charles_reed
Well-Known Member
You may not be surprised to hear that I disagree with the statement ' better than any other configuration for taking the ground'...
Boats with a completely retracting keel and flush bottom are vulnerable to even small nasty pointy objects on the seabed, grounding plate or not, and the plate is still liable to intrusion by mud and / or stones and jamming.
Those with a ballast bulb which remains external have a much better protection, and in mud ( ie a normal mooring ) the bulb sinks in leaving the boat completely upright, and the bulb - 9" deep cast iron - gives a good chance of shouldering aside the proverbial tesco trolley on approach to an unknown mooring.
On my boat the bulb is veed on top to fair in with the hull so mud and stones are not an issue, as I have known it to be on fully retracting E-Boats and Seal 22's with their small external ballast.
Having the 900lbs ballast 4'6" down is a lot more efficient for sailing than having it in the bilges too.
Not at all surprised - but then you could be wrong. I'd back any 275 to outpoint an Anderson as well as be 35% faster.
I would point out that the 31 has 2500 lbs in a big wing 1.8m down - not like the little boat to which you refer. And it sits on this big 1460mm wing utterly flat without any protruding bits.
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