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23-04-2020, 13:03
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: Ramrod Key, FL
Boat: 26' Imemsa panga
Posts: 2
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Wing Keels
Hi everyone. I'm new, and looking to get back into sailing. What are your opinions of wing keels? All I know about them is a friend had one and sold the boat in less than a year. He said it made the boat horribly slow, and was a trap line magnet. I live in the Lower Florida Keys so shallow draft is a good thing to have here, but not at the costs of speed. I'm looking for a trailerable small sailboat, even though I live on a canal. (A boat's hurricane survival chances are much better on a trailer than in the water.) I could be wrong about the wing keel. The shoal draft is very desirable for where I live. I would appreciate any advice on wing keels.
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23-04-2020, 13:06
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Bay of Islands New Zealand
Boat: Morgan 44 CC
Posts: 1,136
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Re: Wing Keels
A “trailerable small sailboat” with shoal draft screams “lifting keel”. I can’t recall ever seeing a lifting wing keel.
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23-04-2020, 13:17
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 7,374
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Re: Wing Keels
The righting moment of a winged keel is less than a deeper fin keel of the same weight and the winged keel is likely to have higher leading edge area and wetted surface area. The wing may tangle lines and seaweed a bit more because the tangle will be blocked from sliding off the bottom edge of the keel as is the tendency of a fin keel with a aftward angle.
But if depth of shoal is the key metric then one has to reposition your counter balance weight higher. A bulb keel is an alternative, basically a wing keel with stubs for wings.
One could go towards a fuller length keel with a shallow shoal design instead of a wing.
Sure a wing keel is likely to be a bit slower because the boat will tend to heel more and have somewhat greater resistance and a tad more leeway, but then its a sail boat they don't go fast. Are you cruising or racing? Very different requirements.
Always a trade off.
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23-04-2020, 14:33
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Slidell, LA
Boat: Beneteau First 375
Posts: 447
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Re: Wing Keels
Quote:
Originally Posted by CassidyNZ
A “trailerable small sailboat” with shoal draft screams “lifting keel”.
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Yes, or keel/centerboard.
How small?
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23-04-2020, 14:41
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 1,642
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Re: Wing Keels
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wet Zen
Hi everyone. I'm new, and looking to get back into sailing. What are your opinions of wing keels? All I know about them is a friend had one and sold the boat in less than a year. He said it made the boat horribly slow, and was a trap line magnet. I live in the Lower Florida Keys so shallow draft is a good thing to have here, but not at the costs of speed. I'm looking for a trailerable small sailboat, even though I live on a canal. (A boat's hurricane survival chances are much better on a trailer than in the water.) I could be wrong about the wing keel. The shoal draft is very desirable for where I live. I would appreciate any advice on wing keels.
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The Wing keel is a dog ....avoid
Better to choose a professionally designed shoal draft boat
Nigel Irens is world renowned
Roxane - Nigel Irens Design
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23-04-2020, 14:43
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Sailing Lake Ontario
Boat: Mirage 35
Posts: 1,125
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Re: Wing Keels
Don't know about smaller boats - I have a 35' with a wing keel and it works fine for me. But your reality may be different because of the size of boat and conditions.
More details available if you want them, but not sure they're relevant.
__________________
Beam me up, Scotty. There's no intelligent life down here.
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23-04-2020, 14:43
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: between the devil and the deep blue sea
Boat: a sailing boat
Posts: 20,420
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Re: Wing Keels
Or bilge keels.
Wing keels are more like Australia II stuff. Performance.
b.
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23-04-2020, 15:10
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Southport CT
Boat: Sabre 402
Posts: 2,715
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Re: Wing Keels
Wing keels can also be a liability in running aground. They tend to act like arrows - very difficult to pull out. Don’t know of any lifting keel/centerboard trailerable boats that have wings, so you may have dodged that bullet. Try looking up boats like the different Egret designs from Commodore Monroe: . Ruel Parker also has a number of shallow-draft vessels.
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23-04-2020, 16:04
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Charleston SC
Boat: 1995 Catalina 36 MkII
Posts: 186
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Re: Wing Keels
I have a wing keel though have not owned it long. I find my boat plenty fast but I agree that picking up crab pots and running aground can be more problematic with a wing keel. That said both of those situations are more the responsibility of the captain than the keel :-)
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23-04-2020, 16:47
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Cape Haze,FL
Boat: Carver,Cobia,Nacra, Columbia
Posts: 815
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Re: Wing Keels
Quote:
Originally Posted by CassidyNZ
A “trailerable small sailboat” with shoal draft screams “lifting keel”. I can’t recall ever seeing a lifting wing keel.
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Cassidy got it right!! Buy a vessel w/ retractable centerboard. Excellent windward performance with board down, but gets you in skinny water when needed.
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23-04-2020, 17:53
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Occasionally in Colorado. Generally live-aboard. Eastern Caribbean for the upcoming season. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland again next summer.
Boat: Antares 44i
Posts: 749
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Re: Wing Keels
All things boating are a compromise. Wing keel pros - shallower draft, higher profile than a full or cutaway keel. Cons - won't point as well as a deeper keel. Things that are probably not a big enough deal to worry about - a bit slower, catches crab traps, harder to get ungrounded.
We had a wing keel, or a beavertail as the manufacturer called it, on our last boat. I never wished I had a different keel because of my speed. As a cruiser I'm sure I regularly give up more speed with imperfect sail trim. We sailed the Chesapeake three summers and Maine and Nova Scotia last summer. After dropping numerous bumped lines off the keel, in Maine a daily occurrence, the idea of avoiding that keel because of catching things is not impressing me. Yes, we went aground a few times and probably would have gotten off easier without the winged keel but we always got off eventually without assistance and it was we ourselves who screwed up and put the boat aground in the first place. I'd buy a boat with a winged keel again if I were looking for a shallow draft monohull.
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24-04-2020, 07:52
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: Ramrod Key, FL
Boat: 26' Imemsa panga
Posts: 2
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Re: Wing Keels
I'm looking for a small cruiser. Something I can take to the Marquesas Keys, the Back County of the Lower Keys, and maybe Dry Tortugas. I used to work on the resupply ship for Dry Tortugas and know the waters well. I did a lot of freediving there in 04 and 05. It is a phenomenal area. I'd love to go back and shoot some GoPro. I'm considering a swing keel also. I considered a Corsair Tri with the dagger board keel. The speed is very attractive, but the tiny accommodations is a deal breaker. One of my first sailboats was a 32' Iroquois cat. The bridge deck was very low, as is fully bend over low, and after the second day out my back was screaming. It was OK for day sailing.
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