirements and are therefore enthusiastic about them. At that sort of size they make sense if you sail in areas of shallow water or have a drying mooring. Difficult to justify if your main sailing area is deep water. Only you can decide whether you would be able to take advantage of the shallow draft and are prepared to accept the downsides. As you say choice is much more limited and you may decide to forgo the advantages if you can't find a decent lift keel boat.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I have a long keel 26 footer on the Clyde and a lifting keel 16 footer, which I keep on a fresh water loch. The lift keel is great for explorations and, as you say, nosing around, but I didn't even think about looking for one on the "sea" boat. Great for muddy and sandy areas, I am sure, but your west coast is like my west coast and offers fewer possibilities. I wouldn't bother. Lots of complication for little benefit.

Dylan Winter may take an honourably different view, but even he went to bilge keels for the hairy bits.

 

[seumask]

Having had a 25 ft lifting keel boat (Hunter Delta) and now have a bigger Bilge keel boat (Westerly Fulmar), I can say that overall I prefer the Bilge keel approach as you can park on a variety of sea beds, where the lift keel could only park comfortably on Mud or sand. Usually in the Delta we took a tender to get ashore as you are less tied to the time of the tide! We parked ashore a similar number of times a year now in much the same places with the Fulmar.
One disadvantage with the Fulmar is that you don't have the get out of Jail card when you hit the bottom that we did have in the Delta. However on the plus side winter lay up and Boat maintenance is much simple not having to faff with the lift keel arrangements, and more cabin space without the keel case in the way. IMHO the Bilge keel is the best combination of a Fin keel and a Lift keel, I reckon ours sails extremely well ( although not as well as the Delta) and its often hard to tell that's it has two keels!

 

[niccapotamus]

+1 for bilge unless sailing performance outweighs nosing into shallow places and parking on the sea bed. I've watched too many people this winter clouting their stuck lifting keels and swearing to doubt our choice. we did have a lift keeler once but I never managed to get comfortable with the idea

horses for courses though

 

[ProDave]

Well I'm a lifting keel owner, though somewhat smaller than the boat you are looking for.

I'll start by saying we were looking for a small boat that would dry out, so were looking at lifters and bilge keels, and this is the one that came up close to home for sale at a fair price.

You will soon discover there are as many keel lifting arrangements as there are lifting keel designs.

Ours has an encapsulated keel (i.e it's encased in GRP) I was told it's mainly lead but never proved or disproved that. the design of ours us such that it's unlikely ever to jam, as rather than being a narrow keel in an equally narrow slot, it's fairly fat, and the hole it passes through is generous. The mechanism is basically a big rectangular GRP box moulded onto the top of the keel that's a fairly snug fit in the keel box, but all the tight fitting bits are above the waterline inside the keel box so out of trouble.

My biggest "concern" with ours would be the stainless steel lifting rope snapping while the keel is up, I suspect there would be a strong probability of hull damage if the keel just fell and hit the bottom of the boat. So it's important to maintain the lifting mechanism by taking the top off the keel box and examining and lubricating everything. Most times we lower the keel before leaving the harbour, unless we are sneaking out as soon as the incoming tide floats us then we lower the keel as soon as we are in deep enough water. Occasionally have to do the same on return if there's not enough water. That's the only time we have grounded and had to lift the keel.

Another thing most lifting keel owners will tell you is being able to lower the keel while ashore. Over 2 seasons I modified my trailer to allow the keel to be lowered on the trailer (took 2 seasons as first try a measurement was out and it didn't quite work properly).

I don't routinely dry out on a beach, but she does live in a drying harbour and settles on the soft mud comfortably. You have to be sure what you are drying out on, I would not want to dry out on a rocky beach.

Personally I would keep an open mind and see what boats come up for sale near you and look at each one on it's merits.

 

[TSB240]

We used to own a 24 foot lift keeler. We get to all the same places we used to visit with a new to us shallow draft 30 foot wing keeler.
Why have all the disadvantages of a lift keel or bilge keel boat. You can still dry out a fin keeler in sheltered shallow spots either against a wall or with legs.

 

[Kelpie]

We've got a relatively large lift keeler- 33ft, with a swinging centreboard housed in a long keel stub.
The performance with the keel down is very good, and the boat is very nicely balanced.
With the keel up we still draw 3'6 which isn't particularly shallow. She still goes upwind with the keel stuck though, which is useful to know.
The reasoning behind this choice was that we wanted to be able to dry the boat out at the head of the loch by the house, saving us time and money compared to putting her in a boatyard.

I do enjoy having a physical depth sounder, useful when squeezing across a bar into a shallow anchorage for example, not that I've ever scraped it along the bottom.... yet...!

 

[CreakyDecks]

My biggest "concern" with ours would be the stainless steel lifting rope snapping while the keel is up..

Mine has a one inch diameter bar that you shove through it to take the weight when it is raised.
Regarding the choice of lift or twin keels, there are pros and cons, as with everything.

 

[snowleopard]

I've had swing-keel Sonatas where the plate hoists into a stub keel. It reduces the draft from 5 ft to about 18" but you still need legs to dry out. The two big problems were (a) people who insisted on winching the keel up till the hoisting line would twang like a guitar string - then they moaned that the keel had jammed in its housing. (b) needing to jack the boat right up in the air to drop the keel for antifouling.

There's also the risk of getting a stone jammed in the casing when drying out.

There is also the point that the stability rating of a drop-keel boat can only be measured with the keel down if it can be locked in that position. If it drops by gravity the rating will have to be taken with keel hoisted which underestimates its stiffness. Of course in a capsize it would retract and you'd get less righting moment.

 

[ProDave]

Mine has a one inch diameter bar that you shove through it to take the weight when it is raised.
Regarding the choice of lift or twin keels, there are pros and cons, as with everything.

Very valid point.

I doubt it would ever snap while just sat there, the most likely failure would be as you start to lower the keel. Hence why regular maintenance and inspection is wise. In my case most of the ballast is in the keel so it's a heavy old lump, not just a plate.

 

[Old Thady]

Thanks for your responses folks.
There doesn't seem to be any outright winner in this. Perhaps I'll let myself be guided by what comes up in the sixth-hand market.