swing keel up or down on a run?
- Thread starter dlewis812
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up is faster but down is much safer
But not much faster.
Here's some problems and why I leave mine down or close to down all the time.
#1 if your cable breaks and keel falls, you may sink, right now, right there.
#2 you "will" forget its up, and when the wind or your course changes, so will your mood.
I learned my lesson when rounding a headland and changing course only to find myself being blown toward shore, it took awhile to figure out why the boat wouldn't work. When heeled way over the keel jams and you can't get it down. If you unwind the cable even a little not knowing the keel is jammed it will fall when you finally reduce heel and then see #1 for possible result. When things go bad, they happen fast and all at once. "Don't set yourself up". (how many times have we said that) duck, ouch
#3 "the biggie" if you run aground with the keel up going downwind your stuck hard and maybe stuck the rudder too. The good news is you can get off and walk around the boat looking for a good place to shove.
TJ
Its true you can go faster downwind if you drag less stuff in the water.
But not much faster.
Here's some problems and why I leave mine down or close to down all the time.
#1 if your cable breaks and keel falls, you may sink, right now, right there.
#2 you "will" forget its up, and when the wind or your course changes, so will your mood.
I learned my lesson when rounding a headland and changing course only to find myself being blown toward shore, it took awhile to figure out why the boat wouldn't work. When heeled way over the keel jams and you can't get it down. If you unwind the cable even a little not knowing the keel is jammed it will fall when you finally reduce heel and then see #1 for possible result. When things go bad, they happen fast and all at once. "Don't set yourself up". (how many times have we said that) duck, ouch
#3 "the biggie" if you run aground with the keel up going downwind your stuck hard and maybe stuck the rudder too. The good news is you can get off and walk around the boat looking for a good place to shove.
TJ
The keel does a couple of things. One purpose of the keel is to provide LIFT. Lift comes from two other items on the boat - the sails and rudder. Lift is what creates the power to propel the boat. The most important purpose of the keel is to counter balance the forces coming against the sail. In other words, the keel keeps the boat from CAPSIZING and in that regard it is not a good idea to sail with the keel retracted while on any point of sail. Suppose while sailing down wind something comes up and you have to change your point of sail. Dropping the keel just adds to the things you have to do. You may arrive at your downwind destination a little quicker with the keel retracted - like minutes - but there are faster ways to sail downwind than dead down wind but you need the keel to sail on those points.
I would think that the biggest reason for leaving the keel down when running downwind would be in the evet of a round-up or round-down. With the keel up, you have lost nearly all of your righting moment and your boat will not self-right in these situations and you will be swimming.
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