Locking the CB
- Thread starter Tarkus
- Start date
I've never locked mine, doubt I ever will. I have zero faith that tiny little hand-tightened bolt could ever help me, other than to gouge the surface of the keel and give it a monstrous rust scar, and/or damage the keel trunk.
It's a personal choice though. No judgement on anyone who uses it. Lots of people do.
It's a personal choice though. No judgement on anyone who uses it. Lots of people do.
I'm with Gene on this, have never used it, but haven't been knocked down (yet) to test the pros v. cons. I can't believe that small bolt will stop a 550# hunk of cast iron if you happen to go past 90* & gravity takes over.
Here's Stingy's take on it....I expect his e-book on the topic is a good read....
stingysailor.com
Here's Stingy's take on it....I expect his e-book on the topic is a good read....
Why Your Swing Keel Lock Bolt Won’t Save You in a Knockdown
If you spend much time around other C-22 owners or online C-22 forums, you’re bound to hear the following myth over and over. It goes something like this… The Catalina 22 uses a locking…
stingysailor.com
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Daaang, eighteen pages on the subject? Ol' $tingy must have been in COVID lockdown a while!I'm with Gene on this, have never used it, but haven't been knocked down (yet) to test the pros v. cons. I can't believe that small bolt will stop a 550# hunk of cast iron if you happen to go past 90* & gravity takes over.
Here's Stingy's take on it....I expect his e-book on the topic is a good read....
Why Your Swing Keel Lock Bolt Won’t Save You in a Knockdown
If you spend much time around other C-22 owners or online C-22 forums, you’re bound to hear the following myth over and over. It goes something like this… The Catalina 22 uses a locking…
I miss that guy's presence around here.
I had a centerboard on my previous boat, an O'Day 23. It was a regular fibreglass centerboard, not an iron encapsulated swing keel. On the O'Day there is no way to lock it down, and just a cleat to tie off the pendant to to hold it up in its trunk.
As far as a knock-down goes, if you tip more than the 120 degrees or so it would take for a fast enough free-fall of an iron keel to destroy the trunk you will have other issues to deal with, especially if the companionway doors/hatches are open and you start to ship water into the cabin.
As far as a knock-down goes, if you tip more than the 120 degrees or so it would take for a fast enough free-fall of an iron keel to destroy the trunk you will have other issues to deal with, especially if the companionway doors/hatches are open and you start to ship water into the cabin.
You can try
I would love love love to test this theory out with a donor boat -- mythbusters here we come.
It would make the boat more capable of surviving a rollover or a turtle ... if it worked.
There is another reason folks mention, which is somewhat esoteric, but not entirely illegitimate:
Say you were to sail over a submerged object such as a coral head or a sunken log, which pushed the keel up substantially as you sailed over it, then released the keel suddenly after you passed it ... it could cause the unsupported keel to slam downward violently enough to crack the hull. There is a fair amount of anecdotal evidence on the interwebs that this has actually happened a time or two. But that is out of 15,000 boats, sailed who knows how many miles, over forty-some years, often in the hands of utter noobs sailing a $500 boat.
My boat does not even have a keel CB locking device.
@Gene Neill ... what about the so called side slap... would the keel bolt actually reduce the sideways knocking noise reported by some owners and dealt with in other more elaborate ways?
Having cut open my keel (center board) casing I can vouch that it is very substantial in terms of sheer material thickness. The weak point for me is not so much the casing but more the actual hangers and their fixings.
@Gene Neill ... what about the so called side slap... would the keel bolt actually reduce the sideways knocking noise reported by some owners and dealt with in other more elaborate ways?
Having cut open my keel (center board) casing I can vouch that it is very substantial in terms of sheer material thickness. The weak point for me is not so much the casing but more the actual hangers and their fixings.
That's the reason I've considered locking it - thumping up and over a submerged log. My thinking is the keel will still move, but the resistance of the bolt will slow the process down some. Hope not to test it-It would make the boat more capable of surviving a rollover or a turtle ... if it worked.
There is another reason folks mention, which is somewhat esoteric, but not entirely illegitimate:
Say you were to sail over a submerged object such as a coral head or a sunken log, which pushed the keel up substantially as you sailed over it, then released the keel suddenly after you passed it ... it could cause the unsupported keel to slam downward violently enough to crack the hull. There is a fair amount of anecdotal evidence on the interwebs that this has actually happened a time or two. But that is out of 15,000 boats, sailed who knows how many miles, over forty-some years, often in the hands of utter noobs sailing a $500 boat.
@Gene Neill ... what about the so called side slap... would the keel bolt actually reduce the sideways knocking noise reported by some owners and dealt with in other more elaborate ways?
A less than ideal band- aid methinks-- if you have that much side to side gap in your keel (which almost all of us do or did...) then slamming the bolt over is actually potetentially solving a noise, but creating another problem with abrasion on the outside of trunk. Root cause for keel slap is space the keel appropriately-- shim accordingly. The bolt shouldn't come into play.
A less than ideal band- aid methinks-- if you have that much side to side gap in your keel (which almost all of us do or did...) then slamming the bolt over is actually potetentially solving a noise, but creating another problem with abrasion on the outside of trunk. Root cause for keel slap is space the keel appropriately-- shim accordingly. The bolt shouldn't come into play.
re: "side slap".... ever since flipping the keel hangers right side up, we've had annoying banging going on with keel up in slip, never before when they were upside down. It did cross my mind to deploy the keel bolt to see if it helped, but alas, I didn't want to start a potential leak that's never been there before!
Shims are in order next bottom job likely this winter....and I may put the hangers back on upside down!!
Shims are in order next bottom job likely this winter....and I may put the hangers back on upside down!!
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