Keels

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marklawson

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I am looking at buying a new/used yacht and need help understanding the difference between keels.
What are...
Fin
Bilge
Long keel
Wing Keel
Lifting Keel
Multihull
Anyone who could give a few sentences to sum each one up would be a real help.
 
Mark, I don't want to be unhelpful, but it's a little bit like coming onto a motoring forum and saying you're interested in buying a car, but wonder if folks could tell you the difference between a lorry, a bus, a bicycle, a van and a sports car.

Have you considered getting some experience before buying a boat? Sorry if that sounds presumptuous.

Otherwise - Wikipedia...
 
or perhaps...

... more background on why you are asking the question?
 
Fin - Regular single keel of moderate lenght
Bilge - Twin keels that allow a boat to take to the ground
Long keel - Like a fin but much longer, it will probably run all the way to the stern.
Wing Keel -Like a fin but has a bulb or wings that stick out each side at the base of the keel
Lifting Keel - A keel that can be raised or lowered
Multihull - a boat with more than one hull.

I would suggest googling this and you will get a lot more info.
 
fin:
fin_keel.gif


Bilge keel
keels-2.jpg


Long keel
5489a343b1b89e8d8f193d48797411a7.JPG


Wing keel
wing_keel_275.jpg


Lifting keel enables the keel to be either swung up or hydraulically lifted to reduce draft:
IMG_1564.JPG


Multihull
either a catamaran or a trimaran (first has 2 hulls, the second three hulls:
HiJudeunderCruisingChute.jpg

(Boat is for sale)

01.jpg
 
Mark

Welcome to the forum, which is a mine of information.

I will back up what Simoncr has said. If you have no idea what the differences are from one keel to another then please do not part with any money for a boat until you have done loads of research and learning. This is for your own good.

Out there, somewhere, there is a nutter trying to sell a complete basket case of a boat, he is just waiting to prey of a guy like you.

I would suggest. Get as many sailing books and monthly mags as you can, read, research. Go to a yacht club, get on some boats, with experienced skippers, talk to owners. Then start to draw up a short list of boats, look at the boats and what you want to do with it, where you want to sail, where you will keep it. The keel will be all part of this.

Hope this is helpful.
 
I back up Galadriel's reply. If you have to ask that kind of question you should not consider buying a boat;
A bit like considering marriage without any idea of what a woman is!
Go find out by observation and hands-on experience!
 
Why dont you just read a book ? Starting with your local library shelves perhaps.
Instead of asking others to do your work for you ?
Just seems really weird or a troll or sommat ....
EDIT.. Oh and welcome to the forum,Mark !
 
Bloody hell - reading some of these replies doesn't half put a newcomer off asking a 'stupid' question. I use forums a lot for research on a 'new' subject and most are happy to help 'noobs'.
 
Welcome to the forum.

There is no such thing as a stupid question, only stupid answers.

We do, on here, though get a certain element of jokers, I'd sooner give the benifit of doubt for a while, after all how much does an answer cost me?
 
[ QUOTE ]
We do, on here, though get a certain element of jokers, I'd sooner give the benifit of doubt for a while, after all how much does an answer cost me?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well said Galadriel, if only more folk on here were as even handed in their treatment of newcomers. Sure we get windup merchants, but so what, we also get people who have always wanted to go sailing but never had the chance for one reason or another. Give the guy his chance, he may find boats are not for him, he may go on to do the ARC. But if every one give negative responses then we will all suffer.
Mal
 
There is nothing in the original question to say the poster is a novice or knows nothing about boats. He says he is looking at buying a yacht. He might be an experienced motor-boater, or a dinghy sailor (remember Ted Heath? He must have had a first yacht once, and probably needed to ask advice from someone first).
Or he might be very experienced in one particular kind of yacht but be at a complete loss in comparing other kinds.

For example, I have messed about in old boats all my life. To me, a long keel means one that runs from just under the forefoot straight back to the rudder post. The only other kind of keel, to me, is a centreboard. So the picture someone submitted of a "long-keeler" shows, to me, a rather short keel. As for the others, I can guess what bilge keels are, but if were thinking from scratch of buying a new yacht, starting with an open mind as to what might be suitable, I would be in exactly the same position as the OP.
The car, lorry, bus analogy is completely false. He knows he wants a yacht, which would be the equivalent of an experienced motorist deciding at 55 that he might like to buy himself a sports car, so asks a forum for some advice on different kinds. He doesn't need to be rudely told to go and get some driving lessons.
 
It is also posible that the poster is more interested in the difference in sailing rather than what they look like - we all get confused about that from time to time. I had a disagreement with a forum member, a very experienced sailor and Yachtmaster, on saturday afternoon about whether his fin ought to allow him to point higher than the long keeled Contessa (we were chasing at the time).
 
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