1985 23 wingswing keel

[Frank]

I am looking for some feedback on a 1985 wingswing keel. I am in the process of doing a bid-no-bid decision on a boat that has a wingswing keel and someone told me that the early 85's had a problem with this keel design . Any truth to this story. Please respond ASAP!ThanksFrank Bolling Air Force Base

 

[John Thomas]

Heard the same

I have heard the same thing from others, but have no further info. I believe that Hunter made 2 keel types that year and what I heard was one had problems and one did not.

 

[michael]

What is it?

I am looking for a sailboat, and can't quite grasp the concept of an AMerica's cup keel on a teeny sailboat.Is this right? It doesn't pull up? How delicate is it? Seems like everytime you hit a sandbar you'd loose the wings.Also, what kind of strange trailor would you need for it?These unanswered questions and due to the lousy Hunter.com website with zip info on older boats makes me look elsewhere for another type of boat.

 

[Dave Mosley]

swing keel

no problems on my boat with swing keel. I have a 1985 h-23, and like it alot. The wt. of the boat rest on the keel when on the trailer w/o any problems, no fancy trailer required. You want break any wings off on sandbars, this keel is pretty tough. The swing keel will break, but have'nt had any problems yet.David Mosley

 

[dan]

The problem is lowering the centerboard

The 'wingswing' keel on the h23 is easier to launch and retrieve than the full keel versions of the h23 simply because with the centerboard raised the draft is only 2 to 2.5 feet. With the centerboard down a grounding could damage the centerboard (I would guess near the pivot point) as would be the case with any centerboard. The common problem with this keel is lowering the centerboard (raising is a breeze). If you check the archives there are explanations for the cause of this problem and instructions for solving this it -- which involves adding weight to the centerboard.