Posted by GregSeaHawk on
URL: https://forum.seahawk17.org.uk/Find-the-leak-tp4024941p4024946.html

brian johnson wrote

The keel makes a huge difference to the way the boat sails, especially to windward, but also on a reach.

I agree!

I think folk mislead themselves when they say that its only windward performance that is affected. While it's true you wouldn't normally notice the difference 45° either side of directly downwind, the effect gets progressively worse all the way to the limit of sailing up wind. It is noticeable well before you are at 90° to the wind. The further you are heeled the more the boat seems to get blown across the surface of the water with the fat flat bottomed main keel seeming to offer little resistance to the sideways motion. In higher winds the effect becomes more noticeable still, forcing you to reef that much earlier in order to try to keep the boat more upright.

When sailing on a Broad, where tides and currents are non-existent, you can always see a tree or some other fixed point in the distance and it becomes very clear the difference of forgetting to drop your keel after leaving a shallow mooring makes.