I much time for Roger Taylor
who has repeatedly sailed north to the Arctic for nearly two decades. His choice? small twin keeled yachts. His reason, in bad
weather they slide sideways down the waves rather than tripping on a deep keel. Perhaps he has something in this.
I have a 31ft twin keeled yacht. Under sail I doubt you could tell me whether it was a fin or twin keeled yacht. The
boat achieves the same speed as its fin keeled cousins, the pointing ability to windward if any; only a couple of degrees less. The condition of
sails,
hull bottom and crew sailing ability will have a much greater effect.
This assumes we are discussing the later aero foiled keels which tend to be splayed and toe'd in to assist with lift to windward. The yachts behaviour will therefore be similar to a fin keeled yacht. This will be different from a long keeled yacht loved by US sailors. That isn't to say its a problem or not the right choice, just different. Heeled of course, one keel will be vertical straight down the other to windward with a huge righting moment. Ours are 820 kgs each.
There is a slight risk to picking up a lobster pot since a long keel or fin may help divert the line away from the prop. However, thankfully despite 12 years of coastal sailing including running over a few pot markers it hasn't been a problem. The
rope cutter adds extra
insurance. We don't seem to pick up any weed or if we do it is quickly washed away with the angle on the leading edges of the keels.
If you are going "off piste" the ability to dry out on a beach or be lifted without the need for stands and frames could be useful to you in
remote areas. Will she tip over if ashore in a
Hurricane? I don't know, interesting question.
As you say they tend to be 36ft or less, but manufacturers build what the market demands and therefore what sells. Today that is deep fins or cats. Interestingly there weren't any long keeled yachts either on display at the
Southampton Boatshow last September.
So I certainly wouldn't
rule it out. Do you have a link to the yacht?
Oh and as HighAndDry pointed out there are those super RM yachts which I would have in a flash if I could afford one.