Keel or centerboard?

[Martyw]

I am looking at a couple of 22' trailerable boats. One is an o'day with a small fixed keel, one is a Catalina with an adjustable centerboard.
Is the fixed keel more difficult/limited for trailering and getting into the water? I will be primarily trailering the boat to a variety of ramps and don't want to limit my options.

 

[Zed]

I am looking at a couple of 22' trailerable boats. One is an o'day with a small fixed keel, one is a Catalina with an adjustable centerboard.
Is the fixed keel more difficult/limited for trailering and getting into the water? I will be primarily trailering the boat to a variety of ramps and don't want to limit my options.

The smaller your draft the easier it is to get the boat in and out of the water. My WWP19 with its 6 inch draft floats off the trailer in only 30 inches of water. With a trailer extension, its generally a piece of cake on almost any ramp anywhere.

 

[Karyon]

I'd say a centre board keel is way easier to launch and retrieve. plus it sits lower on the trailer compared to a full keel

With a full keel you need a trailer extension so you can put the trailer deeper in the water and float the boat off.

With our centerboard/ water ballast I can launch within 5 min and retrieve in less then 5 min.

There is nothing worse than holding others up at the ramp, I feel I'm being pushed.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

It depends if the fixed keel is a long skeg type keel that is not a deep fin at all would work. In addition, the Catalina 22 can be easy to launch with the right type of trailer. However, if the trailer set up for example bunk boards are set up too high, then it will be difficult. If you want to pay the bucks for a new trailer for the Catalaina 22, order one from Road King that is specifically designed for the Catalina Sport 22 sailboat and that my friend is so low, you can launch and retrieve so easy , it is not funny. I was there when the design of the trailer was done by then Ron Frisosky who designed many sailboat trailers over the years. Ron is now deceased.

 

[Kermit]

It also depends on the ramp. I met Uncle Crazy Dave when he came to help me figure out why I couldn't retrieve the most trailer-friendly boat in the world. The ramp was AWFUL. I'm at a different club now and easily load my boat alone. Easy-peasy chicken-lickin' good!

 

[Martyw]

I've heard trailer extensions mentioned a few times, in order to get the trailer pushed back into deeper water. Has anyone had any luck with these?

 

[WayneH]

I have seen a lot of trailer extensions at a sailing event. Some were using an extension with a second ball on it to attach to the trailer. One even had a roller wheel to prevent the extension from dragging on the ground. Seemed fairly complicated.

On my trailerboat, I had a pipe in pipe extension. It had a vertical pin to hold the extension in either the in or out position. Fairly easy to use but it required completely removing the extension when you weren't towing the boat because the salt water would cause corrosion between the pipe sections and lock the extension in place.

My extension was about 5 and 1/2 feet long and was usually enough to get me launched and retrieved without soaking my rear tires on my truck. Except once on Lake Texoma when it was way down and I had to back down onto the low slope ramp until my front tires were in the water.

The Admiral and I would chock the trailer tires and pull the pin on the extension. Then I would slowly drive the truck forward until the holes lined up in the out position and she would drop the pin into the hole.

Just make sure you have the pin in a hole and not past the end of the extension. Life gets REAL INTERESTING when you hit the ramp that way. Don't ask me how I know this.

 

[Zed]

I've heard trailer extensions mentioned a few times, in order to get the trailer pushed back into deeper water. Has anyone had any luck with these?

I have an 8 foot extend-a-hitch, and an additional 10foot steel bar beyond that. If necessary, I also have 15 + 10 feet of yellow webbing tow rated at 3500 pounds.

In order to use it, I have a third wheel which attaches to the Extend-a-hootch. Without the webbing, I have 34 feet from the wheels of the trailer to the wheels of the Pontiac Torrent AWD. They never even get close to the water, in nearly any ramp.

But beyond the Extend-a-hootch, you need a third wheel or it will drag.

Getting your wheels wet in lake water is no big thing. Getting your car wheels wet in saltwater means an $800 brake and wheel bearing issue.

 

[Benny17441]

I've heard trailer extensions mentioned a few times, in order to get the trailer pushed back into deeper water. Has anyone had any luck with these?

As long as the ramp is long enough or there is not a large drop off at the end.

 

[Gene Neill]

I am looking at a couple of 22' trailerable boats. One is an o'day with a small fixed keel, one is a Catalina with an adjustable centerboard.
Is the fixed keel more difficult/limited for trailering and getting into the water? I will be primarily trailering the boat to a variety of ramps and don't want to limit my options.

Crazy Dave is right, it depends on whether the O'Day has a fin keel or a shoal keel (which looks like a fin someone cut off half of). If you're gonna be a trailer sailor you want the shallowest draft possible for ease of launching. Even then you will sometimes need a trailer tongue extension, ball hitch extension, tow strap, or other method to get her floating without submerging half your tow vehicle. Shallow-angle ramps suuuuck.

 

[Zed]

Shallow-angle ramps suuuuck.

You win some you lose some. Shallow ramps are easier to get up, harder to get enough water to float the boat. Steeper ramps are easier to float the boat, but harder to get up if slippery.

 

[Sumner]

... I will be primarily trailering the boat to a variety of ramps and don't want to limit my options.

If the above is your goal then I'd suggest looking for two things in a boat.

One that you can easily and quickly launch and that means not dealing with hitch or tongue extensions and you have a boat that sits low on the trailer and has a shallow draft.

The second is a boat that sets up quickly and you can be off and sailing quickly. For instance most Macgregors/Ventures leave all of the rigging attached except for the forestay. Push the mast up and pin the forestay, attach the boom and you are done. A lot of owners of these boats that put in and out a lot are in the water and gone within 30 minutes of hitting the ramp. I'm sure there are other boats that this is true of also. Here is a video of a Mac and gives you an idea of what you might be looking for in a boat if you are putting in and out a lot at different ramps...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFP3QA9-5GI

If you only put in and out a few times a year then you can start making compromises on the above but if you are trailering and putting in and out a lot then you might find yourself not going if it becomes time consuming and difficult.

Sumner

===============================

1300 miles to The Bahamas and Back in the Mac

Endeavour 37 Mods...

MacGregor 26-S Mods...

Mac Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida, Bahamas

 

[Brian S]

Most O'days in the trailerable category have a shoal "stub" keel with a centerboard. I think the 22 had a shoal keel only configuration, and the 240 is a shoal wing keel. Other than that, they are all shoal stubs with centerboards, on up to the O'day 26.

Personally, I like this combo. It gives you decent ballast below the waterline, with the centerboard that improves pointing. Yet you can still get into some skinny water. As pointed out, it also makes for easier launches and retrieves. They also sail and handle nimbly, compared to something like a ComPac 19, which has a shoal 3/4 length keel, and doesn't point worth a damn. Was sailing with a friend who races Hobie 16s, which acts like full keel boats, and they don't tack well at all. It was funny watching my friend tack my boat (based on experience with the Hobie) very slow and easy, versus the way I tack her, like a dinghy, and throw her over so she tacks in like 1/2 boat length. Fun!

I compare my 192 to the Catalina Capri 18, which has a wing keel. That keel is deeper than my 192 for a similar sized boat, and it does sit higher on the trailer than my boat.

Still, I did make an 8' extension for my trailer, so that I don't have to worry about getting the Forester's wheels way down into the water.

 

[Sumner]

Launching the 26 foot Mac....

... at Lake Powell with no ramp and without the wheels in the water (just the tires a tad),

Sumner

================================

1300 miles to The Bahamas and Back in the Mac

Endeavour 37 Mods...

MacGregor 26-S Mods...

Mac Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida, Bahamas

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Many are hitting on the point as a lot will depend on the ramp material, length of ramp and drop off if any at the end of the ramp. I should also include width. The photo of the MacGregor above is unusual as you have hard material that you can launch with plus that boat was designed to be launched in shallow water due to the design of the trailer. I know as I use to be a Mac dealer many years ago. That is a big consideration. The trailer is also an important item to consider.

 

[Zed]

My West Wight Potter 19 will float free in about 30 inches of water.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Heck I floated a 23.5 off a beach once but would not suggest that to anyone as I knew what was being done. I think we have answered his questions and now it is up to the fellow who posted the question what direction he wants to go.

 

[davidmhull]

Hi Martyw. I have an Oday with a shoal draft keel and it is a piece of cake to launch and retrieve. I have a 10' extension and I carry it in the truck but have not had to use it yet. I back up my truck until the open tailgate is almost touching the water and then tap the brakes. She slides right off. Retrieving used to be and still is a bit more hair raising but after I added some high guide boards and a chute to guide the keel ( a suggestion by someone on the forum, might have been crazy Dave) that is now very easy as well. This is my first non centerboard boat and I don't miss it, the centerboard trunk or anything else about it. My first sailboat was a restored 40' gaff rigged oyster dredger built back when that was the only way you could dredge oysters. It had a 1000 pound cast iron centerboard that worked really well as a poor mans depth finder. After sailing and launching my present boat I would not hesitate to get another shoal draft trailer/sailor.

 

[solosailier]

There is no such thing as a centre(center)board keel. There is a centerboard, a weighted centerboard, a swing keel and a fixed keel. The term is confusing as centerboards only weight as much as the material used. Weighted centerboard have lead, concret or steel slugs in bottom or parts of keel. Swing keels are heavy suckers and may weight as much as a fixed keel. They pivot on a strong axle.

I would like to see a video of someone launching a keel sailboat with a towing strap or ropes. I may have to do that eventually.

 

[LeeandRick]

There is no such thing as a centre(center)board keel. There is a centerboard, a weighted centerboard, a swing keel and a fixed keel.

I would like to see a video of someone launching a keel sailboat with a towing strap or ropes. I may have to do that eventually.

Wow this is an old thread. So "solo" what do you call a boat that has a lead keel that gives birth to a centerboard from within its loins? Do a you tube search, there are many rather funny keel boat launchings with a strap or chain and a few that are done properly.