Racing bilge keel yachts

[ifoxwell]

The relative performance of bilge keel yachts with fin keels often seems to crop up with plenty of anecdotal evidence saying both good and bad things, but race results never lie.... or at least they fix the rules of the competition and move away a little from just gossip.

So what bilge keelers are there out racing regularly, and how do they do.

Ian

 

[graham]

Most bilge keel yachts are likely to be racing in handicap fleets so the results dont neccessarilly reflect performance.

On PY or Byron handicaps you can find handicap numbers for both fin and bilge keel versions of some boats which will give you some idea but may not tell the full story;

People who race are less likely to buy a bilge keeler so the skill of a racing skipper and their willingness to replace sails more often plus the cruising skippers will carry more weight aboard as a rule so the handicaps which evolve over years of racing results may make the difference appear greater. One way to win handicapp races is to buy a bilge keel cruising boat stripout all unneccessary stuff ,equip it with good sails then sail it hard taking full advantage of your big handicap number.

 

[savageseadog]

The David Feltham designed bilge keel version Seawolfs and Cobras are supposed to be good performers.

 

[lw395]

Some bilge keelers like Hunter Duettes are not poor performers, and might do well on a passage race.
But in close quarters with other boats, pointing even a couple of degrees lower is disastrous.
Unless you have other similar boats to race against, it won't be that great on the water, even if you might do OK depending on the vagaries of the handicap system. A lot depends on what other boats will be there, and what you hope to get from it.
Much as bilge keelers can be great for cruising and all that, there are good reasons why few people race them seriously. Quite a few people keep a cruiser for cruising and a share in something like a Squib for good racing. Good tactical racing with no handicap arguments, and cheaper than putting nice sails on a bigger boat. For that matter, I know a couple of clubs where lots of the wednesday night dinghy fleet own cruisers.

 

[Praxinoscope]

The majority of our racing fleet are bilge keelers, predominantly Fulmars, Sadler 29/32. Our harbours in Cardigan Bay just aren’t really suited to fin keel although we do have a couple of lifting keels, and a couple of fin keelers kept on deep water moorings, and until two years ago I was racing a long single keel Invicta 26, I have however now shifted to a bilge keel Sadler 25. I miss the way the Invicta ‘sliced’ through the water, but at least I can now visit more of our local harbours with ease.
The Fulmars tend to be the most consistent winners but not all the time, even my old 1965 Invicta has found itself with the winners cup.

 

[savageseadog]

The majority of our racing fleet are bilge keelers, predominantly Fulmars, Sadler 29/32. Our harbours in Cardigan Bay just aren’t really suited to fin keel although we do have a couple of lifting keels, and a couple of fin keelers kept on deep water moorings, and until two years ago I was racing a long single keel Invicta 26, I have however now shifted to a bilge keel Sadler 25. I miss the way the Invicta ‘sliced’ through the water, but at least I can now visit more of our local harbours with ease.
The Fulmars tend to be the most consistent winners but not all the time, even my old 1965 Invicta has found itself with the winners cup.

How many boats did you lose in that storm in the end?

 

[Praxinoscope]

How many boats did you lose in that storm in the end?

Nine on the day and three two weeks earlier, not nice. My boat and the boat on the adjacent mooring had a 35’ tree trunk lying across our stern chains, but fortunately no damage to either boat. The harbour floor has shifted and my risers are at present buried under 2’ or more of shingle, hopefully the local authority will get a JCB in to re-lay the harbour before we launch this year.
I’ll post a photo later.

 

[Praxinoscope]

How many boats did you lose in that storm in the end?

Couple of photo's after the storm in Aberaeron, one shows the sad fate of an Achilles 24, the other shows pulling the 'log' off my stern moorings. (blue Sadler 25).

 

[savageseadog]

Couple of photo's after the storm in Aberaeron, one shows the sad fate of an Achilles 24, the other shows pulling the 'log' off my stern moorings. (blue Sadler 25).

How did the insurance claims go?

 

[Praxinoscope]

How did the insurance claims go?

As far as I know most are going OK, one is a problem, I think they were actually only insured on the water until end September. The worst part was that we had the crane booked for liftout on the days of the storm so if it had happened a day later we would all have been safe onthe hard.

 

[Birdseye]

Back onto the subject, I raced a bilge keel Moody 336 for several seasons and we did quite well with it. The Moody has a good hul and the fiun versions are I believe raced successfully in Scotland. We found that our performance downwind was little different to fin keelers of similar length and design. The big difference was upwind where speed was similar but direction wasnt. We lost maybe 5 deg when hard on the wind, part leeway part pointing.

This was racing under PY in a friendly club competition so the boat was a sensible choice allowing both visits to shallow / drying locations as well as some racing fun. I replaced her with a fin which sails better but which is a PITA cruising in the bristol channel.

 

[ifoxwell]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Pretty much what I expected then I guess. Its a shame as Id like to talk myself into one but I wouldn't want to give up the height and speed upwind. Sailing on a tidal river that would just be a killer when punching the tide.

 

[Birdseye]

It all depends on the make up of the competing fleet. If its a mixed bag racing under NHC then I really wouldnt see an issue. In the 336 we were racing against some fins - Trappers for example - and did quite well. What makes for interesting racing is havinmg an overall performance level that is in the same ballpark as the rest of the fleet.

We have boats where the owner has bought something really fast in a fit of enthusiasm. They find themselves either miles ahead or falling behind on handicap depending on tide and wind strength. Its a bit like putting a multihull into a monohull race. No fun.