We are in our first summer of owning a trailer sailor (Starwind 19) for family adventures. We just got back from Georgian Bay - beautiful...and very rocky. We managed one good rock hit on the front of the keel, and scraped a few other times. As I was under the boat today prepping the gel coat repair, I started wondering about whether it would make sense to add a kevlar skid plate. These are often added to canoes (like this). I was thinking something like this might make sense for a small boat that would be sailed regularly in shallow waters, and occasionally would be beached. Is this something that folks do with sailboats? If so, any advice?
Kevlar skid plates?
- Thread starter piratesnail
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I would be concerned that the plate wouldn’t be that effective and might give a false sense of security. A canoe’s long flat bottom can slide along rocks pretty easily. Not so much for a fin keel. A skid plate might help if you happen to be in water just barely too shallow, but if the rock is a little higher the front of the keel will hit, stop the boat, and transfer all of that energy into the keel/hull joint.
I've never seen that done on a sailboat but it seems like a valid idea for a swing centerboard like the Starwind has.
My swing keel is steel and it's very handy that I don't have to worry overly much about scraping it on the bottom, so long as it's not actual embedded rocks. When I did my acceptance ride with the dealer he made a point of beaching the boat on the keel so I could see that it's not a problem. You're still going to want to avoid actual embedded rocks but you'll be able to safely maneuver in shallower waters with gravel, sand, or mud bottoms.
I regularly launch in a river that is quite shallow at low tide and I strike the mud on a pretty regular basis. Club members with fixed keels pretty much have to stay at the dock during those times, especially when the tide is going out. Having a more robust swing keel or centerboard is one of the many advantages of trailer sailers over conventional sailboats, so why not exploit that advantage?
You'll want to be careful to fair it in so that you don't spoil the hydrodynamics of the leading edge. If you create a leading edge stall or vortex bubble it will hurt your leeway performance. But, most likely, there wasn't much science behind the shape of the original centerboard so, as long as you do a good job of it, it probably won't hurt performance. Heck, you might even improve leeway performance.
My swing keel is steel and it's very handy that I don't have to worry overly much about scraping it on the bottom, so long as it's not actual embedded rocks. When I did my acceptance ride with the dealer he made a point of beaching the boat on the keel so I could see that it's not a problem. You're still going to want to avoid actual embedded rocks but you'll be able to safely maneuver in shallower waters with gravel, sand, or mud bottoms.
I regularly launch in a river that is quite shallow at low tide and I strike the mud on a pretty regular basis. Club members with fixed keels pretty much have to stay at the dock during those times, especially when the tide is going out. Having a more robust swing keel or centerboard is one of the many advantages of trailer sailers over conventional sailboats, so why not exploit that advantage?
You'll want to be careful to fair it in so that you don't spoil the hydrodynamics of the leading edge. If you create a leading edge stall or vortex bubble it will hurt your leeway performance. But, most likely, there wasn't much science behind the shape of the original centerboard so, as long as you do a good job of it, it probably won't hurt performance. Heck, you might even improve leeway performance.
Ahh, I don't think I would have thought of that, but that does seem like a good point. Canoe skid plates are to prevent prematurely wearing through the hull material in places that get a lot of abrasion. Keel hits are likely to be much more forceful and sudden.
Haha I'm not too worried about increasing drag or affecting hydrodynamic lift. As you say, I'm not sure the original design had much intention to keel and hull design. We refer our boat as the "snailboat" because it is so slow. Every other sail-borne craft seems to be able to move faster (and point higher) than we do. (And yes, I acknowledge that is likely due to our lack of skill at sailing, too.)
We aren't to wooried about the speed of ours either . Typically we are the slowest boat i the harbor. However, we always have the best food ,best laughter and the best music
We use a stainless-steel strip from the waterline at the stem to the front of the centerboard trunk on our 19' sailboat. I'm armoring a spare centerboard. Since my boat has no centerboard pin it is a little more forgiving and easier to swap out the centerboard. Regards, Jude #SmallCraftLife News
Hi Everyone, I am painting my hull and wonder about extra protection for the keel as well. Looks like I'd have to remove the trailer rollers in order to put the Keel-Guard strip on the hull. Not sure I want to do that. SmallCraftLifeNews, may I ask how you are attaching that strip of SS to the hull? I kinda like the no-through-hulls arrangement I have now. Any details on where you got the steel or how you machined it? Thanks.
That’s going to still happen with or without the skid plate, but the skid plate will protect the gelcoat
The Starwind 19 is a shoal keel boat so a typical keel guard might not work. This boat has a draft of a mere 18". Perhaps a depth finder, Navionics or charts might serve you better. There seem to be a lot of Starwind 19 owners around lately. As a former owner, I have the now defunct Starwind 19 Association's boat manual if youre interested. PM me, I can send you a link.
I'd skip the hull protection and pay more attention to the Navionics charts 
. That said, Georgian Bay is an easy place to hit rocks, so don't feel bad.
. That said, Georgian Bay is an easy place to hit rocks, so don't feel bad.Well I'd agree except it's a beachable boat, and I may not be in clear water all the time. I don't know how much beaching on sand will wear down the anti-fouling, especially if I beach overnight and the waves lift the boat slightly overnight. Would be afraid to do more than use a good adhesive on a skid plate.
If you have a lead keel you do not want to add any protection. One of the very positive features of lead keels is lead is malleable, easy to fix and has some shock absorbing ability.
A hard grounding at speed may have caused more than gel coat damage. In an encapsulated keel the impact can cause the hull to delaminate. An external keel will transmit the energy to the upper aft end of the keel and because of the leverage of the keel the area behind the keel can delaminate and internal structures, like bulkhead tabbing and furniture may be damaged.
A hard grounding at speed may have caused more than gel coat damage. In an encapsulated keel the impact can cause the hull to delaminate. An external keel will transmit the energy to the upper aft end of the keel and because of the leverage of the keel the area behind the keel can delaminate and internal structures, like bulkhead tabbing and furniture may be damaged.
Haha I don't feel *too* bad. We were cautiously heading into a little bay probably more fit for kayaks & canoes than sailboats, even one with only 18" of draft. We weren't going too fast - maybe 1 knot - but didn't see the underlying rock because a gust had ruffled the surface a bit. And I promise the rock wasn't on Navionics, which we had been watching like hawks because of all the other marked hazards in the area.I'd skip the hull protection and pay more attention to the Navionics charts
This is a good point. After we got home I inspected both inside and outside the hull as best I could. In addition to the damage at the impact point (forward bottom edge of the keel, where you would expect) there is a crack in the gel coat around the front of the hull/keel joint. I didn't see any discoloration or deformation in the fiberglass, though, either inside or out. Since the boat needs new bottom paint (a planned winter project), I am intending to do some more exploration of that gel coat crack - open it up with a dremel tool before doing the gel coat repair. I am hopeful that will surface any more significant issues like delamination. Do you think it's worth grinding down the gel coat over a bigger area to be extra sure?
Is this an externally ballasted keel or encapsulated? Makes a difference on the repair. Photos will also help.
The way to check the hull is by tapping with a plastic hammer (screwdriver handles work too). Good fiberglass has a sharp clear sound, delaminated has a dull sound. The sound will change as you enter and leave the delaminated area.
The way to check the hull is by tapping with a plastic hammer (screwdriver handles work too). Good fiberglass has a sharp clear sound, delaminated has a dull sound. The sound will change as you enter and leave the delaminated area.
It's encapsulated on the Starwind 19. Very similar designs to Precision. Same Naval Architech
Jim Taylor also designed my boat. He knows how to design easy sailing comfortable and fast boats.
As for the repair, I'd like to see some good photos.
The boat is currently in storage about 1 hr away. I was planning on heading up there in a few weeks to finish winterizing it and can take a few more photos then. In the meantime, here's a photo I quickly took back in the summer - if you look near the top of the photo, you can see the gel coat crack around the front of the keel/hull joint.
