Lift Keel or Shallow Fin for the East Coast?

[CliveG]

John

A well designed lift keel with some weight in the keel will give you the best of both worlds.
A good fin keel type performance and the ability to dry out and to creep into shallow areas that others (Even bilge keelers) can't reach.
Ask Morgana about our round the island trip. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

There is also the ability to sink at their mooring /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif but I would not hold that against them.

You do get a lot that you can't get the keel right up but are left with a stub sticking out.
Or in FullCircle's case a tea tray to sit on /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

A nice moderrn Southerly is the way I would go if I had the chance.

 

[cookjwm]

We've had a 26footer with hand op swing keel -as Morgana says it was a get out jail card once or twice but really only when racing. We moved on to a fixed 6ft keel which was of course great to windward but gave us one or two frights, in particular arriving early at the wallet spitway and being unwise enough not to wait near an hour in a force six for guaranteed depth. So now we've got a 1.5m draught fixedfin keel and she's great -yes she makes a bit of leeway but we are just somuch more flexible in when and where we go -round back of Osea for example ,in and out of Titchmarsh at awkward tide times -I'm not about to swap!
And I do not even want to dry out anyway... /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[bastonjock]

im a fan of lift keel boats,especially the modern ones that have electric motors for lifting your keel.

In some aspects the lift keeler can be safer for the east coast,i crossed the wells bar in F5-F6 with a northerly wind,i saw 8ft under my keel as i bounced through,with a fixed keel that margin would have been a bit on the fine side.

I saw one lift keeler that had an 8ft draught with her keel down and 3 ft with it up

 

[beancounter]

[ QUOTE ]
A nice moderrn Southerly is the way I would go if I had the chance.

[/ QUOTE ]

The price tag of a modern Southerly moves it from the "idle speculation" to "fantasising wildly" bracket....

 

[CliveG]

Thee and me both John.
Just need the correct 6 numbers to come up /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[PeterGibbs]

The differences you cite make no practical difference to sailing the east coast. Over 2m draft, it starts to become challenging in some spots, but not a reason to buy a crate rather than a good sailing vessel with proper accommodation etc.

PWG

 

[beancounter]

[ QUOTE ]
...not a reason to buy a crate rather than a good sailing vessel with proper accommodation etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

No intention of owning a "crate" - only decent stuff need apply...

 

[rudolph_hart]

Another suggestion: Wing Keel.

Available on Dehler, Freedom, Parker and Sadler (Barracuda only?) The last two are lifting wing keels.

The standard fin on my model Dehler draws 1.95m - mine draws 1.5m. Previous 3 boats drew 1.85, 1.7 & 1.7 and the difference is VERY noticeable in terms of being able to get into places (Tidemill) and over bits (Raysand, Ore) etc.

There is no noticeable performance sacrifice (I don't race any more).

The only downside is that, apart from taking the ground slightly (i.e not drying out) at the bottom of a tide, I daren't run aground on a falling tide.

If we touch when heeled, bringing her upright DEcreases draft, so we get a sort of 'get out of jail' card if we react quickly.

The wings' aft end acts as a shovel when reversing in soft mud (OK if going ahead). If she completely dries out on hard stuff, she'll stand upright on the keel and rudder tip. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[moondancer]

I seem to run aground in shallow draft boats far more than deep drought boats. Last year my boat drew 2.0 M and I didn't find that restrictive.

My current boat draws 1.5M and that is fine for nearly all the East Coast. Nothing can really match the wiindward ability of a deep fin. If that is not important for you then a good lift keel should be great.

 

[homa]

My last boat had a lifting keel (1' keel up, 5' keel down), my present has a fixed deep fin (6' draft).I went for the lifting keel for reasons of very young family and expecting to do a lot of creek crawling. In fact I found that on my particular boat (Hunter Delta 25) that the keel raised intruded into the main cabin and was smelly/dirty. We didn't really do much creek crawling, and taking the ground was not an option although it was nice to nose into the bank to moor and jump ashore. Only problem was we had to use a kedge to keep the boat in enough depth of water so that the odd passing boat wash did not cause the boat to ground.There is more maintenance on a lifting keeler, whether just scraping the keel or checking/overhauling the lifting mechanism. Though I don't believe this adds so much in overall costs, mainly time. One big advantage was that when laid up ashore with keel raised, it was very easy getting aboard, access, polishing topsides etc. Disadvantage was that I could never work on the whole keel unless the boat was in slings ready to go into or come out of the water.Bottom line for me was that I could get a much bigger boat with a fixed keel for the same money.I would say that for me, the lifting keel was great for launching/recovery and towing. As regards afloat, I'll stick with a fixed fin.
For the Delta 25, when manoeuvring close quarters in any wind under power, I found that I needed at least half the keel down, otherwise we had no steerage at all (inboard engine).