O22 shoal keel vs. centerboard

[Clay Wright]

I have a 1976 Oday 22 with the shoal keel. The boat's upwind performance is dreadful, since the shoal keel doesn't provide enough lateral resistance. Trying to travel upwind is pretty much futile because the boat loses so much ground to leeway. Oday redesigned the boat in later years and added a centerboard, I assume to address this problem. Can anyone tell me if the centerboard model is a better performer on the wind than the shoal draft model? Thanks!

 

[Stu]

Centerboard

Hi Clay;I have a centerboard O'Day 22 which has a 4 foot long, fiberglass blade that fits into a hollowed out slot in the shoal keel. The centerboard trunk only intrudes into the hull a few inches and does not affect the cabin floor.The draft with the board in the down position is around 4 and half feet. The board gives good performance upwind in certain conditions. It cannot be locked in place, controlled with a loose pennant run through the cockpit, so the board may move around a bit in choppy conditions.It is certainly an improvement over the shoal keel in most conditions. The boat still experiences some leeway while reaching - not as bad as the shoal keel model however. I attribute this to my old sails, lack of proper helm work, and the flat bottom on my O'Day. All in all - if you can - go for the centerboard - it gives great flexibility.Hope this helps,Happy Sailing,Stu"Karakhl"1979 O'Day 22 CBCenterport, NY

 

[David Levine]

Just short of center

I have a 1983 22 foot O'day and I would concur with Stu - you still get leeward motion that at times is bothersome. The draft has some positive effects (if I run into a sandbar it acts as an early warning system and I just back off). It does wobble back and forth and makes a bit of noise - I guess perfection is hard to find in a 22 footer!

 

[David Levine]

Just short of center - Part 2

Just a picture that may be useful

 

[John]

fall off, brother

Clay, I guess there are a lot off tradeoffs with our little boats. I found with my 22 shoal draft, 77, I often made better headway by easing the sheets and falling off a little. It's pretty tough to pinch these and make good headway. I have a 23 now, with a cast iron stub keel and centerboard, and it does seem to work a little better, if only to settle the boat a little and keep the rocking down. It is one more thing to mess with and worry about though!