30 ft bilge keel yacht

Practical Boat Owner

• Digital edition

Best bilge keel yachts and twin keel yachts for drying out ashore

• Peter Poland
• April 12, 2023

Peter Poland reveals how bilge keel yachts and twin-keel designs won his respect – those that could sail well and stand on their own two feet…

Back in the late 1970s, I found myself on the horns of a dilemma. For the last decade or so I’d dismissed bilge keels and twin keels as ugly and performance sapping appendages. To my eyes, they invariably had the look of casually designed afterthoughts that had sprouted beneath nice hulls just to enable the boat to stand on its own two feet.

The boats that my company built, on the other hand, were aimed at serious sailors and I rashly assumed that anything other than a state-of-the-art fin keel or hydrodynamically efficient lifting keel would never be likely to satisfy this market.

Then my own personal boating needs underwent a change, so I had to take a flyer. Breaking my own rules and ignoring my preconceptions, I went out and spent my own hard-earned loot on a second-hand twin keeled Westerly Centaur.

Why? Because my factory and home were on the East Coast but a lot of high-profile sailing activity took place down south. So I needed a habitable floating base that could be parked on a cheap mud mooring and be able to follow the regatta circuits on which the boats I built (Sonatas, Impalas, Deltas, Medinas etc) competed.

This boat had to provide a general all-purpose home from home. And a bit of undemanding weekend pottering would be an added bonus. With my limited budget, there was only one obvious solution at the time – a Centaur.

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I soon discovered that the Centaur’s windward performance – while adequate – was hardly stimulating, especially when compared to the close winded precision of a Sonata or Impala to which I’d become accustomed.

As a result, the Centaur’s Volvo Penta motor got a lot of use when the wind went light or ahead, whereas on a reach or a run she performed satisfactorily and got us from A to B with a minimum of fuss and at a respectable speed. And she also offered comfort down below – despite the Centaur being only 26ft long I could stand up.

Design challenge

All of which got me thinking that maybe there could be more to these twin keel things than immediately met the eye. And as the sales of our fin and lifting keel speedsters began to slow over the ensuing years, I could not help noticing that the sales of our bilge or twin keeled competitors seemed to be on an ever-rising upwards trend in the 1970s and 80s.

Around 2,500 twin-keel Westerly Centaurs were built, which means there are plenty on the second hand market. Photo: Peter Poland

If we were to continue as a viable boatbuilding business, maybe we’d have to cast aside our prejudices and take a long look at these two-legged options.

So I took courage in both hands and asked our designer whether he might be willing to consider agreeing to design us some twin keels. I hastily added that of course – being the genius that he undoubtedly was – he was bound to come up with something far better than anything that had ever graced a cruising yacht’s bilge before.

Then I stood back and awaited the inevitable broadside of shock, horror and indignation. “Well,” said David Thomas (who had never designed a slow yacht in his life), “I might. I just might.

“But first I’ll need to think about it. In case you’d not noticed, twin keels have far more variables than a fin keel. The positioning of the roots relative to the centre line, the splay, the angle of attack are all variable and important. I’ll have to think twice as hard and for twice as long.”

I took this as a ‘yes’ so left it at that. And patiently awaited developments.

Gib’Sea 76 (26ft 11in) with ‘swept’ twin keels that draw 3ft 3in. Photo: Peter Poland

History of bilge keel yachts

Of course, bilge and twin keels were not a new phenomenon. They had been around for many years. When researching an earlier article on the Westerly story, I’d been fascinated by the development work done on his twin keel and twin rudder yachts by Lord Riverdale. As had my sales manager, Andy Cunningham, who wrote an excellent treatise on twin keels.

Lord Riverdale’s first twin keel sailboat was the smaller self-designed 25ft Bluebird of Thorne , built in 1924. Later Riverdale built the bigger Bluebird of Thorne (50ft) in the early 60s that he designed in collaboration with Arthur Robb. He claimed that tank-tested models indicated a 15% improvement on his earlier twin keel designs.

Bluebird of Thorne ’s owner, Lord Riverdale, had designed and built a string of cruising yachts (all with twin keels) over a period of around 40 years prior to the culminating glory of his and Robb’s 50ft steel twin keeler.

Riverdale also liked to draw the distinction between what he called ‘bilge keelers’ (meaning boats with a ballasted or unballasted centre keel and two stabilising bilge keels) and ‘twin keelers’ (boats with twin ballasted keels).

To go further back to bilge keel basics, it was probably Maurice Griffiths who did most to put bilge keel benefits into practice and bring creek crawling and ‘upright drying out’ to numerous leisure sailors.

Built from GRP, the Golden Hind 31 is a double chine, shoal draught cruiser. Photo: sailingscenes.com

Classics such as the 1957 Eventide 24 and 26, Waterwitch and 1968 Golden Hind 31 (to name but three of his many popular designs) all came with bilge keel options – featuring a substantial central ballast keel and two supporting bilge plates. The resulting shallow draught would never provide dynamic windward performance; but that was not Maurice Griffiths’s aim.

He set out to supply honest, seagoing small yachts that would be equally at home in the rough and tumble of a hostile North Sea as they were weaving between the withies and nosing their way into peaceful and shallow backwaters.

East Coast pottering is a specialised and delightful pastime that can only be enjoyed to the full in a shallow draught yacht that is capable of drying out – whether by mistake or on purpose.

Then along came Robert Tucker and his popular twin keel plywood pocket cruisers such as the Silhouette that took off in 1954. Around the same time, a French designer began to play with twin keels.

François Sergent designed the attractive 22ft Sargue with a beam of 7ft 5in; generous for that era and with reasonable accommodation. Several of this mahogany strip planked twin keeler (drawing 2ft 4in) were built, and they not only sat happily on the Breton mud – they sailed well.

The designer said: “In passage races in the St Malo-Granville area one won two firsts and a fourth in three starts against deep keel boats and centreboarders.” It’s a pity none of them made it over to our UK shores. With pleasing performance and Gallic grace, the Sargue class looked a cut above what was available over here at that time.

Westerly Nomad’s longer coachroof offered improved accommodation to the Westerly 22. Photo: Carolyn Jenkins/Alamy

Westerly 22

Mass-produced and affordable bilge keel GRP yachts only really began to fill up our foreshores after Denys Rayner set up Westerly Marine in the early 1960s. Enthused by the tractable sailing he had enjoyed in his earlier bilge keeled designs such as the jaunty little Westcoaster, he decided that the time was right to invest in a new GRP cruiser.

And so the Westerly 22 was born in 1963. The twin keels drew just 2ft 3in and gave a ballast ratio of 33.3% while a long central ‘keel’ supported the rudder and gave a secure ‘three-point landing’.

The Westerly 22 sailed adequately, sat happily on a drying mooring, and the 22 Young Tiger was seaworthy enough to make a transatlantic crossing in 1966. The longer coachroof of the later Westerly Nomad (1967) improved accommodation.

Following on from the 22’s success and Westerly’s bursting order book, Rayner pushed ahead with 25ft and 30ft models that used the same keel recipe. The burgeoning market for family cruisers was growing fast after the post war dinghy boom.

In a remarkably short time, Westerly sold almost 1,000 of these Rayner-designed yachts and the bilge keel revolution was well and truly on its way.

But even their greatest fans will admit that the sailing performance of these early models was unspectacular. Their modest draught meant that lateral resistance was minimal, so leeway when sailing to windward was considerable compared to that of a yacht with the extra bite given by deeper keels.

When buying a used twin keeler, like the Westerly Centaur or Mirage, get keel roots surveyed. Photo: Peter Poland

And the drag incurred by all that surface area on three shallow appendages cut speed through the water – especially in lighter airs. But the early Westerlys sold like hot cakes because they brought economical sailing, low cost drying moorings and carefree coastal cruising to thousands of sailors taking to the water ‘en famille’ for the first time.

As Westerly pushed remorselessly ahead, other players soon entered the twin keel market. Thames Marine set up on Canvey Island in Essex and, over many years, produced hundreds of Snapdragon cruisers. Like the early Westerlys, these boats were not – by any stretch of the imagination – racers.

While a few models offered a centreboard keel configuration, the majority were twin keelers. Accommodation was always spacious and later models had a pleasing look, thanks to their nicely proportioned coachroofs.

At the smaller end of the market, makes such as Leisures, Silhouettes, Hurleys, Tridents, Macwesters, Cobras and Alacrities – to name a few – offered twin keels as standard or as an option.

But nobody was yet putting that much thought into the designs of the keels themselves. Some builders even produced twin keels that were an integral part of the hull moulding, then filled the GRP keel cavity with iron punchings.

As a result, the keel had to be vertical (to release from the hull mould) – which is far from ideal from a performance perspective. Add a fibreglass moulding filled with iron, and it is a disaster waiting to happen if the boat dries out on rough or rocky ground.

Once the GRP keel base is worn down or punctured, saltwater can get in and rust the iron, whereupon the rest of the fibreglass keel ‘casing’ can get blown away from the rusting iron ballast inside.

Painting a Westerly Centuar while dried out. Photo: Gary Blake/Alamy

Westerly Centaur

The next real leap forward in twin keel design came courtesy of the originators of mass-produced GRP twin keel cruisers – our old friends Westerly again. As Denys Rayner’s health was fading, he enlisted the young David Sanders to take over the running of the company. Unlike Rayner, Sanders was no yacht designer. “Go to Laurent Giles,” advised Rayner.

He was aware of the bilge keel development work and tank testing that had been done by Jack Giles so reckoned design firm Laurent Giles was the most likely to take twin keel design to its next stage. It was wise advice.

When I asked Barry van Geffen (later the MD of the Laurent Giles design office) how the new generation twin keels as first used on the Centaur came into being, he said that Laurent Giles’s research and tank testing had been very revealing.

Westerly Centaur interior. Photo: sailingscenes.com

“What was learned had a significant impact on keel design, as it was discovered that through various angles of attack, heel and yaw, there was a marked change in efficiency (lift versus drag) with keels that were aligned exactly fore and aft on the hull.

The LG [Laurent Giles] team considered all the implications, along with Westerly’s insistence that for production reasons both port and starboard keel castings should come out of the same mould – and settled on a design with a 2° toe-in and veed keel base.”

Twin keel changes

So what does this tell us about Laurent Giles’s suggested changes in twin keel design? Firstly, Westerly’s insistence on symmetrical keel foils for ease of manufacture and economic considerations was fortuitous for other reasons.

Early twin keel designs were often asymmetrical – as originally advocated by the Lord Riverdale of Bluebird fame before he realised these were less effective than symmetrical keels. The theory was that the foil shape on the inside face of the leeward keel and flat shape on the outside face would generate lift (like an aeroplane’s wing) and therefore lift the boat up to windward.

Unfortunately, however, the reverse could apply to the windward keel. In addition, the water flow between the keels could produce a braking effect, thereby slowing the boat down. The effect is not unlike putting the brakes on by adopting a ‘snow plough’ stance when skiing down a mountain.

So Laurent Giles’s move to a modest 2° toe-in for maximum efficiency combined with symmetrical foils was the right way to go. The result was a marked improvement in windward performance over older bilge or twin keel yachts. And if they had gone for slightly more draught than 3ft, it would have been even better.

Westerly Griffon 22

But perhaps they continued to learn, because Centaur’s later and smaller sister – the 23ft Pageant – drew only 2in less (at 2ft 10in) despite being 3ft shorter overall. The Pageant sails well and even used to win club races in her early days. And when Ed Dubois came to design the Centaur’s successor – the 26ft Griffon – he went for 3in more draught than the Centaur and drew finer foils with less drag. So twin keel performance continued to improve.

But the early Griffon’s finer keels (with finer roots) also brought boatbuilders’ attention to the often-overlooked risks attached to bilge keels. Westerly fitted their symmetric twin keels by bolting them to small GRP ‘roots’ that formed part of the hull – rather like a GRP version of old fashioned ‘deadwood’. So the finer the keel, the finer this ‘deadwood’ stub also became.

As a result, it needed greater internal reinforcement to resist sideways movement. And the greatest ‘force’ imparted to twin keel roots – where they attach to the hull – is not necessarily encountered when the boat dries out on soft mud. It happens when the boat tries to break free from the firm grip of the mud as the tide returns and attempts to lift the hull clear of this grip. The deeper and more glutinous the mud, the harder it grips and the longer the boat’s natural buoyancy takes to lift it clear. And this is what caused damage to the early Griffon’s keel roots.

Westerly repaired the damage and reinforced subsequent models. But the lesson was there for every builder of twin keel boats to learn. It also explains why a buyer and his surveyor should inspect keel roots when assessing any possible second-hand purchase.

Hunter Horizon 26. Photo: sailingscenes.com

Hunter Horizon 26

So – to return to the request I put to David Thomas in the early 1980s for a world beating twin keel design. What did he come up with? Predictably perhaps, he took his time. We all reckoned he’d vanished into a mystical twin keel retreat. But the design that finally emerged was well worth the wait.

Thomas reckoned that the optimum angle of heel for comfortable cruising (as opposed to flat out racing) is around 15°. So he designed the keels to attach to the bilge with a 15° splay and to be slightly ‘toed in’. This way the leeward keel would be vertical when the boat was heeled 15° – thereby working at its maximum draught and presenting the biggest possible lateral area to reduce leeway.

Then he placed the keel roots as close to the centreline as was feasible while still making sure that the boat would be stable when dried out. The reasoning behind this was that the closer the keel roots are to the centreline, the less likely the windward keel is to break surface and ‘thump’ when the boat is heeled in a seaway.

The final ingredient to the new generation Thomas twin keel designs produced the most animated discussions with the builder. Any sensible designer wants as much draught as possible – to lower the centre of gravity, increase overall stability and maximise lateral resistance to reduce leeway.

The builder, however, wants to keep the draught low to increase the boat’s appeal from a marketing perspective. So a compromise always had to be negotiated, although Thomas usually won. As a result his twin keelers invariably drew more than the equivalent sized competitors’ boats .

Hunter Horizon 26 interior. Photo: sailingscenes.com

And how did such twin keels actually perform? Extremely well. Having done initial trials on a Delta 25 hull, the Thomas keels were declared to be a success by boat testers and buyers alike. The time was ripe to introduce the first Thomas-designed spacious family cruiser that could sail well and stand on its own two feet.

The long-suffering Delta hull was dragged into the tooling shop again and given a brand new deck moulding for full standing headroom, an aft heads compartment and a spacious stern cabin. The new model was named the Horizon 26 and duly won the Best Production Yacht Award at the 1984 Southampton Boat Show .

We then walked into an unexpected marketing problem. Boat owners were so used to Thomas performance and handling that they could not believe that a twin keeler would be anywhere near as good. Some potential Hunter buyers even said that they “wouldn’t be seen dead in a bilge keel yacht”.

After a bit of head scratching a solution was found. Every demonstration boat for this and subsequent Thomas cruising Hunters had the twin keel option. Any client asking for a trial sail in a fin keel version would be politely told “I’m afraid we only have one demo boat for each model and it’s a twin keeler. So why not try that and if you aren’t impressed, we can always build you a fin keeler.”

It worked a treat. Initial scepticism invariably turned to disbelief followed by delight. Sometimes a client was taken on a trial sail without being told what sort of keel lurked beneath the waterline. When invited to have a guess after returning to the marina, it was amazing how often the client thought it had a fin rather than twin keels.

This Horizon 32 twin keeler (draught 1.3m) won a Round the Island race division. Photo: Peter Poland

Bilge keel yacht design evolution

As the years passed by, Thomas’s twin keel designs continued to evolve and performance got even better. In one memorable demolition derby Round the Island Race , a Thomas-designed twin keel Horizon 32 took the heavy winds head on and won its class and its entire division.

The twin keel Horizon 21 and Horizon 30 also excelled in the CHS divisions. Recently a twin keel Horizon 232 helped her octogenarian owner Murdoch McGregor win the Yachtsman of the Year Award for sailing solo around Britain .

Meanwhile other designers began to tweak their twin keels. Ranges such as Moody, Sadler and Westerly also moved up a gear in performance. Thomas refined his twin keel designs by adding long hydrodynamically shaped bulbs to their bases. These had the effect of throwing the centre of gravity even lower and lengthening the ‘footprint’ on which the boats stood when they dried out.

The extra weight located in bulbs lower down also meant keel foils could become finer and narrower, reducing drag. Other boatbuilders have taken note, with ranges such as the American-designed but British-built Legends displaying prominent bulbs on their twin keels.

So, as marinas get ever more expensive, will more builders offer twin keels on their smaller models? Interestingly, the answer is ‘yes’. But it’s not coming from the UK. It’s coming from France.

Django 770 twin keel yacht drying out

French bilge keel yachts

In the past there were economical marina moorings aplenty available in France, so twin keels did not feature high on the French agenda. But now things are changing. The cost of a marina berth in France is still reasonable compared to the UK: but only if you can find one.

The French Nautical Federation reckons there is now a shortage of around 50,000 marina berths. As a result, twin keels (or bi-quilles as they’re called over there) began to appear in greater numbers.

Now, with the exception of the traditional and long running Biloup Range, French twin keels are expanding the design envelope. Archambault, the builders of the Surprise range, decided that their hugely successful One Design (7.65m) cruiser-racer would have an increased market if they also offered a two-legged version.

Designer Michel Joubert went for deep (1m) twin keels with narrow chord foils and race boat bulbs on their bases. The roots are well inboard and the performance is said to be exceptional.

RM-Fora Marine specialises in multi chine plywood-epoxy hulled cruisers, invariably with twin keels. The latest models, from the pen of leading French designer Marc Lombard, are anything but conventional.

A new RM890 ready to hit the road. The twin keels draw 1.5m. Photo: RM Yachts

Draught is generous (for example the twin keel RM890 draws 1.5m) with keels that are as fine as you’ll find on a top-level racer. And the bulbs on their bases are just as sophisticated.

These RMs are exciting and versatile boats, although I wonder whether their futuristic looks and multi chine wooden hull construction will find favour with many British buyers. I hope so, because the combination of a plywood-epoxy hull with a GRP deck offers excellent insulation and a substantial strength to weight ratio.

The Django 7.70 designed by Pierre Roland and built by Marée Haute in France has also proved to be a speedy twin keel 25-footer capable of crossing many oceans. Christophe Mora and Carina Juhhova are currently in South Africa after sailing L’Envol across the Pacific and Indian oceans. Their progress reports on intothewind.fr are fascinating.

Django 7.70 L’Envol has a scrub in Brazil on her round the world cruise. An aft strut supports the stern. Photo: Christophe Mora

So far Django 7.70 L’Envol has crossed the Atlantic, cruised down the East coast of South America to Patagonia, across the Pacific and sailed the Australian coastline before moving on to South Africa.

The Django range comprises the 6.70 (lifting keel only), the 7.70 (fin or twin keel), 9.80 (fin or twin keel) and 12.70 (fin or lifting keel). The twin keel Django 7.70 that I tested was a total delight.

The future of bilge keel yachts?

So what lies ahead? With only a handful of French yards offering new twin keel boats, there is a dearth of choice in the new boat market. Of course, sailors can always buy second-hand while they await new arrivals. But be sure to get those keel roots surveyed and check rudder and keel bases for grounding damage.

I can’t help thinking that as designers come up with ever improved twin keel designs, something will soon have to give. As British marina costs move beyond the means of many boat owners and French marinas reach maximum capacity, maybe there’s a new twin keel dawn just over the horizon?

Exciting new twin keel designs might even persuade production boat builders to market new boats under 30ft again? Some may even sprout foils and try to fly!

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Popular Cruising Yachts from 30 to 35 Feet Long Overall Their Physical Properties & Key Performance Indicators

Welcome to this ever-growing gallery of some of the most popular cruising yachts between 30 and 35 feet (9.1m to 10.7m) long overall.

30'-35' Cruising Yachts featured on this page...

Medium sized cruising yachts like these are capable of serious offshore passage making, whilst being reasonably economic to maintain and operate.

And for competitive types, 30-35 foot cruising yachts are a popular size for club racing under handicap rating rules.

Behind each of the cruising yacht images there's a lot more information, including:

• Dimensions & Specifications; 
• Design Ratios;
• A summary analysis of the boat's predicted sailing characteristics in terms of performance, stiffness, heaviness, comfort in a seaway and resistance to capsize.

To see it all, just click on the relevant image...

Beneteau Oceanis Clipper 311

Pearson 303

Pearson 323

Allied Seawind MkII Cutter

Jeanneau Sun Light 30

Grand Soleil 343

Feeling 850

Westerly Tempest 31

Bavaria 31 Cruiser

Westerly Kestrel 35

Westerly Berwick 31

Dehler 35 CWS

Westerly Vulcan 34

Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 32-1

Elizabethan 33

Westerly Seahawk 35

Nicholson 32

Westerly Ocean 33

Hunter Channel 323

Island Packet 350

Corvette 31

Beneteau Oceanis Clipper 343

Hallberg-Rassy 94

Many thanks to Richard Stuckey for the great pic of his cruising yacht  'Tango II' , shown here  at anchor off Porqeurolles Island in the Mediterranean South of France.

Wauquiez Gladiateur 33

Jeanneau Attalia 32

Thank you Paul Wright , for submitting this pic of your cruising yacht 'Tallulah'.

The owner of 'Second Star' tells us...

"This one is my Hunter 33e (now Marlow-Hunter 33e) "Second Star".  The "e" stands for extended cockpit.  It has a drop-down, walk-through transom that opens up the cockpit significantly and serves as a helm seat when up.  I bought the boat new in 2014 and my longest cruise to date was from Annapolis MD to its slip in Alexandria, VA with my daughter. Of course, my intent is to take it on longer cruises like circling the DELMARVA peninsula, which would give me offshore time off the Delaware coast.  It's a very comfortable cruising yacht of moderate size."

Aphrodite 101

With their long, narrow and light hull and tall fractional rig these elegant sailboats have had many successful single and double-handed victories in distance races both coastal and offshore. 

The owner of 'Averisera ' tells us:

"She has a very narrow hull with two good sea berths amidships.  The galley is just aft of the berths, sink to starboard and cooker to port.  Step down from companionway just aft of galley; seating to change into or out of wet gear without making sleeping area wet. Head all the way forward is OK but not great.  Low free board means sink does not drain on port tack. Hull form is very, very sea kindly.  Beautiful sailor, easy to steer in wide range of conditions and points of sail.  For a small boat she is a competent cruising yacht."

Beneteau First 30E

Westerly 33

Have you got a cruising yacht in this size range?

If so, and you'd like to see an image of her on this page, please click here to send your pic to sailboat cruising.com and we'll do the rest.

Albin Nova 32

Contessa 32.

Nicholson 32 (Mark 10)

The Nicholson 32 Mk 10 cruising yacht in the pic is very dear to me;  'Jalingo 2' she's called - and I used to own her. Dick McClary, previous owner.

Westsail 32

Southern Cross 31

Thank you, Vern Bastable , for submitting this pic of your cruising yacht 'Mischief'.

Willard 30/8t

Vancouver 32

Nauticat 33

Thank you  Phillip Caputo , for submitting this pic of your cruising yacht ' See Life ' .

Allied Seawind 30

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Used bilge keel sailboats for sale

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9 Small Sailboats Under 30 Ft We Love

Our editorial staff selected 9 small sailboats under 30′ from all over the world. Today small sailboats have electronics for navigation and entertainment, an engine for light wind and accomodations to sleep onboard. Which is your preferred one between these 9 small sailboats?

Albin Vega 27

The Albin Vega 27 is a fiberglass sailboat that was produced by the Albin Motor Boat Company in the 1970s. It is a small, versatile vessel that is popular with sailors due to its good performance and comfortable interior. The Albin Vega 27 has a length of 27 feet (8.2 meters) and a beam (width) of 8.1 feet (2.46 meters). It is designed to be sailed single-handed, but can accommodate up to six people.

• Hull Type:  Long fin keel
• Hull Material:   GRP (fibreglass)
• Length Overall:  27′ 1″ / 8.25m
• Waterline Length:  23′ 0″ / 7.01m
• Beam:  8′ 1″ / 2.46m
• Draft:  3′ 8″ / 1.12m
• Rig Type:  Masthead sloop
• Displacement:  5,070lb / 2,300kg
• Designer:  Per Brohall
• Builder:  Albin Marine AB (Sweden)
• Year First Built:  1965
• Year Last Built:  1979
• Number Built:  3,450

Alpin Ballad 

• Hull Type:  Fin with skeg-hung rudder
• Length Overall:  29′ 11″ / 9.12m
• Waterline Length:  22′ 7″ / 6.88m
• Beam:  9′ 8″ / 2.95m
• Draft:  5′ 1″ / 1.55m
• Rig Type:  Masthead Sloop
• Displacement:  7,276lb / 3,300kg
• Designer:  Rolf Magnusson
• Builder:  Albin Marine (Sweden)
• Year First Built:  1971
• Year Last Built:  1982
• Number Built:  1500

The Bristol 24 has a length of 24.6 feet (7.5 meters) and a beam (width) of 8 feet (2.4 meters). It is designed to be sailed by a small crew, but can accommodate up to four people. The boat has a displacement of 4,920 lb (2,685 kilograms) and is equipped with a standard keel.

• Hull Type:  Long Keel
• Hull Material:  GRP (Fibreglass)
• Length Overall:  24′ 6″ / 7.5m
• Waterline Length:  18′ 1″ / 5.5m
• Beam:  8′ 0″ / 2.4m
• Draft:  3′ 5″ / 1.0m
• Displacement:  5,920lb / 2,685kg
• Designer:  Paul Coble
• Builder:  Bristol Yachts inc (US)
• Year First Built:  1969
• Year Last Built:  1972
• Number Built:  800

Contessa 28

The Contessa 24 is a fiberglass sailboat that was designed by David Sadler and produced by the Contessa Yachts company in the 1970s. The Contessa 24 has a length of 27.8 feet (8.43 meters) and a beam (width) of 9.5 feet (2.87 meters). It is designed to be sailed by a small crew, but can accommodate up to four people. The boat has a displacement of 3,162 kilograms and is equipped with a fin keel, which provides stability and improves its performance in a range of wind and sea conditions.

• Hull Type:  fin keel with spade rudder
• Hull Material:  GRP (Fiberglass)
• Length Overall:  27′ 8″ / 8.43m
• Waterline Length:  22′ 0″ / 6.71m
• Beam:  9′ 5″ / 2.87m
• Draft:  4′ 10″ / 1.47m
• Rig Type:  Masthead sloop
• Displacement:  6,970lb / 3,162kg
• Designer:  Doug Peterson
• Builder:  Jeremy Rogers
• Year First Built:  1977

The Dufour 29 is a fiberglass sailboat that was produced by the Dufour Yachts company in the 1970s. The Dufour 29 has a length of 29.4 feet (8.94 meters) and a beam (width) of 9.8 feet (2.95 meters). It is designed to be sailed by a small crew but can accommodate up to six people. The boat has a displacement of 7,250 pounds (3,289 kilograms) and is equipped with a fin keel.

• Length Overall:  29′ 4″ / 8.94m
• Waterline Length:  25′ 1″ / 7.64m
• Draft:  5′ 3″ / 1.60m
• Displacement:  7,250lb / 3,289kg
• Designer:  Michael Dufour
• Builder:   Dufour (France)
• Year First Built:  1975
• Year Last Built:  1984

Great Dane 28

The Great Dane 28 is a fiberglass sailboat that was produced by the Great Dane Yachts company in the 1970s. The Great Dane 28 has a length of 28 feet (8.5 meters) and a beam (width) of 10.4 feet (3.2 meters). It is designed to be sailed by a small crew, but can accommodate up to six people. The boat has a displacement of 8,500 pounds (3,856 kilograms) and is equipped with a fin keel.

• Hull Type:  Long keel with transom-hung rudder
• Length Overall:  28′ 0″ / 8.5m
• Waterline Length:  21′ 4″ / 6.5m
• Beam:  10′ 4″ / 3.2m
• Draft:  4′ 6″ / 1.4m
• Displacement:  8,500lb / 3,856kg
• Designer:  Aage Utzon in conjunction with Klaus Baess
• Builder:  Klauss Baess, Copenhagen (Denmark)
• Year Last Built:  1989
• Number Built:  300

The Sabre 27 is a fiberglass sailboat that was produced by the Sabre Yachts company in the 1970s. The Sabre 27 has a length of 27 feet (8.2 meters) and a beam (width) of 9 feet (2.6 meters). The boat has a displacement of 6,800 pounds (3,084 kilograms) and is equipped with a fin keel.

• Hull Type:  Fin and skeg-hung rudder
• Hull Material:  GRP (fibreglass)
• Length Overall:  27′ 0″ / 8.2m
• Waterline Length:  22′ 2″ / 6.8m
• Beam:  9′ 0″ / 2.7m
• Displacement:  6,800lb / 3,084kg
• Designer:  Alan Hill
• Builder:  Marine Construction Ltd (UK)
• Number Built:  400

• Hull Type:  Long keel with transom-hung rudder
• Length Overall:  28′ 3″ / 8.6m
• Waterline Length:  21′ 6″ / 6.6m
• Beam:  8′ 1″ / 2.5m
• Draft:  5′ 0″ / 1.5m
• Rig Type:  masthead sloop
• Displacement:  9,968lb / 4,521kg
• Designer:  Kim Holman
• Builder:  Uphams (UK) and Tyler (UK)
• Year First Built:  1964
• Year Last Built:  1983
• Number Built:  200

Westerly 22

The Westerly 22 is a fiberglass sailboat that was produced by the Westerly Yachts company in the 1970s. The Westerly 22 has a length of 22 feet (6.8 meters) and a beam (width) of 7.6 feet (2.3 meters).

• Hull Type:~  Bilge keel and skeg-hung rudder
• Hull Material:~  GRP (fibreglass)
• Length Overall:~  22′ 3″ / 6.8m
• Waterline Length:~  18′ 4″ / 5.6m
• Beam:~  7′ 6″ / 2.3m
• Draft:~  2′ 3″ / 0.7m
• Rig Type:~  Masthead Sloop
• Displacement:~  4,150lb / 1,429kg
• Sail Area/Displacement Ratio: ~ 16.95
• Displacement/Length Ratio: ~ 228
• Designer:~  Denis Rayner
• Builder:~  Westerly Marine Ltd (UK)
• Year First Built:~  1963
• Year Last Built:~  1967
• Number Built:~  332

Group Beneteau: Record full-year earnings in 2023

Five best places where to sail at least one time in your life, the countdown has begun for the new ice 66 rs, lagoon 60, freedom of space and panoramic views, live your passion, subscribe to our mailing list.

WTH?!? why there is no boat which started it all? Pearson Triton 1959 first GRP production boat? many circumnavigated I with mine singlehandedly crossed Atlantic few times.

And no Westsail 28? :O who made this list must do better homework! ! your list is garbage!

Northney Marina Hayling Island, PO11 0NH

Hunter horizon 30.

Description

Hunter Horizon 30 1992 David Thomas design bilge keel cruiser, one of the faster bilge keelers with loads of space that’s very easy to sail single handed, the current owners have owned this boat for around 2 years but reluctantly a new baby forces sale.

The owner has spent lots of time and money on it over the last few years which makes it a joy to use and easy to keep on cost effective mooring. It has competed in the round the island race and sailed every inch of the Solent.

Vendors comments: “This has been a great boat and I will be sad to see it go. It’s was launched mid-April and just before launch it had the hull scraped and new antifoul applied"

This boat is in the water on a swinging mooring on Hayling Island (South). The vendor is happy to do viewings using a small tender which can take two passengers.

Please don’t hesitate to call us or email us with your questions and to arrange your viewing.

Full Specification

Specifications include:

• Hull 29.11ft / 9.14m
• Draft 3.9ft / 1.1m
• Beam 9.25ft / 2.82m
• Displacement - 3295kg
• 45 L Fuel tank
• Inboard Yanmar 2GM20F serviced March 2022 + new injectors
• NEW interior upholstery 2022
• Saloon with seating for 6 people
• 2 single berths in main saloon
• Double berth in rear cabin
• Double berth in bow cabin
• Calorifier (hot water)
• Inside and outside shower
• Shore power and battery charger
• Gas oven/hob
• NEW Fresh water system; tank (120L), pump and stern shower
• NEW solar system 2021; 50-watt solar panel, MVPT charger, charge display
• NEW 12v-240 inverter
• NEW LED saloon lights 2021 & USB chargers

RIG AND SAILS:

• Fractional sloop - everything leads back to cockpit, very easy to sail
• NEW full battened main 2021
• NEW self-tacking Jib 2021
• 2x Self tailing winches
• Cruising shoot + pole
• NEW lazybag 2021
• NEW Spray hood 2021

Boats for sale

Jaykay Marine Sales Northney Marina Hayling Island, PO11 0NH

Email: [email protected] Tel: 02392 468 448

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Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

How keel type affects performance

• Chris Beeson
• December 2, 2016

James Jermain looks at the main keel types, their typical performance and the pros and cons of each

A fin keel and spade rudder configuration gives high pointing but can be sensitive on the helm Credit: Graham Snook/YM

James Jermain has tested hundreds of yachts in his 30 years as Yachting Monthly’s chief boat tester

The performance and handling of a yacht depends on many things, but perhaps the most important single feature is the shape of the hull and the profile of the keel. Over the years hulls have become shallower and keels narrower, but for many types of sailing this progression is not necessarily progress. Of the various shapes that have evolved, each has its own advantages in different circumstances. Here is a run-down of how they may fit your sort of sailing.

FIN KEEL WITH SPADE RUDDER

A low wetted surface area and aerofoil shape means speed and agility

The most common modern option, usually combined with light but beamy hulls with high freeboard.

GENERAL AND TO WINDWARD

• Low wetted surface and good aerofoil shape means good speed, high pointing and quick tacking
• Light steering
• Best designs can slice through heavy seas in reasonable comfort
• High volume, light-weight designs can be lively and tiring in heavy weather
• Flat sections can cause slamming
• Less steady on the helm, requiring more work and concentration
• Strong tendency to round-up when hard pressed
• Generally require earlier reefing
• Can be unstable when hove to
• Quick to surf and may even plane
• Can broach easily and suddenly
• Can be directionally unstable and hard to control in heavy conditions

UNDER POWER

• Handling is precise and turns tight and quick
• Some handle almost as well astern as ahead
• Limited lateral area so susceptible to beam winds at low speeds
• An unattended helm can slam over suddenly

FIN KEEL WITH SKEG RUDDER

The skeg running aft protects the rudder and improves tracking under sail and power

Similar to above but with some key differences.

• Skeg provides better support for the rudder
• Tracking under sail or power is improved
• There is less chance of damage
• More wetted surface so potentially slower
• Objects can get stuck between rudder and skeg
• Limited balancing can make helm heavier

The mass of a long keel is often more seakindly and will carry way well.

The traditional option, usually found on pre-1970s designs.

• Good tracking
• Slow, soft, comfortable motion
• Drive powerfully through short seas but can be wet
• Carry way through tacks
• Resist rounding-up
• Heave-to well
• High wetted surface area and a poor aerofoil shape, so speed reduced, tacking slow, leeway increased and pointing ability reduced
• Long ends can cause hobby-horsing
• An unbalanced hull or rig can cause heavy helm
• Track well and very resistant to broaching
• Very stable in heavy conditions
• Reluctant to surf (a mixed blessing)
• Carry way well
• Track straight
• Heavy construction can reduce vibration and noise
• Large turning circle ahead
• Unpredictable and hard to control astern

LIFTING OR SWING KEEL

A lifting keel enables beaching, but beware of stones jamming the plate

The ultimate shallow-draught option.

• A fully retracting keel offers shallowest draught
• A well-designed lifting keel can be very efficient and fast
• Grounding on anything other than soft mud or sand can damage an unprotected hull
• Stub keels offer better protection but are less efficient and prevent level drying out, except in soft mud
• Stones and dried mud can jam the lifting plate
• Internal keel boxes reduce accommodation space
• Directional stability is poor
• Early surfing and planing
• Control can easily be lost in strong winds
• Good performance and handling with keel down
• Directional control increasingly poor as the keel is raised

TWIN OR BILGE KEEL

A bilge-keeler will dry out upright on a flat bottom

A popular shoal-draught option in Britain, less so abroad.

• Shallower draught
• Dry out upright on a flat bottom
• Good protection when grounding
• Good designs are better to windward than long keels, almost as good as fins
• Pointing and speed to windward is reduced, considerably so in older designs
• When well heeled, waves can slap under the windward keel
• Can topple over if one keel finds a hole or soft ground

Modified water flow over the wing keel foot can give the motion of a longer, heavier boat

Once popular, now largely replaced with various types of bulb.

• Reduced draught
• Low CoG means good righting moment
• Modified water flow over keel foot means greater efficiency and gives the motion of a longer, heavier boat
• More likely to pick up lobster pots, etc
• Risky drying out
• Weed and barnacle growth under wings difficult to remove

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Sailboat Keel Types: Illustrated Guide (Bilge, Fin, Full)

The keel type is one of the most important features of your boat. But the different designs can be confusing, so I've set out to create a very clear guide that will help you understand sailboat keels once and for all.

What are the most common sailboat keel types? The most common sailboat keel types are full-length keels, fin keels, bulb keels, wing keels, bilge keels, and lifting keels. Full keels are popular among cruisers, while fin keels are generally used for racing. Bilge keels and lifting keels are typically used in tidal waters, on small fishing boats for example.

In this article, we'll explore the most common keel types together. I'll use diagrams to really hit home the differences of all these keel types, and we'll discuss what keel types are best for liveaboard, ocean cruising, and lake weekend trips. After reading this article, you'll know what to choose - and why.

Sailboat Keels Explained

On this page:, overview of sailboat keel types, keel types: fundamentals, modified full keel, centerboard.

If you just want a quick overview, here's a list with the most common keel types and a short description. More detail will follow below.

The most common keel types

• Full keels run from front to aft and are the most stable keel type, making them the most popular cruising keel.
• Fin keels offer the best performance but are less comfortable. This makes them popular for racing. Fin keels are bolted on to the hull and generally run deep and thin.
• Bulb and wing keels are both variants on the fin keel.
• Bulb keels carry additional ballast in the tip, making them more stable.
• Wing keels have two tips at the end of the keel, which reduces crossflow, improving directional stability.
• Bilge keels are double fin or double full kees, which allows the boat to be beached, making them the most popular keel for tidal waters.
• Lifting keels are moveable keels that can be lowered and raised, allowing the boat to enter shallow waters as well.
• Centerboard keels are a pivoting lifting keel, allowing to sail both coastal and inland waters.
• Leeboards are fins on the sides of flat-bottomed hulls boats, making a keel unnecessary.

Properties of each keel type

What does a keel do?

What does the keel do? A keel is a vertical blade running down from the hull. It is weighted and acts as a ballast, countering the boat's tendency to heel and preventing it from tipping over. The wetted surface under the waterline reduces slippage to leeward by creating a track, which counters the sideway force of the wind on the sails.

The reason sailboats don't tip over is that the weight of the keel counters the buoyancy of the hull, which means it will pull the boat downward. This downward force reduces heel and prevents the boat from rolling.

A canoe doesn't have a keel. Try stepping into that: it will want to roll.

It counters the horizontal force the wind puts on the sails. Whenever the force on the sails increases, the resistance of the water on the keel increases proportionally.

The heavier the keel, the less heel you'll get.

A keel reduces slippage to leeward. Slippage is simply the amount you fall off course because of the direction of the wind and current. Leeward is the side of the boat behind the wind.

So if you don't have a keel, you will fall off course quite a lot because the wind will push you over the water surface.

You will also heel quite a lot since there is nothing beneath the water surface to counter the force of the wind high up in your sails.

A keel fixes both of these issues and makes sailboats one of the most reliable boats in heavy winds and storms.

You can read on about how keels work here.

Keels can be classified by multiple dimensions. You can look at them from the side or the front. You can also classify them based on properties.

Before I dive into each keel type in-depth and show examples, let's make sure we have the same starting point.

There are essentially two sorts of keels:

Fixed keels

Movable keels.

Fixed keels are keels that are integrated into the hull or bolted on. They can't be moved or lifted.

When looking at fixed keels, you can divide them up further based on the side view. There are three main categories:

Bilge keels

Full keels are more comfortable, provide better stability and protection, but are also slower than fin keels.

Fin keels are less comfortable, provide less stability, are more vulnerable, but they're also a lot faster than full keels.

Bilge keels are double keels: one on each side of the hull. This allows them to be beached, which comes in handy in tidal waters. They are generally a lot slower and less maneuverable compared to fin keels.

Movable keels can be lifted from the water, creating a shoal (shallow) draft, allowing the boat to enter both shallow waters and coastal waters. This makes it a very versatile keel type. There are two main designs:

Lifting keels

Lifting keels can be lowered and raised through a slit in the hull. Examples of lifting keels are the daggerboard and centerboard.

Leeboards are wooden swords attached to the side of the hull and prevent slippage to leeward, but they don't stabilize the boat, nor counter heel by adding ballast.

With fin keels, there are different tip designs available. The most common two tip designs are:

These are both variants of the fin keel. Generally, these keel designs are mentioned in one breath with full keels and fin keels, creating confusion on what kind of keel they are. But it's important to understand that they are a sub-category of fin keels.

Rudder design

As with the tip of the fin, there are different rudder designs that may apply to both fin and full keels. The two most common rudder designs are:

Skeg rudder

Spade rudder.

A skeg is a structural part of the keel in front of the rudder that protects the rudder. The keel encompasses the rudder, preventing any rogue ropes, weeds, or rocks from damaging the rudder.

A spade rudder is an unprotected rudder: it doesn't have any structural protection from the keel design. It is simply attached to the hull. This design is very common.

Alright, we understand the big picture. Let's dive into more detail for each keel type and discuss the pros and cons.

Fixed keel Good for cruising and liveaboards Comfortable

What is a full keel? A full keel runs from front to aft for at least 50% of the hull and is fully integrated into the hull. It has the largest wetted surface of any keel type, and it is also the heaviest. This results in directional stability and reduced heeling, providing the most comfortable ride, but also the slowest.

The wetted surface simply means the amount of water contact area. With such a large wetted surface, it decreases slippage to leeward the most of all keel types, while it counters heeling the most as well.

The full keel is the most comfortable and stable keel type available. However, comfort comes at a price. It delivers the worst performance due to this large wetted area. It is the slowest of the keel types, and it has the worst windward performance.

This makes full keels particularly great for longtime cruisers or liveaboards who prefer comfort over speed, but less ideal for daysailers who need to navigate in and out of slips regularly.

Since it runs for at least 50% of the hull, it doesn't need to run as deep as a fin keel, resulting in a more shoal draft.

Heavier keels result in increased displacement, so a full keel boat will need a larger sail area to compensate for its weight.

For a more detailed discussion on full keel advantages, I recommend reading William's excellent article 5 Surprising Advantages of a Full Keel Sailboat here.

Example sailboats with a full keel:

• Nicholson 22
• Island Packet 380
• Beneteau Oceanis 411 Clipper
• Beneteau First 50
• Jeanneau Sun Shine 38
• Dufour 455 Grand Large

There are a lot of great cruising boats with full keel designs , some of them considered classics.

Full Keel with skeg rudder

Full keels with a skeg rudder design have a protected rudder, thanks to putting a structural part of the keel directly in front of the rudder. This helps with fending off any hazards to the rudder, like floating pieces of rope, rocks, or garbage, and protects it in case of running aground. The skeg design ensures the rudder is nearly impossible to break off.

Fixed keel Good for cruising and liveaboards Faster than a regular full keel

What is a modified full keel? A modified full keel is a full keel with a cutout at the front, reducing the wetted surface slightly, which increases performance without sacrificing too much comfort and stability. After the full keel, it has the best directional stability and the least amount of heel.

The modified full keel is popular among (bluewater) cruisers, thanks to its increased handling and performance. Most modified full keels have a skeg rudder, ensuring it is well-protected.

The slightly reduced weight and wetted surface improve windward performance quite a lot, but it is still one of the most stable keel designs out there.

Example sailboats with a modified full keel:

• Hallberg-Rassy HR 40
• Dufour Arpege 30
• Beneteau Oceanis Clipper 281
• Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37.2

Fixed keel Good for racing Fast

What is a fin keel? A fin keel is a long, weighted blade attached to the bottom of the hull. It is lighter, faster, and more maneuverable than a full keel, but also more vulnerable. The increased distance between ballast and sails provides a lever, reducing the need for a large wetted surface or additional ballast.

Fin keels are generally bolted onto the hull and run deeper and thinner than a full keel. They are also lighter. This helps increasing performance (a lot), making fin keels a lot faster in all situations.

There are some major disadvantages to fin keels, however. Fin keels are a lot less comfortable than full keels and allow for more heel and a less solid track, so less directional stability. Fin keels are also a lot more vulnerable than full keels. They can break off when running aground, or get damaged.

They are very popular among racers and perform better when maneuvering in tight spots, like getting in and out of slips.

Example sailboats with a fin keel:

• Catalina 30
• Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 36.2

Fin keel with skeg rudder

Fin keels with a skeg rudder use a small structural part in front of the rudder to protect it. This design is mostly integrated into the hull, making it less vulnerable, and a great compromise between speed and safety.

Fin keel with spade rudder

Fin keels with a spade rudder have a completely exposed rudder, and typically a fin that is simply bolted on. The keel isn't integrated into the hull, making it more vulnerable and less comfortable.

Fin keel variant Good for cruising Less crossflow

What is a wing keel? A wing keel is a fin keel with a horizontal foil at the tip, which is wing-shaped and generally weighted. Its shape reduces crossflow, improving directional stability, and its ballast decreases heel, resulting in a more comfortable ride. The addition of a wingtip allows for a shorter fin, reducing draft.

Wing keels are good for cruising since this design improves directional stability compared to a regular fin keel or a bulb keel.

We'll discuss the wing keel's advantages and disadvantages in more detail in this article.

Fin keel variant Good for cruising Stability

What is a bulb keel? A bulb keel is a high-aspect-ratio fin keel with additional ballast at the end, which generally has a bulb or teardrop shape. This ballast improves stability and utilizes the distance between force and counterforce as a lever. This design reduces the need for a deep fin, resulting in a shoal draft.

By placing the weight at the largest possible distance from the force on the sails, you need relatively little extra weight for the same reduction in heel, making bulb keels very effective for cruising.

This design reduces the wetted area while increasing the weight of the keel just slightly, which increases sailing comfort big time.

Example sailboats with a bulb keel:

• Bavaria B/One
• Beneteau First 24

Fixed keel Good for racing Can be beached

What is a bilge keel? A bilge keel is a twin keel which uses double fins, allowing the boat to be beached and rest on its keel upright. Bilge keels have double the wetted surface, which increases comfort and directional stability while decreasing heel. Modern bilge keels often provide decent windward performance, thanks to better design.

The bilge keel does sacrifice speed compared to the fin keel but doesn't necessarily offer worse performance overall. Older designs performed considerably worse than other keels and were especially slow.

Bilge keels have some major advantages over full keels and fin keels. The most important is that the boat can be beached, making it a popular design in tidal waters. Bilge keels are especially common along the British coastline, where fishermen keep their boats in tidal harbors.

Another major advantage is that the boat can be stored resting on its keels, making dry storage and maintenance a lot easier.

Of course, there are many more pros and cons to the bilge keel , which we go into here.

Example sailboats with a bilge keel:

• Dufour Dynamique 62
• Hunter Duette
• Patagonia Patago 39
• Macwester 27

Lifting keel Good for daysailers Versatile

What is a centerboard? A centerboard is a type of retractable keel that rests on a hinge and can be lowered through a slot in the hull. It folds out like a pocket knife and allows you to increase or reduce the draft of the boat. Centerboards are mostly used on small fishing boats.

The centerboard is a very versatile keel type, allowing you to have both a very shoal draft for inland waters, as well as steadying the boat and reducing heel for larger bodies of water, or even oceans.

I've sailed a Cornish Crabber with a centerboard for a week, and while we stayed inland, having the option to increase the keel depth really came in handy when crossing the IJsselmeer (a former sea in The Netherlands).

There's more to the center

Olaf Roethele

https://www.theyachtmarket.com/en/new-boats/cornish-crabbers/adventure-17/218/

My name is Olaf and I am the owner of a Cornish Crabber 17 Adventure boat.

I would like to ask you if you can imagine to install on this boat a Torqeedo 2.0 Pod motor? Therefore i guess a modification of the keel/skeg is necessary ?!

Best regards from Uruguay,

You completely missed the hybrid planing/water-ballast keel of the Macgregor range

Thanks a lot for this explanation

Roger Bannon

Very well written article which provides an excellent guide for us small wooden boat builders. Thanks.

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• Yachting Monthly's Scuttlebutt

what is the best sailing bilge keeler

• Thread starter Madhatter
• Start date 24 Jun 2011
• 24 Jun 2011

this is a serious question ? I have read all sorts of comments about them and their qualities ( or lack of ), also that there seems to be two main types : bilge plates and encapsulated . Opinions seem to be a loss of speed between fin/drop keel and BKs What do the panel think ?  

Well-known member

Impossible to say as you do not have a reference point nor a defintion of "best" In general terms later designs that incorporate aerofoil keel shapes, some toe in and usually a fair amount of draft are better than earlier designs with shallow draft and vertical keels. David Thomas designs such as the Hunters have particularly good reputations. David Feltham (of Cobra fame) also did a lot of work on improving the efficiency of twin keeled boats. Bilge keel Sadlers and Westerly Fulmars similarly perform well - see the PY ratings for the differences with fin keels. This subject has been done to death over the years in both forum discussions and comparative tests (although a long time ago as virtually no bilge or twin keel boats are made these days). However, for ultimate twin keel performance you could look at the French RM yachts - however, they are nothing like the typical British twin keel boats.  

• 25 Jun 2011

armchairsailor

Active member.

RMs, Sadler 290s. Both like rocking horse poo. Dunno about the Copland 28(?) - interesting winged BK. Certainly not our old Four-21 (bless...)  

As Tranona says, the topic has been done to death here and hereabouts, and it is a subject which tends to generate much more heat than light. If by "best sailing" you mean fastest, you might find it illuminating to look at the Portsmouth Yardstick numbers of vessels you are interested in.  

Westerly Fulmar.  

I think the golden phrase missing here is 'wetted area drag' ( nothing to do with being a boat ! ). Twin keelers - NB 'bilge keelers' technically means boats with a central ballast keel and drying out plates on the bilge sides - have the snag that if going aground they usually stay parked there for the tide, as there's no quick way to reduce draught, heeling only serves to increase it. Shallow draught is not such a blessing; if sailing coastal or offshore, remember surface drift; after a strong wind has been blowing for a day or two, the whole upper surface layer of the sea, down to about 1 metre, is set flowing in that direction; this is one reason why deep fin keel boats consistently out-perform shallow fins, let alone twin keelers. Twin keelers going to windward in a sea often suffer heavy 'thumping' on the windward keel as it is lifted near surface level, this can be more than annoying, preventing off-watch crew from sleeping. The idea of 'ditch crawling' using shallow draught is a bit of a myth, there's not much difference between 3 or 4,5 feet depth when risking going aground, especially if there are even slight waves. Twin keelers also suffer huge splaying loads when left drying out then refloating on mud, use your imagination as to the awful forces at work ! I've known twin keeler owners sharing a box spanner with a 6' lever for keel bolt tightening, along with plentiful grp reinforcing, and still find a small gap appear above the keels when the boat is craned... Nothing in this life comes free, and the gods of sailing are keen on the salt of human endeavour; twin keelers demand a lot for the sake of being able to be plonked on shore for the winter, though of course there are plenty of owners who simply don't catch on to this, leaving the snags to bite the next poor sap who buys the boat !  

Seajet said: I think the golden phrase missing here is 'wetted area drag' ( nothing to do with being a boat ! ). Twin keelers - NB 'bilge keelers' technically means boats with a central ballast keel and drying out plates on the bilge sides - have the snag that if going aground they usually stay parked there for the tide, as there's no quick way to reduce draught, heeling only serves to increase it. Shallow draught is not such a blessing; if sailing coastal or offshore, remember surface drift; after a strong wind has been blowing for a day or two, the whole upper surface layer of the sea, down to about 1 metre, is set flowing in that direction; this is one reason why deep fin keel boats consistently out-perform shallow fins, let alone twin keelers. Twin keelers going to windward in a sea often suffer heavy 'thumping' on the windward keel as it is lifted near surface level, this can be more than annoying, preventing off-watch crew from sleeping. The idea of 'ditch crawling' using shallow draught is a bit of a myth, there's not much difference between 3 or 4,5 feet depth when risking going aground, especially if there are even slight waves. Twin keelers also suffer huge splaying loads when left drying out then refloating on mud, use your imagination as to the awful forces at work ! I've known twin keeler owners sharing a box spanner with a 6' lever for keel bolt tightening, along with plentiful grp reinforcing, and still find a small gap appear above the keels when the boat is craned... Nothing in this life comes free, and the gods of sailing are keen on the salt of human endeavour; twin keelers demand a lot for the sake of being able to be plonked on shore for the winter, though of course there are plenty of owners who simply don't catch on to this, leaving the snags to bite the next poor sap who buys the boat ! Click to expand...

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC

They don't sail as good, more leeway, slower, etc, but hey, who cares; They sail almost as fast as fin keelers, they make almost as much leeway, and they are almost as fast. The fact that bilge keelers can dry out almost anywhere, hence more freedom to visit places, and cost much less for mooring, outweighs disadvantages; it is matter of opinion and preference to suite situations. Its hard to find bilge keel yachts now-days, this is why they keep their value.  

Bosun Higgs

Madhatter said: this is a serious question ? I have read all sorts of comments about them and their qualities ( or lack of ), also that there seems to be two main types : bilge plates and encapsulated . Opinions seem to be a loss of speed between fin/drop keel and BKs What do the panel think ? Click to expand...

You mention they are less vulnerable to grounding - yes they may have a shallower draft than a fin but if you do hit the "putty" they can dig both keels in and are more difficult to "get off" again as the comparible fin or lifting keels  

E39mad said: You mention they are less vulnerable to grounding - yes they may have a shallower draft than a fin but if you do hit the "putty" they can dig both keels in and are more difficult to "get off" again as the comparible fin or lifting keels Click to expand...

Madhatter said: Thank you all for your contributions to this thread and apologies for bringing it up again. It just seems to me to be the logical keel configuration for cruising boats :- Dries out upright. Shallow draught. No cradle needed. No intrusion into cabin. Less vulnerable to grounding. Etc. And yet not the most popular set up (these days ) ,mind you I may be wrong there Click to expand...

I used to have a twin keel, I now have a fin. I agree totally with the comments that while you can generally get away if you touch by heeling the boat of spinning away, you can't with a twin. You are much more likely to get stuck. As to drying out, that depends where you sail. I ran my twin aground once and one keel sank into the east coast mud while the other, for no obvious reason, did not, so we still ended up at an angle, and the strain it caused to the keel lead to a leak and an expensive repair bill. The advantage of a twin is they need, generally, less water, and you do not need a cradle  

A lot depends on where you sail. I'm based in Lancashire so my normal cruising ground encompasses Morecambe Bay, the Irish Sea, Solway Firth & North channel. Tidal range is over 10 metres on Springs and the vast majority of harbours and anchorages dry out. In this environment a boat that cannot take the ground limits one's cruising options so severely as to become almost a liability. In the Solent it may be different but, in defence of twin-keelers, I would just mention that the Round the Island Race has seen some notable successes by British Hunters, a Horizon 21 and 32 having been class winners in the past - both twin-keelers designed by David Thomas. That other Round The Island Race, the one round the Isle of Man, frequently features twin-keelers among the winners.  

Tranona said: Exactly the selling points when they were popular - before the days of marinas when shallow and drying moorings were the norm. However, the world moves on and the centre of boatbuilding and using acitivity has moved elsewhere to places where these conditions are not the norm - therefore little demand for these qualities. Even in UK marinas dominate for all but the smallest cruisers so fin keels can be enjoyed without the drawbacks of previous times. . Click to expand...

The best sailing/fastest twin keelers for their hull length would be either an RM or a Heol 7.4 not that I've sailed the latter, but it looked quick, quick, quick! There's a 360 of the interior here  

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LM 30 - Twin Keel for sale in Plymouth United Kingdom

Plymouth United Kingdom

Make & Model

LM 30 - Twin Keel

MEASUREMENTS

Description.

LM£32,950 *Draft Details*

The LM 30 is a typically well-built Scandinavian motor sailer with surprisingly good sailing characteristics thanks to a sailing focused hull design, often compared favorably to the Moody Eclipse. Offering the practicality of a wheelhouse combined with a spacious cockpit, dual steering positions and versatile interior space they really are an excellent choice and were highly praised by the yachting press Lone Star is a well equipped example with a lot to offer including Twin Keels, In mast reefing, a Bow thruster and electric anchor windlass. Just back in the water after being professionally polished, antifouled and serviced ready for the season ahead!

Early viewing is highly recommended as she is likely to be the best LM30 currently available!

Accommodation

The accommodation offers up to five berths in two separate cabins with good headroom throughout. Low maintenance Molded GRP headliner. Forecabin: with V berth, infill to create double berth, overhead opening deck hatch, open cave lockers along each side of the berth. Heads: Door to Heads compartment on starboard side equipped with a Jabsco marine toilet, sliding washbasin with shower attachment. Large hanging & shelved locker opposite to port. Concertina vinyl door to/from saloon Saloon: with an "L" shaped settee to starboard, this can convert to form a good sized double berth, a central table with folding leaves and internal bottle storage. Settee berth opposite to port. Storage lockers and an open shelf on each side. Sliding door and single step up to wheelhouse area. Wheelhouse: Helm position to starboard and galley area opposite to port. Helm position with excellent all-round visibility. Wooden wheel and single lever engine control. Novel single seat or pull-out twin helm seat. Overhead sliding hatch useful for docking maneuvers. Sloping chart area in front of helm with internal chart storage, all navigational instruments are arrayed across base of forward windows. Galley area to port equipped with a 2-burner gas cooker with oven and grill, front opening 12v Waeco fridge unit under helm seat, stainless steel sink unit with hot & cold water supply and storage spaces. Cockpit: Large aft cockpit with two bench seats either side of a three position folding table allowing the cockpit to be adapted for many uses such as dining alfresco, fishing or even sleeping on warm summer nights. Exterior helm position with removable tiller.

Eberspacher Diesel fired warm air heating. Pressurised hot & cold water supply throughout via a calorifier with immersion coil Clock and barometer Radio/CD player mounted in saloon with saloon & cockpit speakers

Sails And Spars

Masthead sloop rig Easy-Reef furling system Rod Kicker Whisker/spinnaker pole All Lines led aft to cockpit with rope jammers Winches: 2X Andersen ST46 Self-Tailing Two Speed Genoa Sheet Winches 2 X Andersen 16 Self-Tailing Two Speed Halyard Winches 

Sails: Roller furling Genoa Maxi-Roach Roller Furling mainsail with vertical battens Cruising Chute

Mechanical And Electrical Systems

Bukh DV24 Two Cylinder 24hp diesel engine New Exhaust Injection elbow fitted 06.05.2021 Bukh Saildrive unit Brunton Autoprop 3 blade feathering propeller Ambassador Marine Rope cutter 4 X 105ah 12volt Batteries for domestic and engine start (New in 2019) Stirling Marine Alternator Regulator Nasa BM1 Battery Condition Meter Small solar panel on wheelhouse roof to trickle charge batteries 240v Shorepower system with battery charger

Tankage Fuel - 200 ltr (Approx) Water - 200 ltr

Navigation Equipment

Standard Horizon 300i Colour chart plotter with AIS target overlay Raymarine ST6002 Autopilot control and S100 remote control. SPx5 Wheel Pilot motor Garmin 120XL Stand alone GPS Raymarine SL72 Radar Raymarine ST40 Bidata Speed & Depth Raymarine ST40 Wind speed & Direction Raymarine ST40 Compass Icom IC-M505 VHF/DSC Radio

Safety Equipment

Zodiac 6 Person Valise Liferaft (Service Due) Visiball Masthead Radar reflector Manual and auto/electric bilge pumps Fire blanket Fire extinguishers Fog horn

General note on safety equipment: Any safety equipment such as life rafts, EPIRBs, fire extinguishers and flares etc. are usually personal to the current owner(s) and if being left on-board as part of the sale of a used vessel may require routine servicing, replacement, or changing to meet a new owners specific needs.

Deck Equipment

CQY Type anchor with chain rode Lewmar Electric Anchor windlass with toggle control at wheelhouse helm Large blue canvas framed cockpit cover 3 X Screen wipers Fenders & Warps Outboard Storage rail mount Stern Platform with Weaver type snap davits for dinghy Stern Boarding & Swim ladder Inflatable Dinghy Honda BF2.5Hp Four Stroke Outboard with cover

History & Construction

GRP hull deck and superstructure Twin keel Saildrive with protection fin Skeg Hung Rudder Professionally maintained in current ownership including regular hull polishing, antifouling and engine service. The LM30 model was designed by Bent Juuls Andersen who designed all LM models and was built in Denmark by LM Glasfiber A/S from 1980 until around 1990.

In 1990, LM ceased production of boats to concentrate on making GRP blades for large wind turbines, in which field they are now the largest company worldwide. The LM30 moulds were moved to England in the early 1990's where production continued as the Scanyachts LM30 and later LM32 (this being based on the same hull mould, and is virtually identical).

LM Glasfiber were always capable of producing excellent mouldings and this has proved the test of time when one looks at 'Lone Star'.

• Hull colour is white with blue striping.
• Deck off white.
• Superstructure, Off white Grey.
• Twin keels with a skeg hung rudder.
• Wheel house and aft cockpit

Engine Count

Engine Horse Power

Propeller Type

3 Blade, Feathering

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Hull Material

Displacement(kgs)

4998.59 kilograms

Drive Transmission Description

Engine Type

Fuel Tanks Capacity

No of Heads

Water Tanks Capacity

ABOUT LM 30 - TWIN KEEL

The LM 30 - Twin Keel is a 31 feet long that boasts a 10 feet beam. and a draft of 1.3 meters.This 1986 diesel LM 30 - Twin Keel is powered by a Bukh DV24, with 24.0 horsepower. The LM 30 - Twin Keel is made of fiberglass.

SIMILAR LOCATIONS

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