Hi,
It has been some time since we put BD ashore next
to our house.
That was December 4th, earlier that week we sailed
her with the tandem keel fitted.
The keel was fitted using threaded rods in epoxy
in the keel fins. We just drilled holes in the bottom of the
hull,
put the rods through them and floor timbers on the
inside to distribute the loads.
Plenty of sealant obviously. It took two hours including hoisting and
relaunching.
As usual I forgot the camera so no photos,
sorry.
Sailing with the keel fitted showed that we could
get going with the wind at 90 deg. as with the leeboard.
It was obvious though the leeboard was more
effective, we could steer close to the wind but needed more rudder angle to keep
control.
Second test sail was with one of the old
rudders fitted additional to the new ones.
I wanted to see if this would cause
a significant difference.
We had the new rudders out of the water, so just
one old rudder and the tandem keel. Sheeted in carefully and got going
easily.
When at speed no noticeable rudder angle, speed up
to 12.5 knots could have gone faster but we didin't seek speed.
Control with the old rudder was very precise, what
I find to be missing with the new ones.
After shunting returned with the new rudders, high
rudder angles 11 knots max and we could feel the power that couldn't be put to
use.
It seems the keel works, although the leeboard was
more effective. The leeboard would need more experimenting to come up with a
good
way of keeping at the right angle and prevent it
from kiting. I think the leeboard would have to be handled at every shunt.
That is one of the reasons the owner likes the keel better.
Hopefully carefull finishing of the rudder blades
will lead to smaller angles when sailing.
regards,
Rudolf
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