Who makes/made 20 – 30 ft twin keel cruisers.

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chriscoreline

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Greetings .
Im saving up to buy my first cruiser, i have been doing research and electronic window shopping to find a class of boat which would suit me best. Im not really a racer, i need somthing which can cope in nasty tidal ranges and trickey shallows (cork harbour) and i really only intend to cruise costal waters, maby the odd overnight to England or France. With this in mind I have settled on trying to find a twin keel boat (two weighted keels) and something in the 27foot range. However, at this point I have drawn a blank, the brokerage websites don’t really give an option to search via keel type and they don’t cover new-build boats, me, being a dingey sailor i dont have a clue who makes good botes or who made good boats in the past.

To cut to the chase, can you folks give me some suggestions as to makers of sub 40 ft twin-keel cruisers, past and present, and the names of the boats I should google
 
chriscoreline said:
Greetings .
Im saving up to buy my first cruiser, i have been doing research and electronic window shopping to find a class of boat which would suit me best. Im not really a racer, i need somthing which can cope in nasty tidal ranges and trickey shallows (cork harbour) and i really only intend to cruise costal waters, maby the odd overnight to England or France. With this in mind I have settled on trying to find a twin keel boat (two weighted keels) and something in the 27foot range. However, at this point I have drawn a blank, the brokerage websites don’t really give an option to search via keel type and they don’t cover new-build boats, me, being a dingey sailor i dont have a clue who makes good botes or who made good boats in the past.

To cut to the chase, can you folks give me some suggestions as to makers of sub 40 ft twin-keel cruisers, past and present, and the names of the boats I should google
Click to expand...

macwester & westerly, to name a few.
 
vyv_cox said:
www.boatshed.com will allow you to search on bilge/twin keels and by length.
Click to expand...

its a great site, but it offers to serch only for bilge keels, so its not 100% clear if the results are two weighted keels (twin keel) or two keels with weight in the hull (bilge)

unless my understanding of theese terms is totally super wrong.

also, i would like to take a look at whats available from a new-build perspective, as from my reserch at least it seems that all of the real performance enhancing tweeks to the twin keel configuration are on more modern boats.
 
chriscoreline said:
its a great site, but it offers to serch only for bilge keels, so its not 100% clear if the results are two weighted keels (twin keel) or two keels with weight in the hull (bilge)

unless my understanding of theese terms is totally super wrong.

also, i would like to take a look at whats available from a new-build perspective, as from my reserch at least it seems that all of the real performance enhancing tweeks to the twin keel configuration are on more modern boats.
Click to expand...

The word keel implies ballast weight, otherwise they would be described as twin boards - very few of those I can think of except Red Fox.
 
You need to go back to the 70's and 80's when there were many twin keeled boats made in the UK. The most popular were Westerlys, Moodys, Macwesters, but many smaller producers also offered twin keel boats. Note the majority of bilge or twin keel boats have ballasted keels although there are some with central ballast keels and bilge plates. Very few were made after the 1980s although Hunter continue right up to the present day.

You should have no difficulty in drawing up a short list of boats (at least in England) that meet your requirements, although you need to recognise that they are old and hugely variable in condition.
 
Welcome chriscoreline, you are indeed lucky being able to sail in Cork Harbour. Sister-in-law lives in Currabinny opposite the Royal Cork Yacht Club and we have had some fine times sailing in the area.

The Leisure 27 and Leisure 29 are both available in twin keel versions and I believe there a quite a few in Eire. Not the youngest boats but well found.

http://www.leisureowners.org.uk/site/contents/leisure27_new.shtml

http://www.leisureowners.org.uk/site/contents/leisure27_new.shtml

http://www.leisureowners.org.uk/site/contents/leisure27_new.shtml
 
Hi I'm also a new poster. I'm in a similar place to yourself - looking for a smallish boat easy to single or double hand for coastal cruising and capable of taking the ground but which can cope with heavier weather. The British Hunter Boats (www.britishhunter.co.uk) seem to fit the bill. Even the 245 is RCD B (another thread in itself) yet can also be towed behind a landrover. These are available as the Hunter Ranger from about £18000 used up to 30, 50 or 60k new depending on spec. They also make a 27 and 31 foot twin keel yachts. I don't know what "the forum/panel" thinks of these boats?
 
twin keels

Hi,as amatter of interest why twin keels ?.I would have thought Cork with deep water would not have a demand for them.
 
Cork has some trecherously shallow sections, and some really terrifying sand bars - if you stray away from the channell at low tide.
Practically any big keelboat could get to the NMCI jetty at high tide however I have managed to ground a lazer 2, quite violently, on hidden shallows during the ebb.

also, twin keel boats balence when grounded and make finding a mooring a lot easier and cheaper. I know of a few twin keelers which are just parked up one of the tidal creeks during the flood, tied to a tree or two and left until needed.

there are also some stability and handeling gains with twin keels which i quite like the sound of - i need the most flexible boat possible as im not yet certan how i want to use it, bilge keelers can get up shallow water one week and cross the atlantic the next.
 
Look at a westerly Konsort. 28'10" bilge (twin) keel. 1 metre draft
I have had one for 2 years having come from dinghys - she sails like a dinghy without the ability to capsize. Have been from wales to Ireland in her twice
 
British Hunter - only choice.

Why? Well they are just about the newest and most up-to date designs of twin keeler available since Hunter Boats only went out of production a couple of years ago. They also have assymetric keels which offer the most efficient configuration of twin keels. They were constructed to a very high standard and are easy to maintain. You have a choice of sizes from 21 to 33 ft and all the larger ones have a decent and well planned (normally Yanmar) engine installation. Finally, they sail better than ANY other twin keeler afloat. However, they hold their value well so won't be cheap to buy.

Chas
 
chriscoreline said:
Cork has some trecherously shallow sections, and some really terrifying sand bars - if you stray away from the channell at low tide.
Practically any big keelboat could get to the NMCI jetty at high tide however I have managed to ground a lazer 2, quite violently, on hidden shallows during the ebb.

also, twin keel boats balence when grounded and make finding a mooring a lot easier and cheaper. I know of a few twin keelers which are just parked up one of the tidal creeks during the flood, tied to a tree or two and left until needed.

there are also some stability and handeling gains with twin keels which i quite like the sound of - i need the most flexible boat possible as im not yet certan how i want to use it, bilge keelers can get up shallow water one week and cross the atlantic the next.
Click to expand...

Think you are a bit misguided here. The only real advantage is the ability to dry out unaided, plus usually a bit less draft. The downside is usually lower sailing performance than fin keel sisters, and on many boats of that era, performance was not high on the list of design priorities. Although bilge keelers have undertaken ocean passages, don't think most people would regard them as the type of choice.

Having twin keels will not stop you from running aground - learning to sail where there is enough water is the only solution to this!

You are right that you may have access to cheaper moorings, but the downside of such moorings is often limited access meaning potentially you get less use out of your boat.
 
The search is complicated by the fact that many builders made both fin and bilge keel versions of their boats:

To the above suggestions I can add

Sadler 26
Sadler 290 (only just out of production)
Westerly Merlin
Westerly Griffin
Hunter Horizon 26

If you want to go older/smaller then

Westerly Pageant
Westerly Centaur

As previous posts have said, however, the older the boat the (generally) poorer the performance to windward.
 
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