LOST KEEL 36' YATCH

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miguel

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LOST KEEL 36\' YATCH

What happened to me is absolutely true... unfortunately!!!

It happened in the central northern coast of Chile.
 
Re: LOST KEEL 36\' YATCH

In my country there is no banana trees nor wild monkeys ...I don't know if you can say the same of your home .... but anyway my Bavaria was made in the "central and most developed part of Europe....." and sunk with a relatevely slow hit in its keel..............
 
Re: LOST KEEL 36\' YATCH

In my opinion any yacht keel should be so strongly attatched to the yacht that it is the last thing to come off.

If the rest of the hull is smashed into matchwood or ground up into tiny bits of GRP the keel should still be attatched to the last bit left.
 
Re: LOST KEEL 36\' YATCH

[ QUOTE ]
In my opinion any yacht keel should be so strongly attatched to the yacht that it is the last thing to come off.

If the rest of the hull is smashed into matchwood or ground up into tiny bits of GRP the keel should still be attatched to the last bit left.





[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with the sentiments but I'm not sure how realistic they are in a grp constructed boat. 5 tonnes travelling at 5 knots into a rock some 5 ft below the keel root places an immense load on the keel bolts. OK you can put really huge ones in, but then the likely result would be the boat pivoting about its keel and the bow hitting the rock or the hull just pulling apart.

The answer (apart from avoiding the rocks in the first place) is a lifting keel of the Southerly sort with lots of internal ballast. But then you pay for that.

In the end, you have to recognise that Bavaria are in the business of providing Joe P with a new boat that he can afford, and you do get what you pay for in life. A 35 ft Bav is what - maybe 80k, but a 35 ft Southerly is 150k.
 
Re: LOST KEEL 36\' YATCH

I dont think the strength of the bolts is an issue its the reinforcement of the hull itself that is critical.with internal reinforcing spread over a large area you would need to tear the whole bottom of the boat off.

I once built a small grp bilgekeel yacht from scratch over a male mould (i wouldnt use that method again).The hull was massively reinforced in the keel area with double the hull thickness and extra glassed in hardwood stringers and floors on top.with the bolts passing through the lot.

That boat survived many intentional and unintentional groundings and was once dropped a foot onto a concrete slipway with no damage.

By intelligent use of materials with strength only where needed the boat needed additional ballast to fetch her down to her marks after launching.

I dont think this issue can be excused by price comparisons.I wouldnt buy a cheap car if I thought a wheel may come off if I cornered too harshly one day.
 
Re: LOST KEEL 36\' YATCH

Succinctly put, you get what you pay for.

I have serious misgivings about all three 'modern' underwater appendages which are all vulnerable to catastrophic impact damage - narrow-rooted 'dagger' keels, skegless rudders and sail drive legs.

Good ideas for boatbuilders, crap ideas for boat owners.
 
Re: LOST KEEL 36\' YATCH

Hitting rocks like this is almost considered standard procedure in Scandinavia, and boats are not expected to fall apart.

It makes a hell of a bang though.
 
Re: LOST KEEL 36\' YATCH

I'd like to thank for the feedback regarding my accident. The opinions of Graham and Ken Twister are specialy interesting views.
 
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