Parker lift keel yachts

Alan1

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I wonder if anyone out there has experience of Parker 31/325 lift keels. I am thinking of buying one and comparing it to the lift keel mechanism of a Beneteau 311.
On the Beneteau the keel if grounded swings back up with no damage. What worries me with the Parker is that if we touch bottom does this jam the keel in position or even cause damage to the keel box and lead to sinking.

Any info on these boats appreciated.

Thank you.
 

david_e

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Suggest you call Bill Parker at Parker Yachts and chat it thru with him - he is most helpfull and will give you chapter and verse - including costs of repairs etc, mots likely he will know the history of boat/s you are considering. The 31/325 is a great concept/boat - I like Beneteaus, but where the Parker scores well against the Ben lift keel is it's excellent all round sailing ability, whereas the Ben suffers in many areas because of the keel/rudder arrangement.

Who gave you the info about the keel just retracting without damage?
 

Alan1

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Thanks for your comments I will call Parker's direct. I found the info on the Bene lift keel from their web site which makes a sales point of the keel lifting when grounded.
 

rogerroger

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The lift keel mechanism on the Parker is indeed very different to the Bens. I liken the Parker mechanism to a kitchen knife that slides into one of those upright holder things whereas the Ben would be more like a pen knife.

I guess it depends what you want the boat to do - the beauty of the Parker's keel is that most of the weight is in the bottom of the keel so when down you have a deep draft and with the lowest possible centre of gravity.

The Ben mechamism on the other hand is totally different with the majority of the weight being in 'box' it sits in which itself accounts for a great deal of the boat's draft when the keel is up and majorty of the ballast. This effectively means the Ben is more of a stub keel with a retractable centre board.

No doubt the Parker will sail a lot better, especially to windward but then much the peace of mind of being able to accidently run aground with a lift keeler is negated as you would indeed do it a lot of damage if done at speed.

I love the new Ben 323 lift keel - it's no slouch even to windward and what you lose in sailing you gain by being the first / last out of a shallow harbour / across a bar and you can enjoy some extended sailing, such as in Chichester Harbour where we were last weekend - tacking to the extremities and when we did run aground a few turns on the handle and we were off again.

Another thing about the Parker is that the keel can be locked in place but a large 'pin' inserted above deck - it does worry me that if a swing keeler was capsized whether the keel falling back into the hull would mean no chance of righting whereas with the Parker this couldn't happen.
 

Beadle

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Hi

Some years since I sold my Parker and have regretted it ever since. As for running aground - unless you hit rock or something really hard you are most unlikely to do any damage (I never did) The wing is aerodynamically shaped so the leading edge hitting something is pushed as much (or more) upwards than backwards. I was hit by the sea bottom several times without doing damage. On a couple of occasions I used the keel as an alternative to the anchor for a brief stop.

Best of luck with the new boat

Trevor
 

roblpm

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Hi

Some years since I sold my Parker and have regretted it ever since. As for running aground - unless you hit rock or something really hard you are most unlikely to do any damage (I never did) The wing is aerodynamically shaped so the leading edge hitting something is pushed as much (or more) upwards than backwards. I was hit by the sea bottom several times without doing damage. On a couple of occasions I used the keel as an alternative to the anchor for a brief stop.

Best of luck with the new boat

Trevor

Trevor,

As a Parker 275 owner I dived into this thread to add my tuppence worth.

Disappointed to see that the original post was in 2005!!!!

Cheers,

Rob
 
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