Feeling Lift Keel Yachts

[PeteMylett]

I've just become the proud owner of a Feeling 44.

I know there used to be an owners association run by a lady called penny Priddy, but it seems to have disappeared...

I was wondering if there was still an owners association, and if not whether there are enough interested folk to get one started.

Even if we just start off on a very informal basis, sharing knowledge, location of spare parts etc, it could be a good thing to do.

 

[Sybarite]

I've just become the proud owner of a Feeling 44.

I know there used to be an owners association run by a lady called penny Priddy, but it seems to have disappeared...

I was wondering if there was still an owners association, and if not whether there are enough interested folk to get one started.

Even if we just start off on a very informal basis, sharing knowledge, location of spare parts etc, it could be a good thing to do.

Congratulations, they are great boats.

 

[Otter]

I've just become the proud owner of a Feeling 44.

I know there used to be an owners association run by a lady called penny Priddy, but it seems to have disappeared...

I was wondering if there was still an owners association, and if not whether there are enough interested folk to get one started.

Even if we just start off on a very informal basis, sharing knowledge, location of spare parts etc, it could be a good thing to do.

Congratulations - a great go anywhere yacht

 

[Fourbees]

I've just become the proud owner of a Feeling 44.

I know there used to be an owners association run by a lady called penny Priddy, but it seems to have disappeared...

I was wondering if there was still an owners association, and if not whether there are enough interested folk to get one started.

Even if we just start off on a very informal basis, sharing knowledge, location of spare parts etc, it could be a good thing to do.

Penny is still a Feeling owner, but the Feeling Owners' Association has ceased to meet (I was quite a keen member and supported the rallies, suppers etc.). When North Sea Marine took on the Feeling dealership from Williams & Smithells, they were hoping to revive the FOA and I believe they were going to contact Penny. But then Alliaura (latterly Feeling manufacturer) went bust.

 

[jcpa]

How about a Feeling and Kelt Owners Association - much like the Parker and Seal Sailing Association.

I did have a brief email exchange with Penny in January. She said she "did not run an official site any more" ..."now its more informal/low key" ... and ..."we sail/meet up with friends we have kept in touch with".

I believe she sails from Gosport, but I've not yet tried to contact her since getting my Kelt. I'm spending too much of my time trying to get it into shape!

 

[Seajet]

As the owner of a smaller lift keel boat, I would just mention that inspection and maintenance of the lifting plate is vital.

 

[Fourbees]

How about a Feeling and Kelt Owners Association - much like the Parker and Seal Sailing Association.

I did have a brief email exchange with Penny in January. She said she "did not run an official site any more" ..."now its more informal/low key" ... and ..."we sail/meet up with friends we have kept in touch with".

I believe she sails from Gosport, but I've not yet tried to contact her since getting my Kelt. I'm spending too much of my time trying to get it into shape!

Penny and Chris actually sail out of Deacon's yard at the top of the Hamble. Their boat is called 'Pridd's Feeling' and we met up with them once this season, when they and we overnighted at Yarmouth and then had breakfast at the Boat House Cafe. We haven't seen any other former FOA stalwarts this year. Please excuse my ignorance, but what is a Kelt? Is it related to a Feeling?

 

[jcpa]

Kelt, Kirie, Feeling, Alliaura....

Sorry I got it wrong about where Penny sails from, but it is good to hear from related yachties. I hope I wont get the following brief information too wrong....

Kelt yachts were built in Vannes, and in the late eighties they were first taken over by Kirie and then Feeling. The lifting keel and grounding plate design developed for the Kelt 8.50 was subsequently adopted by many Feelings, though some had more of a stub keel arrangement. The Kelt 8.50 was cosmetically updated in the late 1980s, first as the Kelt 29 and then the Feeling 29. Its bigger sister with a similar grounding plate, the Kelt 39, became the Feeling 39. Other lifting keel Feelings were the 286, 326, 346, 356, etc... The Feeling 29 was further updated around the 2000s as the Feeling 306 and then the Feeling 30, both essentially the same as the 29, with the same cabin and rig dimensions, but a longer sharper bow (and the 30 has twin rudders). The 326 and 346 later became the 32 and 34, but I don't know much about these or the over 40 foot yachts - they were beyond my means!

I do have copies of some web pages on these yachts. The page at http://www.vaton-design.com/vatondesign_gb/serie_kelt.htm is quite interesting, but I cannot find again where I got the more glossy discussion of Feeling lift keel yachts I have, with some nice pictures of the 44 sitting flat on the beach. It probably came from a webpage managed by Allliaura - who of course took over Feeling, but have now themselves gone.

Anyway, I hope this explains why my Kelt and Feelings have much in common.

 

[jcpa]

As the owner of a smaller lift keel boat, I would just mention that inspection and maintenance of the lifting plate is vital.

Hi Seajet - and you are of course right about maintaining the lifting keel. I don't think the Kelt's keel (370kg of cast iron) can fall out of the grounding plate if the pivot pin fails - I think the top of the keel is wider than the slot. The cast iron grounding plate (1150kg) is held onto the hull by bolts, but these could fail just like with certain fin keels I've heard of!

My first season with the boat, on an occasionally drying mooring in Portsmouth Harbour has given me some problems. Mud and stones got stuck in the plate box, and the keel was jammed solid. Even 370kg of iron would not swivel down. I did eventually free it, but it took many duck dives! I had left the keel down a bit (maybe 5 degrees) as I'd seen recommended - the diurnal movement caused by settling on the bed should have kept everything moving. In my case, it just got the stones in the mud well and truly wedged! I got a deeper mooring after this, but a harder or less stony bed would probably have been equally as effective.

Otherwise, my concern is with the condition of the lifting rope. The previous owner didn't think this was a problem (but he did tell me some other things that were). However, if the lifting rope should fail, I wouldn't be able to lift the keel, and settling on the bottom would be dodgy. The condition of the rope can really only be assessed by lifting the boat in slings, and then lowering the keel - the shackle holding the rope to the plate can then be undone and the rope removed. I've not done this yet, and it makes me a little uneasy!

Otherwise, I'm having a great time with the boat - if only the weather had been nicer!

 

[Fourbees]

Sorry I got it wrong about where Penny sails from, but it is good to hear from related yachties. I hope I wont get the following brief information too wrong....

Anyway, I hope this explains why my Kelt and Feelings have much in common.

Hello jcpa, sorry if my correction sounded critical, it wasn't meant to be. Thanks for the explanation about Kelts - they do sound very like Feelings in concept, and a joint organisation might well work. We have a Feeling 32, currently at Port Solent although until recently at Gosport. We have only got the keel stuck once, having taken the mud at low water springs in Chichester Harbour - managed to free it by jiggling the lifting tackle. We've had the boat for nearly 8 years. What does worry me, though, is the condition of the keel lifting rope and what happens when/if one snaps - it seems very inaccessible to me. The OP has a F44 which came with hydraulic lifting gear, but ours is the basic, rope-worked sort....

 

[Fourbees]

By the way, the Feeling 32 has a GRP lift keel (unballasted and weighing about 60kg only), with all the ballast being in the grounding plate and stub keels. Keel/centreboard has two ropes to operate it - one for up and one for down - but I still worry about the up one snapping.

 

[Laurie]

Penny and Chris actually sail out of Deacon's yard at the top of the Hamble. Their boat is called 'Pridd's Feeling' and we met up with them once this season, when they and we overnighted at Yarmouth and then had breakfast at the Boat House Cafe. We haven't seen any other former FOA stalwarts this year. Please excuse my ignorance, but what is a Kelt? Is it related to a Feeling?

Is the idea of an assoc. going anywhere? I have tried on another thread and failed. Also tried twice contacting Penny Priddy and also failed.

Feeling and Kelt amalgamated under the Kyrie and later Alliaura banner.
the Kelt 8.50 was later marketed as a Feeling 29. The feeling 286/kelt 8.50 share a lot of characteristics (not keels) and designer.......... (Gilles Vaton)

 

[Seajet]

A chum of mine has a Feeling in Chichester Harbour, I forget the model but it's around 35', fin keel; there are a few Feelings in the harbour but I haven't seen a Kelt for quite a while.

Owners' Associations are always handy for spares, advice, meet ups and selling boats; if you care to PM me some basic details - or better, post them here - I'll pass them to Dave and any Feelings I see around.

Andy

 

[[70521]]

The 44 is on my list of dream boats. If ever you want to sell her please let me know; I was gutted when they went out of business.

 

[Laurie]

Feeling/Kelt Assoc.

Now that Feelings are being built again, and I don't know if NorthSea Maritime are anything to do with the boats in the UK this time round, I for one would be quite interested in any Owners Assoc.
I suppose one of the problems such a venture may have, is the relatively few nos. of Feelings in UK waters, and as such, combining it with Kelts would seem to be a good idea.
I sail a 286 on the east coast, and have not seen another.....but there are one or two Kelt 8.50/850/Feeling 29DI's about......

 

[Tachia]

I have a Feeling 326 kept at Southend-on-sea, 4 years ago the shackle holding the keel up broke and the keel swung down, as the tide went out she sat on her keel and pushed it up through the table, since then I have had numerous problems mainly due to a bad repair by the boat yard. 3 weeks ago I was in Brightlingsea and met another 326 owner with some interesting photos of his keel, now I intend to adopt the mods, 1 is a lead weight on the keel and the 2nd is an extension to the rudder. On the point of Kelts there are 3 at the Essex Yacht club at Leigh-on-sea.

 

[Laurie]

Now that Feelings are being built again, and I don't know if NorthSea Maritime are anything to do with the boats in the UK this time round, I for one would be quite interested in any Owners Assoc.
I suppose one of the problems such a venture may have, is the relatively few nos. of Feelings in UK waters, and as such, combining it with Kelts would seem to be a good idea.
I sail a 286 on the east coast, and have not seen another.....but there are one or two Kelt 8.50/850/Feeling 29DI's about......

Correction! Now know of a beautiful 326 and two other 286's in local waters, plus mine..... Did ask the question on a Kelt sailing Blog as well, but that too, seems to have attracted no interest either......