Swapping a keel

[drewlamparello]

Does any one know of any one who has ever attempted to take a Keel from one boat and put it on another Capri.

I have a Wing keel and have a lead on a Fin and have been thinking of the possibility of doing this. The boat yard says as long as the keel bolt pattern lines up it will be do-able. I wonder how consistent Catalina was when the set the bolts in each keel?

My wing is a 2004 and the fin is off of an 86....

All in the cost of this will be about equivalent to the cost of the lamented suit of sails I just ordered from North.

Would love to hear your thoughts...

 

[Rightbrainer]

I've never done it, but why not?

I wouldn't count on the bolt patterns being consistent enough. If you want to order a lifting bracket from Catalina, I think they require a template or measurement of the relevant keel bolts, so that's not a good sign.

Fiberglass fills and drills easily, so fill your holes, make a template, say a prayer and drill the new ones. Bed the bejeepers out of it and fair the seam.

Good luck!

 

[shnool]

Isn't the hull design between the Mark I and the Mark II considerably different?

 

[drewlamparello]

Good question. I assumed that given the class is across the fleet the hull was the same. Does any one know if the hull across these years is different?

 

[shnool]

Mark I

Mark II

Looks like a totally different shape to me. Keels might be the same though.

 

[SpiderPig]

Don't do it. These are cheap boats; just buy a different one. The Wing keels are in demand you will come out ahead.

 

[drewlamparello]

While I could get a different one, there aren't many fins and I have done so many upgrades it would be hard to start over again so I'm still thinking about it. As I wait on pictures to show the condition of the keel bolts I figured I'd see what Jerry Douglas of Catalina says... You name another company where you can reach out to one of the founders and get a response with in a few hours... There is a reason this is my foutth Catalina

 

[SpiderPig]

You name another company where you can reach out to one of the founders and get a response with in a few hours...

Com-Pac Yachts. You can call them and get one of the owners on the phone in minutes. I haven't been to their factory but I did go to the old Catalina Factory in CA. I've also spoken with both Gerry and Frank Butler. Most custom boat companies are also very connected to their customers. Its the Hunters and J boats, etc that churn them out where you don't get much of a voice.

 

[shnool]

I'd argue Precision Boat works is also on the list of companies you can get a hold of. Glad Patrick you've had good luck with Compac, cause I think they are one of the sturdier compact cruisers available still at a reasonable price. Thats a company I hope hangs on, and thrives.

I don't think its fair to say you can't get a hold of the Johnstones from J Boats... recall they don't build the boats (in the us its TPI). Also J boats (with a few exceptions) designs one design boats, so the room for "changes" are small, but I'm quite sure you'd get a personalized response from the family if you contacted them about a build question.

(Marlow-)Hunter, well, yes given they are part of a larger motoryacths company, I could see that... In the same way I bet Beneteau and Jeaneau would be difficult to get personalized responses.

 

[drewlamparello]

Thanks to the sage advice of this group I have decided not to take on this effort of swapping the keel. While I beleive the Fin would have been an incredible tool to create more lift I decided not to proceed as the bolts looked rusted and likely needing replacement... who know what else, so decided to take the advice of a friend who said "you have a perfectly good keel that's only 12 years old I can't understand why you would want to take the risk and install one that's 29 years old." That clinched it...

Since I'd prepared my self mentally to upgrade the boat I decided to install a new rudder that was 48 inched deep, but again you folks helped me with this decision. Given my Capri is a wing keel that only draws 30 inches of water a fixed ruder 4 foot deep would have ripped out the transom if I ever had a hard grounding... But Rudder craft has a swing up rudder this deep for a Capri 22. So I Installed that...

Frankly It is amazing what the new ruder does to the boat. Tuesday we were racing in 3-5 knts of wind and then a storm came through that shifted it 180 degrees and increased it to 20-25... Given I had a full main and a 155 up you can imagine how water came over the side... But with the new rudder it kept biting and allowed me to stay on course where as in the past the rudder would have been near out of the water and cause me to round up and flog the sails... Great decision... Really appreciate all the experience this forum shares.