Best bilge keel for under 10k? Or buy fin?

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frlrubett

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Have sailed bilge keel (leisure) on the east cost for years and enjoyed it. Recently started looking at bigger and better boats which offer more accomodation and fascilities. Have a berth which is not drying so can easily have a fin keel on it but have always been drawn to the flexibility of being able to beach and get into shallow spaces. On the flip side, the upwind performance on the leisure is lacking and it is quite slow....

Have had a look at a few Westerly Centaurs, having sailed one before. I like the strong second hand market for then, the spares available and the community around them. What else comes recommended? Looking for around 25-28 foot.

Or... would a fin keel be worth considering now?
 
There's lift keels around as well which have arguably better abilities in shallow water and then sail better with the keel down. Parker, British Hunter, there's some from the major French manufacturers too offering a lot of accommodation at a diminutive LOA
 
Colvic
Macwester
Snapdragon
Mirage
Cobra
list goes on and on ...

There are many twin keelers that sail near as well as their Fin sisters .......... some years ago - PBO paired two Sadlers ... (? cannot get link - nut maybe someone else can remember it)..... fin vs Twin Keel .......... verdict ? Literally nothing in it.

I do like BK though ... so many times nose up on beach ... no worries about tide .... wider choice of moorings .... get into places that fin keelers can only dream about ...

If you are considering a Centaur - then that means you ared not looking for race performance - but cruising ability.
 
Sadler 25, one of the best small yachts to come out in the 70/80’s, well built, sails like a drea, light on the helm, reasonable accommodation, (Headroom a little bit limited but not bad), bilge keelers in good nick go for about £8k, alternatively Sadler 26, later design, improved accommodation, but IMHO doesn’t sail as nicely as th 25.
Both of them provide a much better sail than the Centaur.
 
One of the major factors in favour for twin keels is the ability for a impromptu scrub off around LW on any beach or hard rather than forking out three figures for a marina lift and pressure wash.

That's going to be increasingly relevant as environmental legislation and commercial desire for more profit continues to weaken the effectiveness of antifouling paints and yards keep nudging their labour rates up because they can.

I've had a twin keel Leisure 20 in the past and now sail a more modern tk Hunter just 3 feet longer. The difference in windward performance and the amount of leeway made between the two boats is astonishing.
 
Unless you are going to use bilge keels specifically, for drying out or a cheaper mooring, then it would make sense to go for a fin and enjoy the better ability to go to windward. A friend has just replaced his boat in the Twizzle with another fin which, at 4’ 10”, is no problem to him.
 
IMHO thé increased ability of a fin/ long keel to sail to windward is considerably over-rated, true one will get a couple more degrees to windward, but in over 50 years of sailing bilge, lifting keel and long keel, I have never really been too concerned by the loss of windward performance of the bilge keel boats, except occasionally in a hard fought race, but a well designed bilge keeler still has a lot going for it, especially if you sail in an area where many harbours dry out, unless you are going to restrict your visiting to marinas.
If you sail in an area where there are a multitude of non drying harbours you are mostly going to use marinas, and you are intent on highly competitive racing then a fin is probably a sensible choice, but for général cruising, the occasional race and predominance of drying harbours/ moorings then bilge would seem to be far more preferable.
 
I think and said it earlier ... is it for cruising or racing ? I get idea from the original question - its cruising.

Try this with a Fin keeler :

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Club BBQ at Priory Bay IoW ..... the few Fin keelers had to anchor well off and dinghy in quite a distance.

Of course one aspect that could be a factor : Lift out and storage ashore ? Fin keeler - needs stands / frames ..... and usually marina based costs.
Bilge keeler can stand .... no need for frames / stands. Even my heavy 4ton BK - can be trailered ... stood in my garden. I actually use a truck with 10ton Hiab ..... and he lifts - brings it to / from my garden.

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Reckon that alone saves me bit more than just a few beers !!
 
Super Seal 26. Will sail rings around all the boats mentioned thus far and floats in 40cm of water. Wonderfully simple keel up/down mechanism. You should be able to find one sub-£10k.
 
There are many boats under 10K .... good and bad ....

My honest view to anyone looking at such .......... you really need to look at as many as you can ... to be able to gauge what suits, what is junk, what is moderate and what is good.

Worth trawling the net - seeking out reviews / owners postings ... Facebook groups are good once you have the boat in question - but tend to be biased.

I bought my (1973 ?) SR25 over 22 yrs ago ... paid 10K then. Which was top $ ... but she was immaculate. People told me I was daft as I could have a Centaur or Colvic etc. But I've been around boats all my life ... and she crossed the T's .. ticked the boxes. Today such a boat can be had from 3K up to ??K ....
Will never win a race ... but I know she will always get me home. Underhull is 50mm solid GRP. I know that - as I used 3 hole cutters to get through to fit the speed log.
I've had incidents that would have seriously damaged todays sandwich jobs ... but she's still altogether. She will definitely see me out ...

Yes I would now like a larger but similar vintage strong boat .... but SA will always be there on my mooring.
 
Now to really stir it! IMHO only look at bilge keelers that have a skeg, all the bilge keelers I have sailed that didn’t have a skeg seemed heavy on the helm, compared to those that have, the boats seemed more balanced.
 
Last edited:
Praxinoscope said:
Now to really stir it! IMHO only look at bilge keelers that have a skeg, all the bilge keelers I have sailed that didn’t have a skeg seemed heavy on the helm, compared to those that have, the boats seemed more balanced.
Click to expand...

????

Plenty of examples of Skeg bilge keelers with heavy weather helm ... Macwesters ... my Sunrider .... as examples ... you can trim / reef / set sails and still not cure it. MW's even changed mast height / boom length aspect ratio to try help - still there.
Many more modern boats had twin keels without skegs and were better balanced.

The only real advantages of a skeg :

More secure / strong rudder mount

More stable when stood in the yard ....

I base my post on having sailed with and without as owner.
 
#17 I said it would stir it, you have obviously had different sailing experiences to me, I still think a skeg helps to reduce weather helm and helps to provide a lighter helm.
 
A lot here depends on the sailing family size and comfort expectations but Southerly might be another option? The one advantage of a centaur is you can have an evening sail in springs against wind and tide for a couple of hours and not have far to go to get back to your home port. ??other newer westerly exist though plus of course Hunter legend which has plenty of space for small hull length.
 
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