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Old 01-04-2019, 06:42   #31
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Re: Is the era of twin keelers past?

We have a Bilge Keel.
Reinke 12 m long.
We are sailing around the world since 2004.
Now we are once around in the caribean.

If you sail around the world usaly you dont have a income.
So haul out the Boot for antfouling is a easy 1000$
Job.

That is good for one year about.

With the Bilge keel we can stay on low tide on every place with enough tide.

But that is not only because of money, we like to stay away from civilization. And for haul out you have to go to marinas with dirty water and to many people.

In general, a deep keel provides better sailing performence.

But compared to a shallow draft single keel the performence is better.

Of course we have other advantages.

We have shallow draft so we can enter atolls much easier and stay on shallow places.

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Old 01-04-2019, 08:14   #32
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Re: Is the era of twin keelers past?

I have been sailing in the Bay of Fundy. A boat that could sit on the bottom when the tide goes out (great big tides) would open up many little protected bays all along the coast. It would be great to have one in that area. There are very few sailors in the whole beautiful area the extremely high tides scare them off.
All the fishing boats sit on the mud with a 'crib' on one side to hold them up.
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Old 01-04-2019, 08:26   #33
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Re: Is the era of twin keelers past?

My first sailboat happened to be a Kingfisher, 20' Brit built. Found it here in the Pacific Northwest. I thought it was genius. The interior space was very wisely used, and comfortable. Veebirth was a little cramped, but we were two and there were two bunks. It had an outboard mount that allowed the motor to swing forward into a slot, with a sliding cover that made a clean sailing bottom. The twin keels took a bit of work, as they were metal and corroded. Smeared them with epoxy, which worked pretty well.

Corresponded with other owners to learn that some have circumnavigated, one guy was sailing the Red Sea for years.
Moved up to a Rawson 30PH. Best boat ever,but had great times in shallow bays with Kingfisher.

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Old 01-04-2019, 08:26   #34
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Re: Is the era of twin keelers past?

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Originally Posted by cj88 View Post
There are still some twin keel designs available from Sirius, Django, Roberto Barros, Reinke. There were some designs in the past in New Zealand and Australia that offered them too. As mentioned, great for drying out and offering a shallower draft. Sailing performance seemed to suffer a little although I have heard that the modern designs seem to be more on a par.
I've looked at the Sirius and received a brochure about the boat. The space utilization is amazing and according Torsten who's family owns and builds the boats there is very little difference in the sailing characteristic of the twin keel model. I really like the 40.
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Old 01-04-2019, 08:27   #35
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Re: Is the era of twin keelers past?

The only bilge-keeler I've ever owned, was my very first cruiser, a Ballerina II, designed by Robert Tucker. It almost sailed and everything. The only thing I can say in its favour is, it could sit on its arse quite well.

There was no benefit if you went aground accidentally because, unlike a fin keel, where you can climb out on the boom to induce heeling and free the keel, any attempt at these antics with a bilge keel, just increases the draft.

She was a fun boat, giving me plenty of time to admire the scenery and all the passing boats as I sailed at a steady three knots to windward in perfect conditions. The keels' grip on the water ensured I made no more leeway than a beach ball in a strong wind.

Yep, I'm not the greatest fan of bilge keels, preferring to walk, underwater if necessary.
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Old 01-04-2019, 09:02   #36
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Re: Is the era of twin keelers past?

I have also owned 2 twin keel sailboats.
1. Kingfisher 20 - very seaworthy
2. Alacrity 19 - mostly of a coastal cruiser - My current boat.

I like this design because
1. Shallow draft - very easy to launch from a trailer.
2. No moving parts - In bad weather I do not want a keel that can bang around like a swing keel or drop keel.
3. Very good directional stability.
Both boats can balance very well and will self steer for hours.
4. Very good in bad weather - I like to sail in 20-35 MPH wind and these boats are great for this kind of sailing.

So basically I can sail in bad weather for hours without touching the tiller.
I can pretend I am sailing across the Atlantic.
Yes I am a want-a-be ocean cruiser.

Hoping to find a Westerly for sale with a trailer in the near future.
I love the Alacrity 19 but looking for a little more headroom.
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Old 01-04-2019, 09:38   #37
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Re: Is the era of twin keelers past?

I built a bilge keeler, designed by New Zealand's Richard Hartley... it was basically a MotorSailor but she did not perform well, she was too tender because of the shallow keels and center of effort. She did not point very well upwind, and I almost my life as well as my crew, out at sea in a winter storm....

I devoted a whole chapter of this in my book I wrote years later on her design flaws and what I did to fix them... She is now a deep keeler and I sailed her around the world, I still have her, more than 40 years later..If you want to have a bilge keeler, make sure you have a good engine with a lot of fuel capacity...good luck
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Old 01-04-2019, 09:43   #38
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Re: Is the era of twin keelers past?

Most of my sailing boats have been Bilge keels.
Seems natural and they all sailed well.

Probably why I like catamarans...
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Old 01-04-2019, 09:50   #39
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Re: Is the era of twin keelers past?

The classic fixed TWIN keel as we see it from the "UK. tidal areas is as yet an "un-improved" design. However from an Engineering view; They offer huge potential. 1. They can be made to (power) retract like a dagger board to allow bigger boats on a trailer. (also go into shallow water) 2. The "wetted"area can be reduced by using the racing yacht design of a lead weighted torpedo shape (becomes the foot) on a stilletto style strut. 3 This twin torpedo design can maximise the counteraction to heeling better. 4. The stilletto style twin keel can incorporate (independant) movable surfaces like an elevator or aileron on a plane. A.) counteracting heeling B.) Aiding in heaving to. C.) Can act as a rudder. D.) Employing both opposite acts as a brake. Employing both the same way allows a very hard turn as well as a side shift. (if the main spade type rudder goes opposite) ALSO: {With a spade type main rudder if it had a movable surface the boat could technically rotate "pirouette" in it's own length.
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Old 01-04-2019, 10:20   #40
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Re: Is the era of twin keelers past?

Let's not forget "super Shrimp," Shane Acton's Caprice designed by Robert Tucker. Shane made a successful circumnavigation in this plywood bilge keeler in 1980. At the time, the boat's 18' length made it the smallest boat ever to go round the world. With an 1'8" draft he still managed some reasonable passages, even if it took him 8 years to do it.
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Old 01-04-2019, 11:23   #41
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Re: Is the era of twin keelers past?

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Advantage; need to check something under the water line, clean the hull, or even doing tasks below doesn't incur haul out fees.
Ditto
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Old 01-04-2019, 12:46   #42
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Re: Is the era of twin keelers past?

I have an Alan Wright Hanii 28ft twin-keeler with foil shaped keels. She is not a racing boat but sails quite well as long as you keep the speed up (no pinching). When heeled correctly the "deep" keel provides lift against the leeway and the other counters the heel, but this only works if the speed is high enough. One of the downsides is that she is pretty sloppy sailing down wind as the foil effect of the keels tend to cancel each other. Note that my previous boat was a 22ft Alan Write Variant. Also a twin-keeler. It's nice to be able to park it on the beach to give it a scrub. I may use Coppercoat antifoul next time as the nearest haul out place is a days sail from my mooring.
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Old 01-04-2019, 13:16   #43
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Re: Is the era of twin keelers past?

Twin keel was my preference when I searched for my first ocean-going boat but I couldn't find one on the USA Pacific coast. I have the tidal range for a twin keel to be useful and sandy beaches where I could make repairs.

Other features were more important and I found everything except twin keels in my modified Roberts Offshore 44.

Still, I agree with Boatman61.
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Old 01-04-2019, 13:44   #44
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Re: Is the era of twin keelers past?

Heh heee. Many years ago I bought a Hartley 14 and it had twin fixed keels. I used to live on Phillip Island, Vic., Australia. Western Port Bay has significant tidal movements. It was always handy to dry out the boat and get a good night's sleep, It was a real dog to sail though. Needed a lot of wind to get moving.
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Old 01-04-2019, 14:24   #45
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Re: Is the era of twin keelers past?

Is a twin keel a good option for a first timers? 28-32 ft range. I would plan to learn to sail in the Caribbean with first long trip to the Amazon but would want a boat capable of ocean passages. The shallow draft is what attracts me. Other suggestions?
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