Increase your ballast!

[Christof Walsdorf]

Has anybody increased their keel ballast on their 34? Would be interestedto find out how things worked. My friend, a h34 owner as well, increased hiskeel ballast by 500 pounds to get more righting moment. He sailed that puppy from Calais to San Francisco (is not in a hurry to do it again!).Please e-mail me at Christof.Walsdorf@Dat.Com

 

[Dave C.]

Ballast Question

Having owned a '86 model 34 for sveral years and about 7500 nautical miles I often wished for more ballast.Ran into a fellow at the marina who owned an '83 model. He had talked extensively with the designer of the boat and was told that the boat was originally designed to carry 6,000 lb. keel and a different rudder. But these were changed when the boat went into production as cost saving measures.

 

[cs]

I saw a wing added to 34 keel

There is a 34 shoal draft in our marina with a wing on it. It's basically a large piece of metal formed to shape and welded to the bottom of the keel. It's kind of a head scratcher and I dont know about the performance.

 

[Tom M.]

The other side of the coin

Before you go spending time and money, try, a reef in the main, 34's have a tendancy of being tender, and if you have a shoul draft keel, the action is greater, by reducing your main at the bottom(reef) you're reducing the load at the top of the mast, if t6he sail area reduced equals 5 lbs, then 5x 50'( mast head height from the WL = 250 lbs, thry this first.

 

[Joe O]

Wing on Deep Keel

My '83 H34 has an aftermarket lead wing on the deep keel. The previous owner installed it and says it added an additional 650lbs. I've owned the boat since October and it seems only slightly more tender than a catalina 36. I sail the boat in San Francisco Bay (constant 25 knots of wind) and still reef often with the full 110% jib. I put a second reef in for the first time last weekend and the boat heeled considerably less during a 25 knot blow. I think I'll do that more often. I have only paper pictures of the wings...they're about 2 feet long and are mounted near the trailing edge. They are probably thru-bolted to the iron keel. I would love to sail a stock H34 someday to see what the difference is. I'm sure with 650lbs down low, there should be a noticeable difference. Questions? E-mail me at joeyooh@juno.comRegards,JoeO