Canting keel failure

[Don107]

Hi all

With the retirement of Wild Oats from the Sydney to Hobart because of a canting keel hydraulic failure I was wondering if the keel was able to be centralised and locked is the boat still able to be sailed with a decent amount of sail up

Obviously in Wild Oats case the were not able or decided not to continue racing but I wonder how critical the canting function is for the stability of the boat under sail

I guess as well that there might be more problems with the keel or keel control mechanism other than what is being reported at the moment

Regards Don

 

[rogerthebodger]

Hi all

With the retirement of Wild Oats from the Sydney to Hobart because of a canting keel hydraulic failure I was wondering if the keel was able to be centralised and locked is the boat still able to be sailed with a decent amount of sail up

Obviously in Wild Oats case the were not able or decided not to continue racing but I wonder how critical the canting function is for the stability of the boat under sail

I guess as well that there might be more problems with the keel or keel control mechanism other than what is being reported at the moment

Regards Don

IMHO with the hydraulic failure of the canting keel the keel would no longer be able to provide and moment countering the side forces on the sails as the keel would always be vertical no matter the sideways angle of the mast, no righting moment . If the canting keel had a means to lock the keel in the centre position the boat could carry on like ony other fixed keel boat. but if no locking mechanism is provided no sailing would be possible.

 

[tcm]

yes, a competitor in the rtw race has the same issue, no lock and hence race over too...

 

[Halo]

I sometimes shout "Canting Keel" in an Essex accent when struggling to prepare mine for Antifouling.

 

[Simondjuk]

It depends where it's failed. If on the ram side of any manual lock/centering valve, it won't be possible to lock the keel hydraulically. If on the pump side of such a valve, it should be possible to centre and lock the keel.

Even if a failure occurs on the ram side, most canting keel boats carry mechanical locks, but I wouldn't much trust them to rely on to sail any distance. If they fail or jump out, aside from the sudden loss of righting moment and associated stability issues, the keel dropping freely to leeward is likely to cause damage, possibly substantial.