"Hello Mr Vigor! As per your book The Seaworthy Offshore Sailboat, boats
with a combination of keel and centerboard may not be seaworthy. Since I am
considering buying a Jeanneau Sun Rise 35 with a combined pivoting centerboard
and stub keel, I am writing to you for advice. Would you consider this
particular boat safe and seaworthy enough to cruise from Bermuda to Polynesia
and sail around the islands, with side visits to New Zealand and Australia?.
"I shall very much appreciate your expert
opinion.
"Best regards,
"Hugo."
Well, Hugo, I don't recall saying that keel/centerboarders are not seaworthy. What I said was that the seaworthiness of such a boat is very difficult to evaluate in terms of its recovery from an upside-down position. And I don't remember claiming to be an expert on the subject, either. So take what advice I have to offer with a liberal dose of salt.
I must say that Jeanneau has had a lot of
experience with keel/centerboarders of various sizes, even if they weren't
exactly designed for ocean voyaging in the first place. Most of the type are
designed as coastal cruisers in areas where shallow waters prevail. There is no profit in building a
centerboarder if your usual cruising waters are deep enough for a fixed keel.
On the other hand, many of the hardest-working
ocean-going sailboats are deep-sea racers, and there was a time when, for
rule-cheating reasons, many of them were built with centerboards protruding
from a stub keel. The stub keel gave
them ballasted stability, of course, and the deep, thin centerboard made them
very efficient to windward.
According to Ted
Brewer, the well-known naval architect, "One true rule beater was the
1950s Olin Stephens-designed Finisterre.
This beamy keel/centerboard yawl took advantage of the rule without really
bending it. Her wide beam (moderate by today's standards), shoal centerboard
draft, hefty displacement, modest ballast, and yawl rig combined to give her a
favorable rating. Combined with Olin Stephen's design genius and Carleton
Mitchell's expert handling, she was the boat to beat in any race she entered,
and won a room full of trophies. Finisterre's
success inspired a host of keel/centerboard yawls, ranging from Bill Shaw's
lovely little 24-foot MORC racer, Trina,
to Bill Tripp's handsome Block Island 40 and Bermuda 40 and big 50-plus footers
such as the beautiful Innishfree, designed by George Cuthbertson, founder of
C&C Yachts."
Eventually, this combination of keel and
centerboard gave way to fin keels and spade rudders, but when the
keel/centerboard combination ruled the roost, such boats went to sea in all
weather conditions and did just fine.
I don't think you have anything to worry about
on the score of seaworthiness, Hugo. These
boats are not terribly popular now because it's more expensive to build in a
centerboard, which, incidentally, also introduces another thing to go wrong at
the most awkward time.
There are advantages, though. Besides allowing you to sail in water less
than 4 feet deep, your Sun Rise 35's centerboard will help you balance the boat
to its sailplan by moving the board back or forward to change the center of
lateral resistance.
At least, that's the theory. I don't think you're likely to bother too
much with this while you're swanning around the South Seas distracted by the
rustle of grass skirts, but it's nice to know that you could if you wanted to.
So go for it, Hugo. Happy Sun Rise to you.
Today's
Thought
The fruit of my tree of knowledge is
plucked, and it is this: "Adventures are to the adventurous."— Benjamin Disraeli, Ixion in Heaven
Tailpiece
"What's the orchestra playing now?"
"According to that board over there, it's a Refrain from Spitting."
(Drop by every Monday, Wednesday, Friday for a new Mainly about Boats column.)
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