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Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Keel partly lowered when underway?

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Lightnup
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1016 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/28/2004 : 21:03:31

Hi there - I did a search before posting this but could not find a discussion specific to swing keel position when sailing, only when moored or in slip. So, here's my question:

Must the swing keel be either all up or all down when underway? When sailing in shallower waters, would there not be benefit to lowering it by 6 or 7 (or some number of cranks) turns of the winch to gain additional heeling stability while avoiding hitting the bumps that would be struck if it were all the way down? Or is that not recommended?

Thanks for your input.

Steve M.
'82 C-25 SK
<i>Wind Point</i>

Steve Madden
'87 WK #5668 "Lorica"
Fort Myers, FL

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 05/28/2004 : 21:26:06

Some IMHO stuff...

IMHO the extention of the 'head' of the keel into the keel trunk is part of the structural design... that works to keep the keel stable and distribute the lateral load when the boat is heeled. In fact, Catalina Direct makes a kit to adjust/restore this hand-in-glove fit. (ostensibly to reduce clunking)

In this perspective, sailing with the keel 'halfway' down might be a very bad idea. In that state, you're getting enough leverage to stress the keel hinge, but probably don't have enough of the keel head up in the hull slot to provide stabilization.

My two cents is that I wouldn't sail this way. Motor? Maybe. I prefer all the way up, or all the way down.

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 05/28/2004 : 21:35:18

... and it is class illegal to race with it anywhere but down, regardless of the leg.

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 05/28/2004 : 21:36:35

Another consideration is that the partially raised keel will shift the balance of the boat toward lee helm--meaning if you let go of the tiller, the boat might turn away from the wind rather than up into it. That can be a safety factor--especially if you're single-handing or sailing with inexperienced passengers. (Also, a racer will tell you that lee helm makes the boat slower, and slight weather helm makes it faster, but you can't be talking about racing with the keel partway up.)

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 05/28/2004 21:39:46

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5907 Posts

Response Posted - 05/29/2004 : 09:16:44

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">When sailing in shallower waters, would there not be benefit to lowering it by 6 or 7 (or some number of cranks) turns of the winch to gain additional heeling stability while avoiding hitting the bumps that would be struck if it were all the way down? Or is that not recommended?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">IMHO, the greatest danger of the swing keel is that, by making it easy to escape a grounding, it encourages you to sail in shallow waters that you should really stay out of. There are hidden dangers in shallow waters, especially in tidal waters. I would put the keel down and leave it there unless I ran aground.

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Lightnup
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1016 Posts

Response Posted - 05/29/2004 : 21:29:30

Good input. I hadn't thought about the potentially damaging strain that might be placed on the pivot when heeled with a partially retracted keel, nor the effect of weather-helm vs. lee-helm as a consequence. I can see why it should be all or nothing.

Thanks for the advice.

Steve

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Alan Clark
Captain

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406 Posts

Response Posted - 06/01/2004 : 15:40:25

We sail our "Leprechaun" on Grand Lake St. Marys in Ohio which is approx. 11 miles long and 3 miles wide, it is a man made lake-hand dug! as a feeder for the erie canal. Needless to say it is SHALLOW , deepest is approx. 10 feet. There are also Tree stumps left at the bottom of the lake -not all were taken out when it was dug-At this time they are almost petrified and when you hit one with your keel it is exciting! there are spots we can sail with the keel all the way down but it is better to sail with it NOT all the way down. Comments? BTW it is rated by Sailing magaazine as one of the top 15 sailing lakes in America!

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