Full Keel Sailboats

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

That one above Quebec City is a whopper. We saw7.5 knot current traveling a Z channel. The one in Woods Hole is also impressive.

I think we hit near 10 knots. 5.x over water (speedo), 15.x over land (GPS)

Originally Posted by GILow

Here, I solved it for you....Attachment 200694

(Except maybe the skeg bit)

Nice. Interesting design. She looks like a tough sea boat.

[GTom]

Originally Posted by Crabpot105

Are these the best for sailing offshore?

They don't sail better than any deep-draft ocean-going design, the encapsulated keel is more for the peace of mind that it stays on. Otherwise I wouldn't worry about keels which are secured by 6+ solid, healthy bolts.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I think we hit near 10 knots. 5.x over water (speedo), 15.x over land (GPS)



Nice. Interesting design. She looks like a tough sea boat.

Camper & Nicholson 58, 40 tons. It’s a passage maker. Hampton, Va to Virgin Gorda we had a two day total over 500 miles. Finished 1500 in 7.5 days.

We saw 14+ in that channel by GPS. It’s easy to get carried sideways into a channel marker in the St Lawrence.

[thomm225]

Great pictures above which certainly reinforces the fact that full keel cruisers are not very fast, won't point, but are heavy and safe in a blow if your are the type than can deal with that style sailing

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by GTom

They don't sail better than any deep-draft ocean-going design, the encapsulated keel is more for the peace of mind that it stays on. Otherwise I wouldn't worry about keels which are secured by 6+ solid, healthy bolts.

Thanks, but you have to give it to the old full keel boats which can bounce their encapsulated keels off the bottom for a while if they happen to run aground without causing any damage.

Not so with a bolt on keel I'm thinking which means should I buy one I'd have to be more on the ball with navigation in low water and not just relay on how the water and waves look to determine depth which is my normal method now

[GTom]

Originally Posted by Crabpot105

Thanks, but you have to give it to the old full keel boats which can bounce their encapsulated keels off the bottom for a while if they happen to run aground without causing any damage.

Not so with a bolt on keel I'm thinking which means should I buy one I'd have to be more on the ball with navigation in low water and not just relay on how the water and waves look to determine depth which is my normal method now

Hard grounding is no good for full keel either. Softer grounding is done by tens of thousands of bolt on bilge keel Westerly's, Moody's, Sadlers, etc twice a day.

[Mike OReilly]

Here’s my baby. As I said, she’s a FULL keel. All I can say is, if you see me coming into a marina — get out of the way!

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Here’s my baby. As I said, she’s a FULL keel. All I can say is, if you see me coming into a marina — get out of the way!

Nice picture and that's very good advice

[Cruiser2B]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Here’s my baby. As I said, she’s a FULL keel. All I can say is, if you see me coming into a marina — get out of the way!

Same with my westsail 32! No docking issues just have to plan cafefully....and anticipate/plan each move and turn!

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by GTom

Hard grounding is no good for full keel either. Softer grounding is done by tens of thousands of bolt on bilge keel Westerly's, Moody's, Sadlers, etc twice a day.

Smaller full keel boats though are like 10% the price of one of those boats you named and make great starter or full time cruisers if you can adjust to their weakness in performance.

Plus, they can handle repeated hard groundings as mine has

[GTom]

Originally Posted by Crabpot105

Smaller full keel boats though are like 10% the price of one of those boats you named and make great starter or full time cruisers if you can adjust to their weakness in performance.

Plus, they can handle repeated hard groundings as mine has

Hard grounding = you hit rocks at 5kts of more. It will remove quite a bit from the laminate I am afraid.

In the UK you pay about 15-30k£ or 20-40k$ for a bilge keel boat around 30'. I doubt 2-4k$ will buy you a decent full keel boat.

Anyway, I am not against full keel by any means, maybe my next one will be a full keel boat, but it's not all that clear that bolt-on is evil and full keel is the only way to go.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Here’s my baby. As I said, she’s a FULL keel. All I can say is, if you see me coming into a marina — get out of the way!

Superb. And I bet you don’t lose much sleep over running into shallows.

FWIW, I ordered a Kiwiprop last week, I’ll be interested to see if I get any better manoeuvrability in the marina. As things currently stand, reversing is like rolling a dice to see which direction the boat will turn. The wheel has little or no effect.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Here’s my baby. As I said, she’s a FULL keel. All I can say is, if you see me coming into a marina — get out of the way!

Yes, truly a beauty with that single curve from the stem. Others should note this as a full keel design. So many think of long keel boats as being full keel.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by GTom

Hard grounding = you hit rocks at 5kts of more. It will remove quite a bit from the laminate I am afrad.

Oh no, not rocks.

I'd call that an extremely hard grounding, and I wouldn't even get close to a bottom like that if I could in anyway avoid it

[wingssail]

A lot depends on how you approach sailing and why you sail.

A full keel boat will generally be heavier, and maybe safer in groundings. Some people swear that they track better than fin keel boats and have easier motion in seas. It will also be slower on most, if not all, points of sail, and if you love the feel of an exciting sailboat, you won't get it quite the same way with a full keelboat. But if tradition, security of a heavy boat, and homelike interior is your thing, and you don't mind being a little off the pace, the full keel boat might really suit you.

On the other hand a fin keel boat will generally be lighter and possibly subject to more damage in groundings although I'd debate that one. As for tracking, the power of a balanced and separate rudder far back from the keel makes the boat extremely responsive to rudder input. Being pushed off your line by a wave is no problem if the rudder puts you right back on it instantly. But the real reason for the fin keel boat is performance and feel. A designer would rarely put a small sail plan on a fin keel boat, so they are usually powered up. They may really come alive in 10 knots of wind and you can feel that. You reef them down early and then they fly with small sails. (You can tell it excites me just talking about it). So if you love sailing more than a feeling of security that comes from heaviness, a fin keel (and a spade rudder) would be for you.

Ocean passages, any boat can do it. You might wind up motoring more with your full keel boat, or, with a fin keel you may find you can sail any direction in any breeze, so you do.

This is our boat, we've sailed it across all the oceans.