Has anyone shortened a 5'3" keel by a foot or more? If so how has it influenced the boats sailing characteristics?
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Yes it can be done....
...and of course it will affect the boats performance. The deeper the keel the better the performance. That said check with Mars Metal in Ontario, Canada. They can build a bulb for the bottom of your cutoff keel. I do believe that the keel of the 28.5 is iron so cutting it is going to be no small project. I chose to go the other direction. I got rid of my 4'6" wing keel in favor of a 6' deep draft. It completely changed the performance of my boat. The increased performance was so dramatic that it felt like a completely different boat.
...and of course it will affect the boats performance. The deeper the keel the better the performance. That said check with Mars Metal in Ontario, Canada. They can build a bulb for the bottom of your cutoff keel. I do believe that the keel of the 28.5 is iron so cutting it is going to be no small project. I chose to go the other direction. I got rid of my 4'6" wing keel in favor of a 6' deep draft. It completely changed the performance of my boat. The increased performance was so dramatic that it felt like a completely different boat.
Winged Keels?
It would probably be easier and faster to sell the boat and buy a shoal or winged keel version than to cut off 300 lbs of cast iron and do a custom bolt-on bulb keel. The 28.5 shoal draft keel is a bolt-on to the same keel stub but is longer with 100 lbs more weight. The newer 28's have winged keel options - don't know if those bolt patterns are even comparable; I'd assume they are not. Performance- In my opinion, you'd probably see the same speed under power; much worse pointing, and the boat will be more tender than it's shoal draft version even if you add correspondingly much more weight. I'd guess it would be a negative impact on re-sale value as well. Have you investigated a trade to someone who has a shoal draft and maybe wants better performance?
It would probably be easier and faster to sell the boat and buy a shoal or winged keel version than to cut off 300 lbs of cast iron and do a custom bolt-on bulb keel. The 28.5 shoal draft keel is a bolt-on to the same keel stub but is longer with 100 lbs more weight. The newer 28's have winged keel options - don't know if those bolt patterns are even comparable; I'd assume they are not. Performance- In my opinion, you'd probably see the same speed under power; much worse pointing, and the boat will be more tender than it's shoal draft version even if you add correspondingly much more weight. I'd guess it would be a negative impact on re-sale value as well. Have you investigated a trade to someone who has a shoal draft and maybe wants better performance?
The mechanics of
cutting an iron keel aside, I continue to be intrigued by the concept that all other things being equal, a shoal draft 285 will outperform a deep keel model when the wind starts to move aft of the beam. At this point, and as the wind moves further aft, I believe that keel lift turns to keel drag, and so the shoal draft boat, with less drag, should be somewhat faster. Of course, the opposite would be true going on any point of sail upwind. I base this theory on my experience as a one-design racer in years gone by. In those boats, as soon as you rounded the downwind mark, you immediately raised the drop keel/daggerboard to reduce drag as you were less concerned with leeway going downwind and wanted to reduce wetted surface area. The same theory should hold true for keel boats. I know the idea that a shoal draft boat may be faster than a similarly equipped and sailed deep keel boat going downwind drives the deep keelers nuts... The additional 100 lbs of disp in the shoal boat is, IMHO, inconsequential as most boats have hundreds of extra pounds of people and gear aboard anyway. But I do agree with the other posters that making this kind of modification will enhance your difficulities in selling such a boat when and if that time ever comes.
cutting an iron keel aside, I continue to be intrigued by the concept that all other things being equal, a shoal draft 285 will outperform a deep keel model when the wind starts to move aft of the beam. At this point, and as the wind moves further aft, I believe that keel lift turns to keel drag, and so the shoal draft boat, with less drag, should be somewhat faster. Of course, the opposite would be true going on any point of sail upwind. I base this theory on my experience as a one-design racer in years gone by. In those boats, as soon as you rounded the downwind mark, you immediately raised the drop keel/daggerboard to reduce drag as you were less concerned with leeway going downwind and wanted to reduce wetted surface area. The same theory should hold true for keel boats. I know the idea that a shoal draft boat may be faster than a similarly equipped and sailed deep keel boat going downwind drives the deep keelers nuts... The additional 100 lbs of disp in the shoal boat is, IMHO, inconsequential as most boats have hundreds of extra pounds of people and gear aboard anyway. But I do agree with the other posters that making this kind of modification will enhance your difficulities in selling such a boat when and if that time ever comes.
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