Lifting keel yachts ?

How about the Delphia 37? I saw one of those with a swing keel sitting on the ground at the Plymouth Boat Show last weekend.
It has a swing keel and twin rudders so it can sit upright.
They said it would be on show again in the water this coming weekend at the Torbay 'try a boat' weekend at Brixham..
 
I'll just put a word in for the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 35. A fine choice.IMHO, of course.


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No, not rare, quite a few up here on the east coast. It was £84k new in 2005 + fitting out etc.
The keel swings out of the wing stub you see. It draw 3ft plate up and 7ft plate down.
Advantage:
Sits on ground very well.
Keel Wings damp rolling motion at anchor
Goes well on beam/downwind
No keelbox intrusion in cabin
Very spacious cockpit and down below (2 cabin version)

Disadvantage:
Twin rudders mean no propwash to assist low speed marina moves.
Does not go very well upwind.
Swings to wind in anchorages.

Come and trial it if you think you might want one.
 
You might want to consider RM yachts, which are high performance twin keel yachts. They are based on the Open 60 concept and have a very deep blade rudder to act as a third leg.

Here is a picture of th RM1050 (about 35ft) dried out.

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Personally, I'm interested in the RM1200 (just under 40ft). Here is a picture of one in a drying harbour

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Going to the factory next week!

Richard
 
You should see what Hana is like inside. Even after 4 years ownership I still quite understand how she fits in 4 double cabins into her length. Other boats with similar layout are usually 47foot plus.

Although RM yachts are high performance their sailplan is very evenly matched. On the RM1200 for example, the mainsail is 46m and the Genoa 46.5m. The name RM stands for Resolutely Minimalist, which means they are kept simple for ease of use, including maintenance.

Will be sailing one next weekend so can let you know what they are like.
 
Just some thoughts before you rush off and buy a lifting keeler. The old truism "if it can it will" applies - these things have happened:
- beaching risks dirt ingress and the keel jams (you won't see any liveaboards beached).
- structural failure and uncontrolled keel drops that take the bottom out.

On the latter point some liveaboards we see (who have lifting keels) tie a rope under the boat to hold the keel up if they are parking for a long period.

I'm not saying don't go that route, only be aware of the potential problems.
 
For Kelly's Eye:
I sail mine around keel up, up to about F5, as it has a long wing stub keel which works, so it is of minimum importance if sand/stones get up into the box.
If the plate fell out, it would not sink the boat, just raise the waterline a bit.


For my interest, can you tell us what make and model of boat have had these uncontained structural failures. Are these one offs or serial production craft? Are these recent, and do you you have any reports you can point to on the net, as I habitually have lift keel boats, and am very interested in the subject.
Also, why do people tie a rope on their keel, unless they are parked in not enough water? And how do they secure it?
 
On this subject I did ask feeling about such problems such as stones etc
They said you can see from inside weather there is a problem with the keel by removing a plate around the table
Favorite yachts are the southerlys and the feelings at the moment
They are going to cost more than your standard fin keel and theres not many about so looks like i may have to up the budget if we go down that route
The other question I have to considor is how often will we actually beach it if its only going to be a few times ayear is it worth the extra expense
So how many times will I actually use the lifting keel ?
 
not all lifting keel boats have similar abilities. for example, the avs of the southerly is way greater than any of the others I have looked at, many of which are really lifting dagger boards rather than lifting keels.

there is also the issue of how well protected the hull is when going aground. most will cope with occasional use, but both hanse and beneteau , when asked, told me that they would not recommend their lifting keelers for a drying mooring. they were shallow draft rather than dry out.

Finally there is the issue of mud packing the slot, and jamming keels. Again the Southerly has an advantage with a 1 tonne keel, but some of the others will be a pain.

I looked long and hard at LK boats for the bristol channel before finally chosing a modern Bilge keel boat.
 
Oh dear I was hoping nobody would ask for details because although I've heard of two near-catastrophic failures (in the Caribbean) and seen boats with ropes holding their keels up we don't have a lifting keel so it's only been of vague interest. I have no idea what the makes are.

The boats with ropes just seem to tie a rope right round the boat but I've never looked closely. I guess that might not work with some keels. Sorry I can't be of more help.
 
The benteau 343 has a lifting keel option but looks more like a dagger board on the pic
we sailed a 343 around the bvis fot a week in feb so we know the boat is ok size wise for us but that one had a fixed fin 5ft deep with a bulb on the end
So i was wondering if it would sail as well as the lift keel
We have a marina mooring so i guess we would want to beach between 10-15 times per year
 
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