Boat Lift and Trailering a Hunter 23

[Annapolis Day Sailor]

Found a great Hunter 23' and need some initial info until I can gather the appropriate manuals.

Winged keel extremely rusty. 1. Can the hull support the weight of the boat on blocks so I have unfettered access to sand/grind and repair the keel? Or must it rest on the keel at all times?

2. I have an open boat lift and wanted to buy a sailboat kit to keep the newly repaired keel out of the water. Does the lift have to have keel support? Or can the hull support the weight of the boat out of the water.

I hope this basic first question is received with at least a little bit of "I remember when I bought my first keeled sailboat!"

Thanks!

 

[Kermit]

Hmmm. I doubt the water supports the keel much. So my guess would be the hull would support it just fine out of the water. Looking forward to seeing if y'all agree with my thinking. Good question!

 

[isaksp00]

Seems reasonable, as long as the weight is not concentrated on points that are too small, like the end of a 2x4. The hull is not very thick.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Keel boats are designed for the weight to rest on the keel. I would not
recommend trying to rest on support stands. What most people do not realize that the stands actually have one point contact when in contact with the hull and it will cause the hull to dimple and sometimes badly which you want to avoid. In a lift with wide slings, yes it can do that but not for a long period of time. I have worked on many 23 wing keels and outsold all other dealers this style boat. I am retired. I know this answer to well.

crazy dave condon

 

[Fly_H23]

You can still have access if the keel is sitting on a block or two. Don't worry about the very bottom of the keel since any anti-foul coating or rust will get rubbed off trailering it.

You really want both the hull and keel supported. Keel just needs to sit on it's main root not the wings.

The H23 is a nice sailing boat, recently sold ours to a sailing club but we still get to use it.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

To Fly_h23;

Good advice sir. thank you for your controbution. Are you out of sailing now.? Been to Cave Run a few times.

crazy dave

 

[Annapolis Day Sailor]

Thank you for the advice. When I bought the boat the keel was resting on a board/cross member of the trailer. However the "bunk rails" on the trailer seem to be also for support, and not just side to side stability. I was hoping to slap a sailboat modification kit on my existing boat lift but it would only support the boat in 4 places on the hull. Sounds like the safest course of action is to modify boat lift to be able to support keel with hull points providing stability, or possibly modify lift to have something similar to trailer: long and wide carpeted bunk rails to distribute weight of boat over large area.

Best answer is probably to leave boat in water until I figure it out! Thanks again for help. Time to sand/grind rusty keel, repair and get to sailing this summer!