Bilge Keel

[Margaret B]

Am considering buying an 1984 Hunter 31 but I need to know if it is suitable for marina in which I will keep it in Dublin. It needs to be a bilge keel and I cannot determine from specs on Hunter 31 if it is or not. Can anyone help me on this?Also, if the Hunter 31 is not bilge keel, have any of you sailors got a recommendation for a bilge keel sailboat in the $25000 and 28-31ft area?Thanks for your help. Margaret

 

[Rich]

Margaret, shop on your side of the Atlantic...

Margaret, Bilge keelers (twin shoal keels that stick out from the hull to allow the hull to rest upright when grounded) have never been popular in the US because they have a reputation for poor performance. Hunter is an American manufacturer and unless they were exporting a model for the European market I have never seen a bilge keel offered for any of their boats. The very few bilge keelers I've seen in New England were of British manufacture, so you will probably have to shop for that option closer to home in Europe. Ireland and Britain have large tidal surges and riverside marinas that make the bilge keel a reasonable choice for cruisers in your part of the world, but they just never caught on here.

 

[David11054]

Hunter Channel 32

A quick web search found this model which sports twin keels as do many of the Hunter models in the UK. Keep looking, but we Americans will be little help as Rich explained.DavidLady Lillie