Keels on competition Irwins

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szymk

.
Mar 5, 2013
6
Irwin Citation 41 Sarasota
Hi to all Irwin owners!

A year or two ago I become an owner of a 41' citation series Irwin (sloop). The boat so far has shown its patience with me and got me out of most trouble. I had a little grounding on the 3rd day after buying it (!!) and a bigger one some time later. I was surprised and delighted to see that the boat came out of it almost unscathed. Almost. It used to take a little bit of water through the keel-hull joint. It was very difficult to diagnose, since the floors are bolted down and the bilge is filled by large lead blocks. I took the boat out, dried it, opened the bilge, removed the ballast, etc, etc, preparing for some quality repairs.

The problem: I know nothing about the keel and how it's attached. (I'm probably not the only one: http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=121537) I tried to detach the keel in order to clean and reinforce everything. I unscrewed all the keel bolts that I have found (9) but the keel hasn't moved an inch and manages to hang magically in the air. I suppose that the keel is attached in the following way: http://www.i3s.unice.fr/~krupinsk/RC/Irwin41bilge.png It's a result of my own guesses and what I have seen so far.

It leaves me with a couple of big questions.

  1. is there keel bolts hidden in the main transverse floor, on which the mast support stands? The leak is ufortunately most likely coming from there. There is also a huge grounding cable traversing it and most likely going to the keel, which would make a likely leak point.
  2. perhaps the keel descends by unscrewing bolts "downstairs" through some hidden windows or the bottom of the fin? (I have seen this solution elsewhere). In this case, the long screws are permanently glued into the bottom and they stay there while the keel moves down.
  3. what is the keel material? When I was repairing another spot, I discovered tiny lead spheres encapsulated in something. I cannot actually tell if they are sunk in concrete or epoxy... Besides, something should make up the "spine" of the keel in this case, especially that there are two small lead winglets at its end.
  4. should the keel be rigidly glued to the bottom or rather should there be an elastic seal between the keel and the glass laminate forming the bottom?

If any of you has the experience with any of these, I would be very glad to know your opinion... It will help me to make a good repair and sleep better! :)

Best regards

Szymon
 
Jun 25, 2012
942
hunter 356 Kemah,the Republic of Texas
Hi to all Irwin owners!

A year or two ago I become an owner of a 41' citation series Irwin (sloop). The boat so far has shown its patience with me and got me out of most trouble. I had a little grounding on the 3rd day after buying it (!!) and a bigger one some time later. I was surprised and delighted to see that the boat came out of it almost unscathed. Almost. It used to take a little bit of water through the keel-hull joint. It was very difficult to diagnose, since the floors are bolted down and the bilge is filled by large lead blocks. I took the boat out, dried it, opened the bilge, removed the ballast, etc, etc, preparing for some quality repairs.

The problem: I know nothing about the keel and how it's attached. (I'm probably not the only one: http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=121537) I tried to detach the keel in order to clean and reinforce everything. I unscrewed all the keel bolts that I have found (9) but the keel hasn't moved an inch and manages to hang magically in the air. I suppose that the keel is attached in the following way: http://www.i3s.unice.fr/~krupinsk/RC/Irwin41bilge.png It's a result of my own guesses and what I have seen so far.

It leaves me with a couple of big questions.

  1. is there keel bolts hidden in the main transverse floor, on which the mast support stands? The leak is ufortunately most likely coming from there. There is also a huge grounding cable traversing it and most likely going to the keel, which would make a likely leak point.
  2. perhaps the keel descends by unscrewing bolts "downstairs" through some hidden windows or the bottom of the fin? (I have seen this solution elsewhere). In this case, the long screws are permanently glued into the bottom and they stay there while the keel moves down.
  3. what is the keel material? When I was repairing another spot, I discovered tiny lead spheres encapsulated in something. I cannot actually tell if they are sunk in concrete or epoxy... Besides, something should make up the "spine" of the keel in this case, especially that there are two small lead winglets at its end.
  4. should the keel be rigidly glued to the bottom or rather should there be an elastic seal between the keel and the glass laminate forming the bottom?

If any of you has the experience with any of these, I would be very glad to know your opinion... It will help me to make a good repair and sleep better! :)

Best regards

Szymon
Ever heard of 3M 5200 Hundred ? The Keel Bolts Are just for effect!:D
 

szymk

.
Mar 5, 2013
6
Irwin Citation 41 Sarasota
Sure, I discovered pounds of it all around the boat. I should've put it as the main structural material in the boat's papers, probably ;)
 
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