ghostlymoron
Well-Known Member
I've been looking online at these little boats - popular with Dave Selby - and seen mention of necessary mod to keelbox. What does this involve? Is it a DIY job?
Sailfish 18
- Thread starter ghostlymoron
- Start date
Seajet
...
Don't know what the mod' is, but I reckon it's necessary !
On hols once I met a family in a Sailfish 18 in Yarmouth, the husband cheerfully informed me the keel had fallen off a couple of days before.
Then he set off with wife and 2 young children heading for the West Country - it was perfect weather for them, ie almost no wind, I know the keel is only what 150lb ish ? Still seems the sort of thing one would want along on a trip - and yes I did try to stop him; maybe I'm over-cautious...
Last seen motoring for Poole at about 2.5 knots on engine ( long before VHF was common or I'd have called someone, I was clearly not welcome to shadow them to shelter, and the avowed plan was round Portland Bill next ! ) - I've often wondered how that story ended - suspect I should have stayed in company, messing up my own plans, welcome or not.
On hols once I met a family in a Sailfish 18 in Yarmouth, the husband cheerfully informed me the keel had fallen off a couple of days before.
Then he set off with wife and 2 young children heading for the West Country - it was perfect weather for them, ie almost no wind, I know the keel is only what 150lb ish ? Still seems the sort of thing one would want along on a trip - and yes I did try to stop him; maybe I'm over-cautious...
Last seen motoring for Poole at about 2.5 knots on engine ( long before VHF was common or I'd have called someone, I was clearly not welcome to shadow them to shelter, and the avowed plan was round Portland Bill next ! ) - I've often wondered how that story ended - suspect I should have stayed in company, messing up my own plans, welcome or not.
FullCircle
Well-Known Member
Sans Bateau
Well-Known Member
A Sailfish was the very first cruising boat I ever sailed on, it belonged to a friend who kept it at Bucklers Hard. If I remember correctly, the only way to maintain the keel was either to put the boat on its side or to lift it high enough to remove the keel from underneath. You had no access for maintenance from inside the boat as the top of the keel box was completely glassed in, so invariably maintenance and inspection was missed.
The modification, again if my memory serves me right, was to have the top of the keel box cut off and a stepped overlap added so that it could be refitted like a lid, held in place by screws. This allowed the maintenance to be done with the boat sitting as normal on the trailer.
ianat182
Well-Known Member
As regards sailing the boat the Sailfish18 performs quite well however the visibility forward leaves something to be desired as the genoa and high coachroof spoils views forward and looking through the forward cabin windows also needed. They were built at Warsash with a big sister the Sailfish 25, also with a lifting keel 'OUZO' was one of these.
We had 4-5 in the Club and raced in the pursuit races and in an Open meeting of about 12 boats then. I've only heard of one failure with the keel,the owners used our club crane at that time for their maintenance,dropping the keel for antifouling mainly.
ianat182
We had 4-5 in the Club and raced in the pursuit races and in an Open meeting of about 12 boats then. I've only heard of one failure with the keel,the owners used our club crane at that time for their maintenance,dropping the keel for antifouling mainly.
ianat182
davidbfox
Well-Known Member
The keel lifts and drops on a long vertical screw like on a jack. The screw can break and the keel fall right out of the boat - the boat is still watertight but the keel is lost.
The mod involves removing the top few inches of the box that surrounds the keel (like a centreboard housing) so that you can access the screw. Then it can be greased and also a couple of thin cords can be installed to keep the keel captive in the event of the screw failing.
The top section of the casing is refitted with some sort of metal or fibreglassed strip around the bottom edge, so it sits on top of the main part like a cap.
On my Sailfish it took 98 turns of the screw to lift or drop the keel.
There is also a Sailfish Smile, which the foredeck separating from the hull under tension from the forestay. I never saw that on a boat but was advised to watch out for it when buying.
As said before, all this is in class association magazines.
The mod involves removing the top few inches of the box that surrounds the keel (like a centreboard housing) so that you can access the screw. Then it can be greased and also a couple of thin cords can be installed to keep the keel captive in the event of the screw failing.
The top section of the casing is refitted with some sort of metal or fibreglassed strip around the bottom edge, so it sits on top of the main part like a cap.
On my Sailfish it took 98 turns of the screw to lift or drop the keel.
There is also a Sailfish Smile, which the foredeck separating from the hull under tension from the forestay. I never saw that on a boat but was advised to watch out for it when buying.
As said before, all this is in class association magazines.
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