Snapdragon 26

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Ralf

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Hellou

I have question to you.
i woud like bay Snap. 26. I have not big experiences with sailing.
...Sou, it have been clear oll for me, but I have stoped on one question et last. It is about quells, it is verdical not oblique like for egzemple on Westerly. Sou sameone have sed me that it work different upwind. What is it this difrents. Have it maybee positive said too, this quells verdical ?

I woud like took more. If you can give me your phone fix I can cool widaunt problems.

Ralf

My Phone 0033 (0)2 97 64 29 88 // 00 33 (0)6 48 83 70 19
 
Bonjour

The Keels on a Westerly are bolted on and are angled outwards. This gives a much better upwind performance than the Snap 26 where the keels are short and straight down. The good thing about the Snap 26 keels is that they are moulded in and do not suffer from getting loose like the Westerly Centaur. But they do not go upwind very well - especially if there is a cross tide. A Snap 26 is good at going sideways as there is not much grip from the keels.

A Snap 26 is heavily built and has few known problems provided it has a good engine. The originals included old petrol engines - I put a new Beta 10 in mine and it was great after that.
 
If your Snapdragon 26 has a vertical, single fin keel its windward performance is better than with twin keels or bilge keels. This difference can change both the tacking angles when changing direction into the wind,and the closeness that the boat will sail to the wind.
Some yachts with very deep keels(5ft plus) can achieve a very narrow angle to the wind, but this may result in a slower speed to windward, but less(leeway) -falling off course than with bilge keeled yachts when they are heeled. This aspect needs to be taken into account when planning a passage where leeway has to be included in calculating courses and in the bilge keeled yacht would be perhaps as much as 10 degrees leeway,or 5-7 degrees in a fin or long-keeled yacht.

Your Snapdragon is a heavily built yacht so not a sparkling performer to windward in any case, but quite a fast,safe, comfortable and roomy yacht.

There is a saying that' gentlemen never sail to windward'- upsets the gin and tonic I expect!!

hope this helps.

ianat182
 
Snap 26 kells

Are there ather positiv sides of this werdical qells witch dont have Westerly. Someone sed me that werdical qells works better. Wchat its mean ?
Im redy accept that it dont work the best upwind, if it have other positiw sides.
I have not big expieriences ( 3 days only ), tray to took a'little like for laik.
If it dont work the best , but it work - it is ok for me if there is other compensation.
There are West. Centaur on witch people have modificated qells and have do it werdical. Must bee important reason for this.

Coud you say samethingk more about this problem when qells on Westerly loosen ? Are there always this problem witch oblique qells ? What it give in resultat. Is it complicate to repare this ?

I thingk to buy Snap. It is ok for gou on the rivers too. And in general it is important dont have meny problems witch bout. I dont need bout for to do sport.

Ralf
 
Many bilge keel boats are bought to be on drying moorings. On a Centaur, because the keels are not vertical, there is a lot of weight taken at an angle as they bounce of the sand or hard mud. This can loosen the keels. Many Centaurs will now have had the bilge plates strengthened too overcome this problem.

Look at the Westerly owners website where is probably some information on this.

A Snapdragon is very strongly built. The main issue with any boat of that age is the engine. You can buy a Snapdragon for not much money but a new engine will cost more than the boat. I think a good engine is one of the most important things to look for in an old boat.
 
The main reason why some boats have vertical keels is because the keels are moulded as part of the hull and then ballast is poured inside. It is not possible to release a hull from a mould with splayed keels. so all boats with this type of keel will have them bolted on. For performance, splayed keels are generally considered superior, but they do place extra stress on the hull if the boat is dried out.

However, when you are considering these old boats the difference in performance is relatively small. It is much more important to find a boat in good condition rather than worry about the design of the keels.
 
Snap. 26

Thank you very much frend from the see.

And bout witch werdical quells drift less like with oblikqe ? - Someone sed me samethingk like this.What's about ?


Ralf
 
Snap

Is it beacose they ( it ) are short ? In theory, if we have 2 the same boats with the same draught.
One with werdical qells and anatherone with oblique. How it will be, if we compare ?
 
You have answered your own question. Boats with short shallow vertical keels make more leeway (drift) than those with deeper splayed keels. All the old boats that you are looking at will have leeway, some better than others. However there are usually more important things to consider when choosing a boat, particularly an old boat where condition and equipment is far more important.
 
Snap snap snap...

Smoll draught give more possibility for to gou in the rivers ect. Oll is relativ. I want only know how it is in theory. Is it like this ?: werdical qells with the same drought give less drift like oblique, but werdical have always smaller drought wchat give in resultat biger drift. - Is it like this ? I woud like understud before take decision to buy Snap. And Im intristid why they are always shoter ( smoler drought ).
And is it big this difference in drift betwen Snap and Westerly. Das it change a'lotte, how to eksplain this for someone without big idea about sailing.

Ralf
 
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The answer is probably yes, the Snapdargon will probably make more leeway than a Westerly. However, it is not only keels that influence sailing performance. Some things like keels and basic hull form you cannot change, other things such as quality of sails and your own sailing ability you can. As others have said, you have to accept that progress to wind in shallow draft boats can be poor and you often have to rely on the motor.

This is a trade off to allow you to sail in shallow water and dry out upright.
 
Snap snap Ralf

Ok beacose it is this wchat I want ( to can sweam in sweet water ). I have understud story about sail upwind, but my question is: In difrent situations (like sweam upwind) does werdicals qells (2 qells) have somethingk better like oblique qells with the same draught ( I immagin that drift dont egzist only in situation to sail upwind ). ( Qestion theorick , even we dont have 2 boats with the same sizes, with this 2 types of qells ant the same draught ).

And: is it possible sail across the ocean on Snap. 26 ?

Ralf
 
Leeway will also happen where you are not sailing with the tide.

I have two friend who each had a Snap 26 and used to sail from the Thames to Calais without any trouble. People sail across the Atlantic in small boats than that. Not that I would.
 
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