Help with lost Beneteau swing keel

[Eleven]

The swing/lift part of my Beneteau 311 keel has been lost. It was there and operational during the survey end of last year and not there anymore. Why it is gone and how it happened is anyone's guess since I never lowered it from the day of purchase, but that doesn't matter, just need to fix it.
Beneteau doesn't have it and can't make a new one. Ward Richardson has been very helpful but he can't even get drawings from France.
He even though about getting a whole new fixed keel but that isn't available either. To complete the mess, Geico/Boat US has denied my claim stating that was wear and tear.

My two thoughts so far on how to repair:
1. The Catalina 22 has a similar swing keel shape and similar weigh (550# x 660# for the original Beneteau keel). It needs a new pivot point drilled and reamed. Since the boat is so popular perhaps I could find an used keel and get a machine shop to make the mods.

2. Build a new fiberglass lead infused keel myself. I have been building and repairing fiberglass/carbon model sailplanes for many years so can build molds with proper foils. Very labor intensive so would prefer to avoid this option.

Any other thoughts on how you would do it if it happened to you? I'm new at sailing, the boat is 4 months old to me and I'm just trying to enjoy it.

Thank you so much.

 

[jon hansen]

so, a bud had the same issue on his bristol 40. contacted the designer, got the blue prints. researched the construction on the web. used western red cedar, weights from bar bells, encapsulated all in glass. made a big bushing. all is working well now.

your blue prints are on a computer somewhere. the build was easy enough.

good luck

 

[twistedskipper]

Does the Beneteau 311 really carry ballast in the retractable appendage? In other words, is it a swing keel or is it a centerboard?

 

[jon hansen]

the center board needs to weigh enough to go down, not float. it's not ballast like in the keel

 

[twistedskipper]

That’s why I was asking. Does the Beneteau 311 retractable appendage really weigh 660#? That would move it towards swing keel territory. Even if some of the ballast is in the fixed keel.

 

[Tom J]

Could a swing keel be fabricated from steel plate? The weight would be there, and the leading and trailing edges could be rounded and feathered to give a semi foil shape. It wouldn't be perfect, but might be cheap and serviceable. I did this on an O'Day 23. The original fiberglass centerboard kept jamming in the slot, so I had a "board" made out of steel plate, and it worked very well. It had enough weight to deploy easily, and never jammed again. The flat plate had an interesting side effect. When the boat reached hull speed while under sail, there would be a neat little hum coming from under the boat to let you know you were in the groove.

 

[twistedskipper]

It does look like Beneteau themselves refers to it as a “lifting keel”. They also indicate annual maintenance is required.

 

[MitchM]

practical boat owner , the brit sailing mag had an article some time back about a chap who made his own lead keel by collecting numerous used 'tyre ' balance weights then cooking them to liquid in a huge cauldron at his yacht club, then pouring the hot molten lead into a ' mold' formed in the sand. (A lot of that sounds totally illegal to try in the USA. ) but if you're interested i will try to dig up the article from my vast collection of 4 decades of Practical Boat Owner carefully stored in my garage. ( but don't blame me if you get arrested .)

 

[Eleven]

Thank you all for your help. Yes, Beneteau calls it a lifting keel but in reality it is a swing keel.
I've melted tiny amounts of lead before and would prefer avoiding anything like that. Any humidity in the process causes some bad reactions. If I was to use lead it would be shots mixed with epoxy. Less density but safer to use.

Though about the steel plate idea and it could be encapsulated in fiberglass to give a more hydrodynamic shape. It is a valid idea.

The boat is from 2004 but I was told the first 10 years it was on a freshwater lake. My assumption is that the previous owner while the boat was docked in salt water never performed any maintenance or added the anode some models have. The Geico surveyor conclude the main pin failed due to wear and tear

 

[Tom J]

Though about the steel plate idea and it could be encapsulated in fiberglass to give a more hydrodynamic shape. It is a valid idea.

Yes. I encapsulated mine in four coats of epoxy. It held up very well. For the next ten years that I owned it, I just repaired spots that needed refreshing with epoxy.

 

[Eleven]

Yes. I encapsulated mine in four coats of epoxy. It held up very well. For the next ten years that I owned it, I just repaired spots that needed refreshing with epoxy.

Good to know and appreciate your help