Quote:
Originally Posted by robwilk37
so it should be remembered that bolting-on a sailboats keel is entirely a nod to ease of manufacturing and transportation and not to seaworthiness. in a perfect world all sailboats would have encapsulated/integral keels.
let the outrage begin...
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Totally agree. It's just one more thing to maintain or go wrong. Never had a bolt on keel in 50 years.
I have grounded molded keels from 5 knots to dead stop, bow nearly under, with no damage. Twice at least. (once a rock and once a sunken ship) On a 47 foot boat that's a lot of energy being absorbed. Slight gouge on the keel front. But I don't buy
cheap thin boats either.
Another part of this discussion is keel length. The longer the keel, the more area where the keel meets the
hull there is to distribute the energy from grounding. Thus lower stress in the
hull and less damage.
One of the boats I used to manage in
charter was a 42 ft common production boat. A charterer hit a rock at 5 knots. The boat suffered $23k in damage (2004 $), stress cracking the hull aft of the keel, breaking tabbing on the cabinetry and
motor mounts. My Passport 47 foot long fin keel suffered no damage in the same situation.