Parker 325/335 ballast?

[Ian_Edwards]

I know that a Parker 335 has a 1.2 ton lifting wing keel.
Does it also have internal ballast?
Many years ago, I had a Parker 275 which had a cast steel lifting keel and a steel plate bonded into the hull, to provide internal ballast. This provided stability when the lifting keel was raised.
I was wondering if the 335 had the same arrangement.

 

[fredrussell]

Don’t know about the 325 and 335 but my Parker 31 has some internal ballast. I don’t know how much though. I stumbled across mine while doing some surgery to fit bigger than standard batteries. Underneath the battery box there was some pig iron (? - not sure of the correct term) bonded to hull. Couldn’t see how much as I had only cut a small hole - and there’s no mention of internal ballast in any of the literature I’ve read on these boats.

 

[Ian_Edwards]

and there’s no mention of internal ballast in any of the literature I’ve read on these boats.

That's exactly what I found, I've been through the usual sources, and couldn't find anything.
I read a review which said that the ballast ratio was only 28%, and the boat wouldn't be self righting. I finds that hard to believe, it looks like they only used the 1.2ton lifting keel in the calculation.

 

[fredrussell]

I wonder if the self righting thing relates to the fact that on most Parkers the keel is held down by gravity alone. If you got rolled the keel will fall towards hull. An optional extra was a pin that holds keel down should this occur. My 31 has this, though I’ve never used the pin in anger. That all said, even if boat rolled with keel raised, boat would still self-right. I went up the mast once but forgot to lower the keel first - boat felt very stable despite it being a windy day and fair few waves. My 100kg ten metres up would have equated to a tonne of leverage if my physics is correct.