Tranona
Well-Known Member
Re: Bavaria Keel problem - Who\'d test their boat like this?
They don't - at least not production boats. Thousands upon thousands never have any problems with their keels.
Can't think of any that "fell off" in normal use - that is failing to cope with the loads for which they were designed. I can think of a few that were badly designed and/or built - for example several models of Westerlys 30-40 years ago, many where clearly they had been subject to loads for which they were designed and some where the problem was individual to the boat.
However, it is not systemic - that is it exists across a wide range of designs and is definitely not restricted to "modern" keels as I explained earlier. Attaching a heavy lump of lead or iron to the bottom of a boat has always been potentially problematic - I have had more keel problems with my long keel boat than either of my two "modern" fin keels.
As the evidence shows the problem today is mainly on boats that are raced or intensively sailed and almost always have had groundings or hit other objects. If you know that is going to happen then choose a boat that is less likely to suffer damage. However in doing so you rule out keel types that give a performance advantage, and as performance is central to competitive sailing, most owners don't go down that route.
The focus is always on the negatives - that is a juicy little incident that immediately starts a chorus of derision aimed at designers and builders when invariably it is the user who is most responsible, and ignores all the other, vast majority of boats which perform exactly as the designer and builder intended.
They don't - at least not production boats. Thousands upon thousands never have any problems with their keels.
Can't think of any that "fell off" in normal use - that is failing to cope with the loads for which they were designed. I can think of a few that were badly designed and/or built - for example several models of Westerlys 30-40 years ago, many where clearly they had been subject to loads for which they were designed and some where the problem was individual to the boat.
However, it is not systemic - that is it exists across a wide range of designs and is definitely not restricted to "modern" keels as I explained earlier. Attaching a heavy lump of lead or iron to the bottom of a boat has always been potentially problematic - I have had more keel problems with my long keel boat than either of my two "modern" fin keels.
As the evidence shows the problem today is mainly on boats that are raced or intensively sailed and almost always have had groundings or hit other objects. If you know that is going to happen then choose a boat that is less likely to suffer damage. However in doing so you rule out keel types that give a performance advantage, and as performance is central to competitive sailing, most owners don't go down that route.
The focus is always on the negatives - that is a juicy little incident that immediately starts a chorus of derision aimed at designers and builders when invariably it is the user who is most responsible, and ignores all the other, vast majority of boats which perform exactly as the designer and builder intended.
