Twin keel v Fin keel, pro's n con's ?

[Davegw]

G'day,

Iv'e been searching for a cruiser live aboard and have spotted a 1997 Beneteau 461 oceananis bilge / twin keel. Would anyone be kind enough to offer thier opinions as to the preformance compaired to a single keel.

Kind regards Dave

[skipmac]

If you are looking for just performance, as in fastest, closest to the wind, then fin keels win over any other standard design. But how important is straight out speed to you? If you are looking for a cruiser then I wouldn't worry about the performance difference. I would be more concerned about the quality of the boat and the other advantages and disadvantages of a bilge keel.

To name a few, in general terms:
Shallower draft
Not as close winded as fin keel
If designed and built for this, bilge keel boats can stand stable when aground. Can be done intentionally for bottom cleaning or repairs.

[delmarrey]

The biggest down fall to twin keels is they do not point up wind well. Other then that they are great in shallow water anchoring. Also they can be almost beached in calm waters and if built right they'll sit on their keels if the tide goes out.

Do a forum search (above) for twin keels.

[theonecalledtom]

Interesting looking at pictures of boats in Northern Europe. Lots of twin keels to cope with those large tidal shifts.

Many harbors around the UK are mostly mud at low tide.

[Davegw]

Thanks guys,

How much of a difference is there ? I mean percentage wise on the same model boat pointing up wind and in outright speed. I've also heard that they can be a bugger to get off once beached. How common / popular are bilge keel's ?

[cal40john]

It would be interesting to see if this had made any more progress. Basically he claims twin keelers can be as good or better than a single keel if properly designed.

Bray Yacht Design and Research Ltd. - The Advantages of Twin Keels

John

[Davegw]

G;day John,

Thanks for the thread, I got an interesting email from a mate

" Beneteaus dont make a bilge keeler so it must have been an after market job. You will have no chance inhell selling it. It will sail to windward like a cement shoed duck and will be passed by Boy Scouts in canoes. I'll pass looking at the boat in question.

I do however think that a Bilge Keel is a great idea and I will definatley look into it further, thanks again,

Cheers Dave