Wing Keel

[Citation]

Buying a 30 foot catalina tall rig. It has a wing keel. I would like to hear the pros and cons versas a standard keel. I don't race. The boat will be used for bay sailing and runs from S.D. to catalina Island. Thanks--------------------------------------------------------------------------------IMPORTANT

 

[Jon]

Winging It

Wing keels compared to fin keels in general, reduce pointing ability by about three to five degrees. Speed in low wind conditions may be affected slightly by more wetted surface area. Stability is usually compensated for by extra ballast (which adds displacement). In the case of the current C30, it's 100 pounds. But with a tall rig, I'm not sure there will be equal stability.The bottom line is maybe 5% less performance for the shallower draft of a wing keel. It means everything to a racer, but probably not even noticeable to a cruiser.

 

[Bob Uehlein]

Wing keel Catalinas have more of a tendency to round up when overpowered. By reefing a little sooner you may be able to minimize this tendency but its not a very confidence inspiring tendency. I would much prefer the fin keel unless the area you boat in requires a shallow draft vessel.

 

[Duane Maher]

Wings and Round Ups

Actually the rudder is the major cause on a vessel rounding up. Usually the short wing keel has more ballast to counteract the tendency to roundup. Because you have a wing keel with a short draft the rudder has to be short. A short rudder with less wetted area, when heeled over could lose control. This could be more of a problem with the newer boats that carry their beam aft. The wider beam when it heels will bring the rudder further out of the water. I use to have a Catalina 34 wing keel that also rounded up. I understand that Catalina is offering a new redesigned rudder for the 34 that helps. Maybe they have one for the 30.Having said all that, Catalina has done a great job of designing the new boats to prevent this rounding up. I have a new C -380 with a wing keel and it has not rounded up after two seasons.It has come close but I still have control. Because these boats are so wide they are made to be sailed flat.