Water ballast vs weighted keel

[Ross Terry]

Has anyone played with the idea of weighting the keel on water ballast boats? The tenderness, even at the dock on my 240 took a little getting used to. You can spill your martini when the dog moves from one side to the other (hate it when that happens). I was wondering if anyone has tried or heard of any one trying this. What does the swing keel on a 240 weigh, anyway?

 

[Frank Ladd]

I heard someone did

I read about a fella who added 100 pounds of lead to his. The design is not made to have weight there and that particular fella sold his boat. I think that if you cannot get used to the initail tippiness of it, then maybe you should get a swing or wing keeled boat. The Hunter 216 is very stable with its swing lead keel as are the Catalina 22 and Capri 22 with there keels. The 260 is more stable but not as stable as a lead keeled boat.

 

[Brad]

shoal draft

I often wondered about adding a shoal draft to go around the swing keel so that the keel will still function normally. Then you could weight the shoal draft. I have absolutly no idea if this is feasable but its just a thought.Brad

 

[Frank Ladd]

Just get the Precision or the Compac

Both of those boats have the shoal draft keel and the weight and stability you long for. I saw where one man got a Hunter like mast raising system added to his Precision 23 so he could raise the mast himself, but he keeps it on a mooring most of the time. Another fella I met has his Compac 23 in a slip. Both boats are very stable and reasonably fast in normal winds, but they don't trailersail as well as the Hunter and that is the reason the Hunter is designed the way it is.

 

[Wanderer138]

Is the boat tender with the keel down?

Don't know too much about the WB Hunters but it seems to me that the boat should be less tender with the centerboard down, not because of the weight of the board but rather the resistance to rolling that it would provide. Just guessing...PeterH23 "Raven"

 

[alan]

Peter, the 26 with the keel down is still somewhat

...tender but it does dampen the motion a bit. Sooooooooooooo, with passing boats it will slow the tipping from side to side effectively reducing it. When sailing the reverse is somewhat true that is leeway is permitted with the keel up so heeling is less. alan