With all due respect, I disagree...
Sorry Thosen,I do not mean any disrespect and have no idea where you got your info from, mine mostly comes from recent articles in YACHT magazine on the "perfect form: hull, keel and rudder - what makes a yacht go faster and safer", Volume 1 / 2006.They discuss lead vs. iron: lead being the softer material absorbs energy and therefore can handle impact better. Higher density of lead (11.1 vs. 7.3) makes at equal stability for 20 % less wetted area, i.e. less friction meaning all else being equal the lead keel is faster.Your statement that an iron keel performs betteris just plain wrong as primarily keel-design determines performance, not the material. The Bavaria lead-keels are (as I recall) usually shoal-keels, so you will get more height out of the iron keel but merely because of the keel-design, not the material. Whether those 2 or 3 degrees are crucial for a cruiser...The advantages on rust have already been discussed earlier.Your recommendation on a Cyclades..., read some tests as I do not wish to comment on that; it's like comparing Chevy and Buick.