Sailing performance with centerboard

[Mark Ferrick]

I have a 1975 Hunter 30 keel/centerboard that happens to leak at the base of the pendant tube / hose connection at the keel. I have not looked at what is actually leaking yet, hose or flange in keel, but my question is if I should fix it or plug it and not use the centerboard.
It would be nice not to have the tube column in the middle of the cabin, but I am concerned about the actual change in sailing performance. I have not sailed the boat enough to know if it really makes a big difference in pointing and handling, or just a small amount.
I have scanned and searched all the posts in this forum ( lots of great information) and have found that one person thinks it's needed, another never put it down.

What is your experience? That will help me greatly. Thanks

 

[Ed Schenck]

Interesting in that I did not know there was such an animal. I do know that Cherubini considered it but not that he did it. My H37C shoal draft has a slot for a centerboard that is filled with more lead. But it is clearly evident.

My first thought would be safety. If I sailed my Highlander with the board up I would spend more time swimming than sailing. Have you been sailing with it up? As you mention someone has.

Then if it sails safely with the board up how is the performance? Did they make an H30 with the same keel and draft without the centerboard? If so then you are good to go. It will definitely perform better with the board down. But centerboard trunks with hardware are bears to fix when they are leaking.

 

[Mark Ferrick]

Ed, maybe I am calling it the wrong thing. The H30 is a shoal draft with a centerboard in a pocket. I think similiar to yours, just smaller. My understanding ( from reading these forums) is that the centerboard weighs about 300 lbs (rough estimate), (the rest of the keel about 4700 ( 10000# boat with 5000# keel)). So, your comment about swimming to me means that the boat would heel over too much. I cannot see that the centerboard adds so much to the stability. Clearly you have the experience, so I defer to you.
When I had my O'Day23 with the same shoal keel/centerboard combo, there was not any difference in heeling over.
Did I mislead you in my configuration? What am I missing?

 

[rardiH36]

I've seen advertisements or articles about other brand boats with a retractable center board in combination with a normal lead keel. Sorry I don't remember the brands.

But maybe you could post your question about performance pros/cons more generically on the "Ask All Sailors" forum and get some insights.

 

[Mark Ferrick]

I was looking for ....

... specific handling characteristics on the H30, but you are right, I will open this up to a wider audience. Thanks

 

[Ed Schenck]

No Mark, you did not mislead anyone. It was more of a question than a statement. I, like many, have no experience with a Cherubini centerboard boat. If it is the same boat as a "normal" H30 shoal draft then performance, pointing ability, is the only issue. Well except for the leak of course.

 

[Benny]

Surprised me too, I did not know Hunter had built any of those short keel/centerboard combos. The centerboard is only for lateral resistance when sailing upwind and the ballast is in the fixed keel enclosure so there is no problem with stability in sailing with the board up. What I'm wondering is, how short is the keel? If it is in the 3' range I would say you will need the board to retain pointing ability. If any the board should be in place to warn you when grounding in order to protect the rudder. I would look for the leak and fix it. That boat must be an excellent gunkholer and you are in the right location for it. You have a unique boat which may be a one of a kind or prototype. Contact Hunter and see what you can find out about your hull #.

We have a trailerable Starwind 223 with the short keel/board configuration and we love it. It can be sailed with the board up with no loss of stability but the pointing ability will suffer. Being trailerable we take to different places and a couple of years ago we sailed down the Potomac River and went to Tangier Island. We got into Tangier under deteriorating conditions after dealing with a few 6 footers. The boat does not suffer from keel slap like some swing keel boats which makes them unsafe for large seas. The design on this boat is obviously for ease of getting it it on and off the trailer but there is no compromise on stability.

 

[J Hunter]

When my parents bought the H30 '76 that I now sail, we were slip neighbors with a couple who bought the H30 '75, the one with the centerboard like yours. Mine's the shoal draft. Although my memory is a bit fuzzy, my Dad and I did do a day of sailing along side that boat with the express purpose of seeing what differences we could notice between the two boats and between the two positions of the centerboard. I remember we had a fresh breeze and the only difference we could actually measure was our '76 was a bit faster when not at hull speed. Board up, board down the '75 didn't seem to do any worse or better close haul angle-wise than the '76 with the shoal solid keel. And the speed advantage was pretty explainable- the '76 standard jib was a 110% and the '75 was 100%. I never have matched up with deep keel H30 for a similar sea trial.

 

[Mark Ferrick]

That exactly what I am looking for.

J Hunter, now that is exactly the information I am hoping to get here. You were in a perfect position to compare, so this is very objective data. I still hope to get subjective data, where the same sailor describes the effects with board up/down.
Thank you to all who have responded.