Fox Morgan
Well-Known Member
This was the same quandary I went through when buying a boat.
I wanted performance, but sturdy. I wanted something that could go into most places reasonably well on a normal range of tide but I wanted a boat with decent cruising or racing speed. I like to do longer passages and the higher average speed potential makes a difference.
I looked at boats around 36-40 foot, always fin keels, and they varied from 1.6- 2.3 draught. In the end I chose a smaller boat with a relatively larger draught (1.85) compared to the length, to hopefully have good performance but also ability to gain access to places.
So far I've only touched the bottom a few times, deliberately. It's also reassuring to know that the cast iron keel and boat construction are sturdy enough to dry out against a wall. I don't worry if I touch bottom occasionally in shallow creeks.
I kept my boat on the east coast originally and access was a little limited to some of the places over there, but since being on the south coast, I'd happily have a boat with a slightly deeper keel, but I wouldn't go above a 2.2, as then it gets to be a real pain in the arse getting into nice places.
The swinging keels of the pogos/jpk etc have a nice solution to keep performance and a 3m keel but lift it up and have just 1.5m for tucking into shallower areas.
If I had the money, this would be my choice. A high performance swing keel.
I wanted performance, but sturdy. I wanted something that could go into most places reasonably well on a normal range of tide but I wanted a boat with decent cruising or racing speed. I like to do longer passages and the higher average speed potential makes a difference.
I looked at boats around 36-40 foot, always fin keels, and they varied from 1.6- 2.3 draught. In the end I chose a smaller boat with a relatively larger draught (1.85) compared to the length, to hopefully have good performance but also ability to gain access to places.
So far I've only touched the bottom a few times, deliberately. It's also reassuring to know that the cast iron keel and boat construction are sturdy enough to dry out against a wall. I don't worry if I touch bottom occasionally in shallow creeks.
I kept my boat on the east coast originally and access was a little limited to some of the places over there, but since being on the south coast, I'd happily have a boat with a slightly deeper keel, but I wouldn't go above a 2.2, as then it gets to be a real pain in the arse getting into nice places.
The swinging keels of the pogos/jpk etc have a nice solution to keep performance and a 3m keel but lift it up and have just 1.5m for tucking into shallower areas.
If I had the money, this would be my choice. A high performance swing keel.
