fill and Fair keels ?

[dunkelly]

lifted out today and keels are considerable more pitted than i would like ,so questions are , a: how to fill and fair them . and b: is it worth the effort any idea what the sailing performance improvement might be, they currently look like a golf ball , but might that be a good thing !! ?

 

[maej]

When my osmosis work was being done the yard 'filled and faired' my iron keel too. I think they sandblasted back to bare metal then used epoxy filler. It was expensive though.

I have no idea if there is any performance benefit, but it certainly looked great afterwards, and being flat smooth surface it's much easier to scrub and prep for antifoul.

 

[LadyInBed]

I used P40 diluted with about 1/5 liquid resin.

 

[dunkelly]

thanks for the tip ,will give it a try ,

 

[lpdsn]

lifted out today and keels are considerable more pitted than i would like ,so questions are , a: how to fill and fair them . and b: is it worth the effort any idea what the sailing performance improvement might be, they currently look like a golf ball , but might that be a good thing !! ?

In racing circles it is considered to make a big difference. The ability to point depends upon both the lift and drag from the underbody (much of which means the keel). Fairing the keel would do something to increase the lift and more to reduce the drag.

That said, it would really depend upon how important windward performance is to you.

I would also look to see if there is anything electrical that might be leading to increased rates of corrosion.

 

[vyv_cox]

Good article in the current PBO on fairing the underwater part of the hull. Their boat had no keel but the principles would be similar. Grit blasting will always be best for long-term corrosion resistance but an angle grinder can do a pretty good job.