Is it absolutely ridiculous to try to change a keel on a hunter 23 1985? I’m drying to squeeze better up-wind performance from her. Is this even possible. If so, how can do it and how much estimate.
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Start Elsewhere
Sail condition and trim are as important as keel configuration. Lots of deep-keel boats will not point if the sails are blown or bagged or the trim incorrect. It would be the last thing on your list. FWIW, I had an O'Day 27 that was totally transformed with a new main and genoa. Rick D.
Sail condition and trim are as important as keel configuration. Lots of deep-keel boats will not point if the sails are blown or bagged or the trim incorrect. It would be the last thing on your list. FWIW, I had an O'Day 27 that was totally transformed with a new main and genoa. Rick D.
Why?
Anything is possible--how much are you willing to spend? Could be cheaper to buy a new boat!
Anything is possible--how much are you willing to spend? Could be cheaper to buy a new boat!
h23 keel
i have had 3 boats since i had a H23 and presently own a H30-2. If you want to go upwind the secret is keel depth, it goes without saying that you have a nicely faired bottom and foils, good sails, and good running rigging, and that you sail the boat reasonably well. Suggestion for your next boat would be S2 7.9, it is very trailerable with a dagger board keel and draws 5' with board down and 14" with the board up! Sails 35 to 38 degrees to weather and is one of the most successful designs of all time with many MORC, Key West race week, and other PHRF first place finishes through the years. It is also very stable. It would be a great boat to continue to develop racing skills and then you could move on to some of the newer high tech light weight designs if racing becomes a pure passion. Hunters are great boats and each boat has a purpose so it is important to match your boat to the purpose you have at the time. Good luck. I have been through a lot of compromises in my sailing life. You can email me at gm18sail2@aol.com.
i have had 3 boats since i had a H23 and presently own a H30-2. If you want to go upwind the secret is keel depth, it goes without saying that you have a nicely faired bottom and foils, good sails, and good running rigging, and that you sail the boat reasonably well. Suggestion for your next boat would be S2 7.9, it is very trailerable with a dagger board keel and draws 5' with board down and 14" with the board up! Sails 35 to 38 degrees to weather and is one of the most successful designs of all time with many MORC, Key West race week, and other PHRF first place finishes through the years. It is also very stable. It would be a great boat to continue to develop racing skills and then you could move on to some of the newer high tech light weight designs if racing becomes a pure passion. Hunters are great boats and each boat has a purpose so it is important to match your boat to the purpose you have at the time. Good luck. I have been through a lot of compromises in my sailing life. You can email me at gm18sail2@aol.com.
Don't look down look up!!!
When I owned my 23 I was racing and getting killed on the up wind legs of the race. I had thought for a few years that it was the Keel. I talked to Hunter and the Late Lar's Bergstrom and had even thought of adding a lead bulb to the keel. Lar's had a better wing design and said the wing's on the keel were to small. I had gotten a keel blue print of the keel and sent it to Lar's and had drawn over it his idea for a better wing section. It was about4 feet wide and not really practical. Than I had thought of installing a J 22 Keel on the boat. After talking to Hunter and a Yacht Designer Neither was sure the boat would perform any better and I would have wasted allot of money. Than one Day I saw the Problem. The spreaders are way to wide for this boat. Hunter made wide spreader boats and narrow spreader boats. I cut 9 inches off each spreader and moved the chain plates and fiberglassed in new bulk heads. This allowed the boat to point with a Catalina 22 that draws 5 feet. The problem was all in the sail shape of the head sail. With good sail's and a clean bottom we placed in the top 2 of every race we entered, over a 2 year period. This boat also won the Hunter 23 Nationals. I just made my boat like the other short spreader boats so I did not vilate any PHRF rule's. This was not hard to do and I did it for under a $100.00. If you want more email me cliffr@bright.net CLiff
When I owned my 23 I was racing and getting killed on the up wind legs of the race. I had thought for a few years that it was the Keel. I talked to Hunter and the Late Lar's Bergstrom and had even thought of adding a lead bulb to the keel. Lar's had a better wing design and said the wing's on the keel were to small. I had gotten a keel blue print of the keel and sent it to Lar's and had drawn over it his idea for a better wing section. It was about4 feet wide and not really practical. Than I had thought of installing a J 22 Keel on the boat. After talking to Hunter and a Yacht Designer Neither was sure the boat would perform any better and I would have wasted allot of money. Than one Day I saw the Problem. The spreaders are way to wide for this boat. Hunter made wide spreader boats and narrow spreader boats. I cut 9 inches off each spreader and moved the chain plates and fiberglassed in new bulk heads. This allowed the boat to point with a Catalina 22 that draws 5 feet. The problem was all in the sail shape of the head sail. With good sail's and a clean bottom we placed in the top 2 of every race we entered, over a 2 year period. This boat also won the Hunter 23 Nationals. I just made my boat like the other short spreader boats so I did not vilate any PHRF rule's. This was not hard to do and I did it for under a $100.00. If you want more email me cliffr@bright.net CLiff
Forget keel changes
The design of a keel is as much a part of overall boat design as the wing is to the overall design of an airplane; changing it is not as simple as changing tires on a car. A keel change would require a fair amount of hydrodynamic engineering and it's not a simple matter of changing one for another. A keep provides a certain amount of lift along with keeping the center of gravity of the boat low. And, just where might one find another keel of different design? One cannot simply just purchase one, again, in the same way one purchases different types or manufacturers of tires. The gentleman who suggested the purchase of a different boat being simpler is correct in his assessment.
The design of a keel is as much a part of overall boat design as the wing is to the overall design of an airplane; changing it is not as simple as changing tires on a car. A keel change would require a fair amount of hydrodynamic engineering and it's not a simple matter of changing one for another. A keep provides a certain amount of lift along with keeping the center of gravity of the boat low. And, just where might one find another keel of different design? One cannot simply just purchase one, again, in the same way one purchases different types or manufacturers of tires. The gentleman who suggested the purchase of a different boat being simpler is correct in his assessment.
trim spreaders?
Cliff, quick question...how does having a shorter spreader effect the sail shape and ultimately increased ability to point up wind? It sounds like a simple and inexpensive way to achieve the desired effect we are talking about here.
Cliff, quick question...how does having a shorter spreader effect the sail shape and ultimately increased ability to point up wind? It sounds like a simple and inexpensive way to achieve the desired effect we are talking about here.
Brian
It is not really a matter of hacking off some on the spreader's. But what it does do is it let's the 150 trim in to where it is not fouled on the upper shrouds and distorting the sail shape of the 150. It allows the 150 to trim more inboard and that lets the boat point more into the wind because the shape is right and it is pointing in the right direction. Cliff
It is not really a matter of hacking off some on the spreader's. But what it does do is it let's the 150 trim in to where it is not fouled on the upper shrouds and distorting the sail shape of the 150. It allows the 150 to trim more inboard and that lets the boat point more into the wind because the shape is right and it is pointing in the right direction. Cliff
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