Etap 22 question

[geewalker]

How many turns on the keel winch from fully up to fully down? I have been doing some work on one recently and start worrying after about 100 turns in case the boat suddenly gets a lot higher in the water! Oh and what stops the keel falling out.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Guest]

Used to sail an Etap 22 as well. I can't remember how many turns the keel needed, but I do remember it took ages to haul it all the way up! It never fell out on us, I suspect there would be some kind of stopper-bolt.

 

[Guest]

I've got an Etap 26 and if the keel configuration is the same and it sounds like it is then it will probably take you approx. 300-400 turns to lift the keel. The reason for this is that the keel is lifted by a bolt screwing through one of the guides that the keel runs up and down on. If you imagine a bolt screwing into a nut then obviously it will take a lot of turns to move the keel a metre or so. Don't worry about it falling out there is a retaining bolt that stops this. As for the boat lying higher in the water, moving the keel does not effect this as it weighs the same whatever position it's in and weight is what effects how high or low a given boat lies in the water. If you need more detailed information I'd contact your local Etap agent as they'll be able to get you drawings of the keel configuration (they did for me) from Etap themselves. If you're on the South Coast the Kiss Marine in Hythe are the local agents.

Hope this helps,

David

 

[graham]

Hundreds of turns to raise the keel? I hope you have a fit young crew. The 28 turns on my Anderson22 is enough to get me puffing.

Seriously though,How long does it take to raise and lower and is it as exhausting as it sounds?

A lot of my sailing is short daysails of a few hours at a time.Anything time consuming or physically hard would put me off the boat alltogether.

The Seal 26 appeals to me ,it has an unballasted centerboard with internall ballast,they are reputedly fast and seaworthy.

 

[Guest]

It sounds harder work than it actually is but the keel needs to be regularly serviced. I bought my boat at the end of last year and it was quite hard work when I first bought her so over the winter we dropped the keel out and serviced everything. Etap recommends you do this every 5 years but to be honest it didn't look like it had ever been done and my boat is a 1984 model. Anyway with runners and guides etc... all re-greased it is now very easy although a lot of turns, probably takes about 10 mins to lift the keel, less if you go at it pretty enthusiastically. Another option which some boats have is an electric motor to do the work for you and I think you can still get hold of these should you want to fit it retrospectively.

I also looked at the Seal 26 before I bought my Etap and thought it looked like a nice boat. I think the keel will be easier to lift on a Seal but she'll lose out not having the ballast at the end of her keel as the Etap does. As you say the Seal is a lively performer but so is the Etap, hard to choose between the two I'd say.

David

 

[graham]

I wont rule out the Etap as a possible replacement for the Anderson then. The Anderson has impressed me a lot .All the ballast is on the end of the drop keel .Stability is dramatically improved with it down.

Finances dictate that we wont be moving up for a few seasons yet anyway.