Lifting Keel Yachts

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properjob

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I intend to buy a lifting keel yacht, possibly a motor sailer, in the near future.

Off the top of my head, I can think of Southerly (expensive), Parker (a bit too tender), Super Seal (possibly), a few Jeanneaus(rare) and even fewer Beneteaus, but I am sure that there are probably many that have'nt sprung to mind.

I am looking in the 29' to 34' range and age is not too important.

Any suggestions ?
 
Superseal 26 was re-incarnated as Parker 27.

Deb 33. S&S design (can't be bad), late 70's build (brick p**p-house).

Westerly Fulmar! Yes, they did build them with a lift keel (a total of 6, I am told). I've sailed one, which was a pleasant surprise, in terms of stiffness, speed and pointing ability. Draws 1.0 metre when raised.
 
jeanneau lift keelers arent as rare as you'd think, a dealer me gets lots of new ones in all the time.
im quite interested in a lift keel as well, but struggled to find any decent info on the different models.
just out of interest are the parkers well known as tender because ive never heard this before
 
Beneteau Oceanis 311? .... Reasonable number of lift keelers around, good value for money, sail very well (I chartered one a few years ago out of Brixham)
 
its a bit smaller than what you are after but PBO currently have a review of the Evolution 26. It comes out favourably but there is a warning of patchy build quality. Does anybody here have any opinions on that?
 
no

They are not tender - at least not with the keel down.

The ballast on parker 31 and its derivatives is all contained in the wing at the bottom of the keel which gives a very high righting moment.

Also the hydro-dynamics of the wing givean additional righting moment which increases with speed.

With No2 genoa and full main you have 530 sq ft of sail on a boat with a displacement of 7000lbs and that will sail in comfortably, 2 fingers on tiller, to F5 without a reef.

My daughter at the age of 4 could steer my 31 to windward at 8+ knots without difficulty. I have seen double figure a few times but never even come close to a broach.

Suspect this tender story originated with a very early test report where the tester tried sailing and motoring with keel up. The story usually refers to indifferent steering at the same time. Thats cos steering with keel up is rather like steering a rubber dinghy. With keel down its sharp and precise.
 
Whatever you buy make sure that the keel locks when it's down.
A lifting keeler sank at Shoreham a couple of weeks ago. A bilge keeler with lifting keels, as I understand it, it went over on its ear when the wind piped up, the keel(s) slid into the boat turning it over and it rapidly sank. All were rescued I believe, but definitely a design fault.
 
Seal 28 Is completely different to the super seal. They are a roomy stern cabin lifting keel boat designed by Angus Primrose I think.Sail reasonably well but definitely designed for cruising not racing.
 
Do you mean a lifting keel or a centreboard boat? It seems to me that the first two you mention are true lifting keel yachts (ie their keels have a substantial weight in them which affects the boats CofG as they are lowered or lifted) whereas the others do not have a substantial weight in their centreboards which when lowered assist in providing increased lateral resistance but not measurable increase in righting moment. The modern Southerly is an expensive boat but the older boats are affordable and in some cases very attractive buys. I have never sailed a Parker but have repeatedly been told that they sail very well. If you are looking foe a motor sailer I would suggest a Southerly, very comfortable, sail quite well and could be considered a 40/60 (40% motor 60% sailer), The latest Southerlys are more sailer than motor.
 
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