Curved centerboard

[Coppertone]

I took down my keel today, using a method I copied from "whatcaneyedo". It worked beautifully. Only thing is, my keel is curved! Has anybody dealt successfully with this issue?

 

[Coppertone]

Here is the removal method. I highly recommend it!

 

[JRacer]

Excellent idea on removal.
And, I couldn't resist. First thing that came to mind. Good luck with the fix.

The optimal medical therapy for Peyronie disease (PD) has not yet been identified.

 

[Michael Davis]

Love the removal dolly! Not sure what that keel is made from but, if it has a metal core place it somewhere immovable and attach a come-a-long or a shop with a large press.

 

[Coppertone]

The keel is solid cast iron. There will be no bending. It's hard to believe they installed such a low quality casting in such a critical application.

 

[Michael Davis]

The keels is solid cast iron.

That's a pretty huge bend. Does it ever get stuck in the up position? A good man with a torch and quench might get a lot of it out. You're right it's iffy to bend cast.

 

[greg_m]

In my experience cast iron don't bend... it snaps!

 

[Hardhead]

I wouldn't worry about it. In real life, it probably makes less than a 2% difference overall. The boat will completely average the effects out on its own, and it's been successfully sailing exactly like that for years. If you were going to race, you probably have an unfair advantage on certain tacks...

 

[Gene Neill]

First time I've seen that. Wonder how the heck it happened! One would expect the keel hanging hardware to fail under such a force needed to cause that.

I would tend to agree with Hardhead. If it raises and lowers without binding, I'd consider it a cosmetic flaw and go on about my business. You now own the first-ever Catalina 22 with a canting keel! So what if it only cants one way??

That said, I do have an ex wife who could jump up and down on it for you, and probably straighten that sucker right out.

 

[rpludwig]

First time I've seen that. Wonder how the heck it happened! One would expect the keel hanging hardware to fail under such a force needed to cause that.

I would tend to agree with Hardhead. If it raises and lowers without binding, I'd consider it a cosmetic flaw and go on about my business. You now own the first-ever Catalina 22 with a canting keel! So what if it only cants one way??

That said, I do have an ex wife who could jump up and down on it for you, and probably straighten that sucker right out.

LOL...that makes 2 of us!

so we see the trailing edge bowed, does that extend throughout to the leading edge? If not, may not be as bad as it looks...?

 

[Will Gilmore]

I'm looking at it, thinking it's twisted, not bowed. That's why it doesn't bind. If it's fixable, fix it. It will have an effect of steerage which affects efficiency and pointing.

I pulled my CB by simply lifting the boat off my trailer and letting the trailer catch it with a piece of wood for padding. Worked slick. My concern is lining it all back up when I finally put it back.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Coppertone]

This is definitely a casting flaw. The mold was deformed. Catalina would have known this when it was installed, they just had very low quality standards. If I was a racer, I'd have to find a new keel. I would suggest that this amount of twist causes significant turbulence. From what I can tell, the leading edge is straight. The twist should cause a constant turn to starboard.

 

[Coppertone]

I am pondering whether adding fairing to the concave aspect of the twist might reduce turbulence. It would increase the thickness and so the drag, but it would improve the symmetry.

 

[rpludwig]

I am pondering whether adding fairing to the concave aspect of the twist might reduce turbulence. It would increase the thickness and so the drag, but it would improve the symmetry.

good thought, as long as it still will fit into the trunk...

 

[Will Gilmore]

Perhaps, because cast iron is fairly soft, you could reshape it with a heavy grit belt sander before adding fairing. Maintain your dimensions, lose a little weight. That would be a lot of extra work for not much more than satisfaction as a reward.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Jacktar]

You have lots of room to play around with fairing it. The only part that goes up into the trunk when lowered is the forward hatchet shaped portion (see diagram) and trailing edge only just enters the groove along the bottom of hull. Most of the swing keel sits outside the hull all the time so have at it. Just watch for oxidation (rust) pockets, cast iron loves to pocket in deep and just exhibit a swelling that when opened up is a large void of rust. However to passphrase what the angle grinder taketh away the west systems with thickener

epoxy giveth back.

 

[Hardhead]

From the photo, it just looks like the trailing edge has a bit of a curve -- of maybe 1/2" at most?

I may be overly optimistic, but I'd bet you wouldn't even notice it, at all, when sailing the boat. Sure, it has some theoretical effect on paper, but there are so many wind/wave/heel/momentum influences going on at the same time, and partially counter-acting each other, that I don't think it's going to have any practical negative effect. I might well be wrong, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, or spend too much time completely rebuilding it. That also being said, I've been known to drive myself crazy with minor things like that, so maybe I'm reformed now.. Good luck however you go with it of course.

 

[pclarksurf]

Not as pronounced-- but my casting wasn't exactly perfection either-- I did my best to accomodate during fairing, but you can only get so far:

 

[Coppertone]

A big improvement! That gives me hope.

 

[Jackdaw]

This is definitely a casting flaw. The mold was deformed. Catalina would have known this when it was installed, they just had very low quality standards.

True that. I have heard anecdotally that the early keels for the C22 were sand cast in Mexico on the beach, and that most of them were nowhere near symmetrical. Anyone shed any more light on that?