Hunter 26 Retractable Keel Fixes

[Cheeky Monkey]

I took out my 94 Hunter 26 this weekend and thought the marina had fixed the retractable keel. Turns out when I got out on Green Bay with some fairly heavy winds(15-20 knots) the Keel was not fully dropped and so I heeled pretty bad on a beam ream and snapped the tiller trying to stay corrected. This was only the start of trouble. But now I am set on fixing the keel so it will retract past 60 degrees. I have spoken to Hunter about what could be holding it up and I am going to drop the keel out and really clean it and replace the ropes and check the rigging. But has anyone else gone from Bad to Great with a fix or modification? I really want to be able to take this boat out and be confident in what it can do but the Keel is a real stickler for me.I am replacing the tiller and putting a spare on-board (lesson learned) and I am replacing the rudder with a high density poly blade as I have read a number of posts about the rudder cracking as well.

 

[George]

H26 Keel

Don't think the keel affects heeling much. The keel has no significant weight and only provides leeway resistance.Adjusting your trim should be your first action to reduce heeling - This boat can have significant weather helm - either head up or let the main out and or adjust your headsail.Check Pat Adam's excellent articles on repairs to the keel and compression post Go to this link: http://kb.sailboatowners.com/brand?cat=4Also, browse some of the other articles in both the improvements and repairs sections.Go to: http://kb.sailboatowners.com/brand?model=20Finally, I have not heard of any significant problems with the H26 rudder, most problems occur with the H260 rudder which is significantly different than the H26 rudder.

 

[Benny]

Keel or center board?

The terms are not interchangeble and should not be confused. A center board is light, carries no ballast and it sole purpose is in its shape to reduce leeway. It has no infuence on degree of heel or stability. A center board can be retracted when sailing downwind or motoring in order to reduce resistance and gain some speed.A retracting or swing keel is heavy as its weight serves as the boat's ballast and its shape also helps reduce leeway. Their advantage lies in placing the ballast weight at a greater distance from the center of the boat thus adding stiffnes and stability. The weight of a moving keel also places undesireable stresses on the hull. One design is no better than the other. The h26 uses water ballast for stability and the ability to dump that weight for ease of trailering. Boats are full of compromises. There are safety and handling considerations for each design and you should make yourself aware of them. There were some boats which were originally manufactured with swing keels and then later models switched to water ballast and so the importance of using correct terminology when asking advice. Don't know the cause of your problem but you need to raise the boat to be able to drop the board and inspect it and its mechanism to be able to apply a fix. If the boat stays in the water for more than one week at a time you may want to paint that board with antifoul paint at this time. A common source of failure in retractable boards and keels is marine growth fouling. Good luck.

 

[alan]

not sure but...

...the boat is labeled from Hunter as having a swing keel, weighs a bunch but not much denser than water. Known hang ups are too much marine growth (as mentioned) and sheaves out of place at the mast base. The rudder of the h26 is notorious for creeping up (lots of fixes) and flexing at the stock. The creeping up, of even a few degrees, will put a lot of pressure on the helm. I would bet that was the problem. If I remember correctly, leaving the keel up heading windward actually resulted in a "lighter" helm dispite the increased leeway.As noted, the h26 rudder blade is not known for cracking, the ida sailor one could be a better design, but I don't know. Try a new thread, some material may be in the achives. alan