Beneteau First 32s5, winged keel

M

martindinham

Member
Joined
21 Nov 2007
Messages
40
Location
Falmouth,Cornwall
Visit site
Hi folks;

First post - here goes.... I've just acquired a (fairly well used) First 32s5 from 1989 and would be very interested to hear from other owners about their general experiences of the boat. In particular, can anyone tell me if the winged keel is suitable for taking the ground ?

All info much appreciated !
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. I am not or ever have been a Benny owner.

I do recall that people on the forum have talked about an owners Assc, you may do well to Google that and give them a try.

Good luck in your search.
 
Hi and welcome. Has one of these years ago -- what`s yours called? Overall a nice boat -- when racing we were always disapointed with the upwind performance but she flew off the wind and as as cruiser which is what she really is her performance is very respectable. Nice acc as I recall ,very striking in its time. Cannot help re the keel as ours was a Fin.
 
Serefe

martindinham said:
Hi folks;

First post - here goes.... I've just acquired a (fairly well used) First 32s5 from 1989 and would be very interested to hear from other owners about their general experiences of the boat. In particular, can anyone tell me if the winged keel is suitable for taking the ground ?

All info much appreciated !
Click to expand...

Hi I have just found your message reference Serefe. I used to own her and sailed her to St. Lucia on the ARC. The crossing was featured on a documentary called "Going to Extremes" on Channel 4. I dont know if you still have the boat but if you do want any further information please let me know.
Regards,
Bob Kerr
 
I watched the documentry it was very good. Try lookink at sailstark.com I have the 35s5 and love it
 
A friend has the 29 footer with wing keel. Haven't figured out why yet but she is a little stern heavy and could do with a leg from the sugar scoop! I guess loading may be critical, but the only way to be sure will be to try it out in the yard. Still, a two foot leg wouldn't be too difficult to find stowage for, eh?

Rob.
 
martindinham said:
In particular, can anyone tell me if the winged keel is suitable for taking the ground ?
Click to expand...

We have a wing keel on our Dehler 35, and have taken the ground with her a few times (once unintentionally :o).

The main thing is that she will try to stand with the bottom of the wing keel flat, so leaning against a wall or scrubbing posts needs a bit of thinking through. She may end up leaning AWAY from a wall or the 'downhill' side of posts, and allowance is needed for her to lean into posts, if on the 'uphill' side.

Ours settles by the stern, but the rudder draws only slightly less than the keel, and so acts as a leg.

Another tip: she draws less when upright and more when heeled - worth remembering if you run aground.

If she dries out, my guess is she would stand upright unsupported if the bottom is hard & level - like the Sadler Starlight did in the Channel Is. recently. But if she lays over, it will definitely be much further than a fin keel (like a wine glass laid on its side):eek:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top