stoo
New member
I HAVE RECENTLY PURCHASED A COLVIC WATSON MOTOR SAILER WHICH HAS NO BILGE KEELS FITTED ARE THEY NEEDED AND DO THEY MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN STABILITY ?
colvic watson
- Thread starter stoo
- Start date
longjohnsilver
Well-known member
Try a PM to Colin Jones, he's the resident Colvic Watson expert.
ccscott49
Active member
and a nice approachable chap to boot! There ios also a colvic website I beleive.
Trevor_swfyc
New member
Stoo,
I suspect you know the answer, by definition a motor sailer is a compromise, which has a market. I have a bilge keeler this is a compromise as my mooring dries out at low water springs, clearly a fin keeler sails better.
As you have no keels then your motor sailer will tend to be better at motoring than sailing, keels impart stability, a yacht should self right from a knock down, would yours?. Keels also reduce leeway when sailing so this could be the biggest problem you would encounter.
I suspect if you wanted to predominatly sail you would have purchased a different boat.
As the other postings have said over to the Colvic Watson owners/experts.
All the best.
Trevor
I suspect you know the answer, by definition a motor sailer is a compromise, which has a market. I have a bilge keeler this is a compromise as my mooring dries out at low water springs, clearly a fin keeler sails better.
As you have no keels then your motor sailer will tend to be better at motoring than sailing, keels impart stability, a yacht should self right from a knock down, would yours?. Keels also reduce leeway when sailing so this could be the biggest problem you would encounter.
I suspect if you wanted to predominatly sail you would have purchased a different boat.
As the other postings have said over to the Colvic Watson owners/experts.
All the best.
Trevor
colin_jones
New member
The Colvic Watson is a very practical hull in having the flats and extra strength for bilge keels already moulded into the hull, which is quite stiff without them, but certainly more stable if they are added. It was designed as a trawler/lifeboat hull, so super sailing qualities were not a first consideration. CW’s go to windward with reluctance and the plates do not help very much apart form a bit of resistamce to heel and a lot of resistance to roll. You must sail them upright and not too pinched to the wind. In compensation for this mediocre performance, you get a hull whose max beam carries along most of the keel, so you have an enormous volume of accommodation for waterline length. This makes it an excellent cruising ( as opposed to sailing) boat.
This characteristic is improved by adding bilge keels because you can stick her aground in the best corners of drying harbours and have no fear if you go on the putty when exploring. Even better: for wintering ashore, you just need a few blocks and she sits very upright and very firm against wind, vandals and over-fussy dock masters.
This characteristic is improved by adding bilge keels because you can stick her aground in the best corners of drying harbours and have no fear if you go on the putty when exploring. Even better: for wintering ashore, you just need a few blocks and she sits very upright and very firm against wind, vandals and over-fussy dock masters.
