twin keel yachts

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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Sprawled, glass in hand, in the cockpit of my friend James Stock’s beautiful Stephen Jones-designed Mystery 35, I pondered on…

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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Sirius 40 DS

5 years after the first construction of the Sirius 35 DS, we would like to proudly present our new flagship – the Sirius 40 DS

Never before have we been able to offer you as much as we can on our 40DS. The 40DS is for those who don’t want to compromise; until now on a Sirius, you could have either a large workshop or a large central cabin, with our 40DS you can have both!

The large saloon will comfortably seat six adults around the extending dining table, everyone can admire the surroundings thanks to the large windows that provide 360-degree views. She can offer three double cabins or the onboard space can be honed and crafted to the needs of you and your crew.

Like all of our yachts, the 40DS gives you the interior space you’d expect on a larger yacht, in the 40 that’s an extra 7ft/2.1m more floor space.

She is designed for long-distance, extended cruising in mind and to make sure she’s the best liveaboard cruiser we could make Torsten Schmidt, owner of Sirius, spent seven weeks living onboard, non-stop. In both onboard and deck stowage, she offers more than you’d expect, and all of it can be personalised to you.

Sirius 40 DS – Full tour

Sirius 40DS – Manoeuvrability

Sirius 40DS – Cockpit

Sirius 40DS – On deck

Sirius 40DS – Technical area

Sirius 40DS – Navigation station

Sirius 40 DS – Saloon

Sirius 40 DS – Galley

Sirius 40 DS – Accommodation

Layout options

Click the buttons below to see the layouts that are currently available. Every Sirius yacht is custom built to the specific requirements of the owner, so that your ideas about the design and equipment can be fully incorporated. How would you design yours?

Quality of life on board a sailing yacht today demands next to a high standard of safety and comfort, a spacious and airy feel with plenty of light and visibility. A clean and fresh design, clever use of storage, headroom of 1.95m or more and other useful details are balancing life style and functionality.

In terms of use of space and feeling of luxury the Sirius 40 DS has become a class of its own. Because of the double use of space with the saloon, galley and navigation area in the raised position and the mid-ship cabin, the workshop and the deep storage spaces in the galley below there is more room available than you would expect to find on any 47-foot yacht.

Individual design solutions

With our 31 foot model we already offer more than 14 different interior designs, so you can imagine how many possibilities we have with the 40 foot model.

It is a pure semi-custom boat, designed according to your individual wishes. So far, there have been requests for more than 8 different designs, from 2 + 2 to 6 + 2 berths as well as a version with a separate additional lounge in the lower level or an extra office room. The saloon can be converted into an additional double berth by the optional lowering saloon table.

The drawings shown here can be rearranged with their bed shapes and floor plans, almost at will. But also completely different designs are conceivable. Feel free to contact us! Our boatyard internal design team is looking forward to bring your ideas to life.

In terms of use of space and feeling of luxury the Sirius 40 DS has become a class of its own

During the development of the boat, in order to offer more design flexibility, we created the seating area in the saloon with a large shelf to the front saloon windows in order to be able to move the settee forward for different layouts. In the first 3 layouts this space caters for the headroom of the underlying mid ship cabin and leads to the luxurious space and headroom.

In the two versions shown here at the far right is a slightly shortened sitting area installed further forward in the boat. This produces space for a comfortable entrance on port between the companionway and the settee, via a door and a sliding hatch, to an aft cabin. The workshop is then accessed through a door directly from this cabin.

If you prefer a swing keel version, the last two versions are perfect. In the area of the saloon, navigation and galley you don’t lose any space with the swing keel version. Just in the mid ships area below the mast it is necessary to make room for the swing keel box which is an integral laminated part of the hull. By comparison with nearly all other designs on the market, this is a “real” swing keel, moving all of the ballast up and down in the centreboard. This is a very reliable and safe, yet complex technology.

Look inside

Click the picture below to take a ‘virtual tour’ of the Sirius 40 DS. By clicking on the flashing circles you step into a different level allowing you to look around the whole yacht. Click on the camera icons to see more pictures.

Sirius 40 DS Brochure

We can send you our extensive brochure by post or you can download a pdf version which you can view on screen or print out yourself.

Technical data

• LOA: up to 12.90 m
• L Hull: 11.99 m
• LWL: 11.17 m
• Beam: 4.08 m
• Beam Hull: 4.00 m
• Ballast approx: 3.45 t
• Displacement: 11 t
• Single fin: 2.30 m (Standard) 2.00 m (Optional) / 1.75 (Optional)
• Twin keel (optional): 1.45 m
• Swing keel (optional): 0.95-2.50 m

RIG AND SAILS

• Mainsail (standard): 49.0 m 2
• Self-tacking jib : 32.3 m 2 (standard)
• Genoa I: 63.6 m 2
• Genoa II: 55 m 2
• Spinnaker: 160.0 m 2
• Furling Gennaker: 136.4 m 2
• Furling Drifter: 92.7 m 2
• Sail area/displacement ratio: with selftacking jib 4.0, with Genoa 4.8
• Mastheight above water: 19.80 m
• Carbon-performance-rig possible

Standard equipment

Hull and deck: Made in hand-laid GRP. The hull is built exceptionally strongly, above the waterline with vacuum-adhered Corecell M-foam sandwich, in a one-piece mould with vinylester-gelcoat and resin, fibreglass mats and rovings, which are specially developed for high-quality boat building. Parts of the deck are also built-in foam-sandwich-construction. Hull-deck connection and bulkheads are laminated from all sides. Underwater finish: 1 layer epoxy primer and hard antifouling, 2 waterline stripes in the colour of your choice. Keel: approx. 3.45 t cast iron (optional: hardened lead bulb), glued and screwed to the hull with fourteen 20 mm stainless steel bolts through steel reinforcement. The forces are redistributed by massively laminated bottom floor sections. Rudder: pre-balanced rudder blade with half-skeg; wheel steering. Deck coating: Solid teak deck for side decks, upper deck and in the cockpit, on the coamings and bathing platform, screwless, fully vacuum bonded into a bed of Polyurethane (GRP-deck with antiskid and alternative materials for example “flexi-teak” possible). Deck fittings: Bow pulpit, stern pushpit, guard rail with 10 stanchions in stainless steel and 4 life lines, strong solid wooden rubbing streaks, bow fitting with anchor roller and electric anchor windlass in the anchor locker, 25 kg galvanized Rocna-anchor with 50 m of 10 mm calibrated chain; self-tacking-jib system; halyards and trim lines are led back to the cockpit through halyard stoppers into a halyard box, 1 self-tailing 40 winch; closable permanent ventilator in the anchor locker, 2 stainless steel bathing ladders (1 telescopic in a drawer), 6 cleats, 6 skylights which are recessed-mounted into the deck; plexiglass sliding-hatch in the saloon; all Deck-saloon windows are made of safety-glass recessed, glued-in and screwed through a solid aluminium frame structure (option: double glazing). Optional windows in the hull are made from bullet-proof polycarbonate, frameless glued. There is an opening window above the galley and optionally also for the seating area. Gas box inside the big deck storage behind the anchor locker. Cockpit: Teak laid benches, coaming and cockpit floor; 2 cubby holes in the cockpit, 2 big locker seats with up to 4500 litres of storage volume. Door in fold-down transom. Big cockpit table with fold-down wings and box.

Want to know more? We will gladly answer any questions you might have about our yachts

Galley: Two-burner half-gimbaled gas stove with oven, 130-litre refrigerator with icebox (optional without and 41l icebox extra), stainless steel double sink unit, pressurized water system, 14 drawers, 1 upper shelf with LED-lights, 2 huge waste boxes, deep bottom shelves with approximately 1600 litres of storage. Heads: two heads, one with shower (option both); manual sea toilets, large wash basins, mirrors and large cupboards on top and bottom. Waste water tanks (from 60 + 100 litres upwards), with overboard-discharge and outlet for dockside emptying. Water system: water pressure system, 45-litre immersion heater via engine and 240 V, water tank from 400 litres upwards with tank display. Engine: Volvo-Diesel D2-55, four cylinders, 40.43 kW (55 HP), double cooling system, seawater filter, saildrive with folding propeller, generator 14V – 115 A, tacho, single lever engine throttle; diesel tank, from 200 litres upwards with tank display and pre-filter. Electric device: Control-centre in the navigation corner with main switches and fuse boxes, compass, wind, log and lot; complete navigation lights with deck light, two ceiling lamps each in heads and corridor, 3 lamps in the saloon, 3 lamps in the galley, 2 reading lamps and 2 ceiling lamps in both cabins, 2 workshop lights; 1 starting battery (70 Ah) and 3 consumption batteries (total of 300 Ah) with separate electric circuit. Shore connection with 50 A charger. Cushions: 10 cm foam material with high-quality fabric covers, ergonomically shaped. Rig: 2-spreader Selden rig with furling forestay, self-tacking jib system, adjustable backstay with winch handle tensioner, 2 upper shrouds, 2 middle shrouds, 2 lower shrouds; 1 main halyard, 1 jib halyard, 1 reserve halyard on the mast; main boom with 2 single line reefing-systems, kicking strap; all active halyards and trim lines are led back to the cockpit. Mast and boom are made out of aluminium. 1 set of sails: including 32.3 m² self-tacking jib, main sail 49.0 m² with 2 reefing lines as well as jib and main sheets. We reserve the right to change the construction and the standard equipment. The drawings, pictures and text also show special designs and options. Typing errors reserved.

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64′ Expedition Sailing Yacht

Heyman Yachts

Nothing ordinary

Beyond the Horizon

This is one of the most interesting yachts I know: She is unusually comfortable at sea, in any climate. She is one of the safest pleasure yachts of her size, designed to be as simple and reliable as possible. And she sails just fine, despite not having a ‘proper’ deep keel.

64′ Expedition yacht, waiting at the dock

An unusually well-protected cockpit

Access to deck via a door

An unusual set of properties like these obviously do not happen by themselves. In the case of the ATOA, they are in part the result of some extremely careful planning and engineering. But, to some extent they are also the result of coincidence. How did this happen?

The Atoa 64 was conceived as a competent expedition yacht – ATOA refers to Arctic to Antarctic. With a visit to the Amazon river on the way so we could perhaps have called her Atoama . The requirements were very specific:

Design Parameters

• A fast passagemaker, at least 8 knots average offshore under engine or sail – off the wind or to windward!
• Draft limited to 1,60 m and able to dry out, self-supported, in tidal waters.
• Protected propeller, good for all sorts of conditions
• Completely self-reliant.
• Foolproof keel , rudder and rig . As long as the keel, rudder and rig stays on a boat, the boat will usually be fine
• Immensely strong construction, capable of handling any weather without damage and able to go through thin ice.
• A double-ended stern was desirable, if it did not detract from the basic qualities
• A walk-in engine room, possible to do maintenance and repairs on site
• A completely enclosed pilot house from which the yacht could be handled for long periods in adverse weather.
• Cockpit as sheltered as ever possible.
• Easily handled by one or two persons
• Three cabins, one of which could be used as a crew cabin, with en-suite layout

During the project phase, all sorts of different concepts were evaluated. Our client suggested twin keels – these were ruled out for their inherently lacklustre performance. A ballasted swing keel was deemed too vulnerable, and handling it was thought too sensitive. A lifting keel was regarded not fit for the south Atlantic. Even an ordinary fixed fin keel was ruled out as being, on one hand, too deep for inland waters, and on the other hand too vulnerable for ice or grounding.

Same with a spade rudder; for an expedition yacht such a rudder would be too sensitive and would not offer any realistic back-up solution in the event of a failure.

Please note that all these concepts are fine for almost any boat and we use most of them all the time. Only, this particular yacht was supposed to be able to be fine and safe in the most remote parts of the world, on her own, and under any conditions. 

Efficiency to windward

Shoal draft keel, protected balanded rudder, daggerboards

Finally, a somewhat unique concept grew on the drawing board:  The boat would be built with a long, very shallow keel, extending all the way aft to protect the propeller and support the rudder. This would be the backbone of the yacht and allow a reasonable position for approx. 12 tons of lead ballast. 

The rudder would of course be balanced in order not to strain the helm or autopilot too much. It would be at the same time be fully supported by the keel with a lower bearing, and fully protected by the same keel. This also meant that the controllable pitch propeller would be fully protected, and the propeller would be very close to the rudder for superior handling in port.

On the outside of the engine room each side, through the side decks, there would be asymmetric daggerboards. These would provide a lift to windward equivalent to a modern fin-keel yacht with 2,8 m draft. If one of the daggerboards got damaged in the Antarctic, the yacht would still be able to keep sailing. She would lose that last edge to windward, but that would be all.

Add stability

Bunker diesel to windward, daggeboard down to leeward

Outside of the dagger boards, towards the hull sides and under the side decks, this would leave an empty space each side. Unless we put ballast tanks there. But the boat wouldn’t be happy in freezing conditions with freezing water ballast, no matter if it was fresh or salt, so we decided to use this space for spare diesel bunker tanks. 2000 litres, to be half in each tank, or all on the windward side during a passage.

Again, with the combined stability gained by the filled windward tank together with the lead keel, this would provide the equivalent kind of righting moment that one would expect from a modern fin-keel yacht with 2,8 m draft. Voilà!

If the spare diesel had to be used she would lose some 10% of her sail-carrying ability but apart from this slight loss of performance, her safety or comfort would not be compromised.  So, essentially, we were creating a totally safe yacht with 1,6 m draft that would behave like it had a modern cruiser-racer fin keel 2,8 m deep. 

As dry as possible 

Maybe the real beauty of this concept is the ability to dry out. The dagger boards serve as perfect legs. And the yacht would in such case rest on its keel bottom, not on the hull itself. In  contrast, drying out with a lifting-keel boat could be a nightmare if you discover that the hull plating is sitting on a boulder. With the thick sole of this long ballast keel resting onto the sea bed, one will still be safe.  T aking all aspects in account, we knew this design was as safe and amphibious and fast and simple we could come up with for a 40-ton, world cruising 64-foot sailing yacht. 

It never turns out the way you expect 

The ATOA was built beautifully in Enkhuizen, Holland. During the build, however, a decision was made not to build the daggerboards. We were very concerned, fearing that she would become a mediocre ‘motorsailer’ kind of yacht.

The 64′ as she turned out, with bunker ballast tanks

As it happened, the test sails with ATOA proved us all wrong.

In blustery, freezing conditions on the Ijselmeer she reached out of Enkhuizen at good speed, 9,4 knots, under reefed main and 106% jib. This was all expected, because even if she is on the medium to heavy displacement side of the scale, she is a slippery boat with a long waterline and a very fine entry.  She was easy on the helm and felt nimble to handle. Everybody perched in the forward sheltered part of the cockpit or inside the pilot house. 

As we headed up close-hauled, the speed dropped to 8,2 – 8,5 knots.The yacht made approx. 98 degrees between the tacks, counting leeway. Thus, she wasn’t very close winded, but she compensated more than well in speed. We didn’t even try to sheet harder and head up more – she had the potential, but speed seemed to be ATOA’s thing more than close-windedness.

Still, looking at the polar, with such speeds ATOA’s ability to windward would definitely take her anywhere, with panache.

64′ close-hauled at 8,3 knots

64′ Expedition Yacht, easily driven hull

The wind was a steady 24 knots, occasionally topping 28. Still with a reef in the main, we hoisted the mizzen. The speed  increased by perhaps two tenths, she needed a little more helm and if the mizzen was sheeted hard the pressure on the wheel increased but still not enough to make steering heavy. 

A little later, the diesel ballast was tested. It took around 4 minutes to pump the 2000 litres to windward, during which she righted herself from 18 to 14 degrees. She certainly felt powerful bearing away, again increasing to 10 knots, with little heel.

General Arrangement

The pilot house and the cockpit are closely connected, via a low staircase and big windows. The forward part of the cockpit is well protected under the overhanging roof and there is a huge dining space in the open or under the fixed bimini. Inside the pilot house are two sofas, with a coffee table and side tables. Visibility is excellent and under engine the yacht can be handled with ease from here.

Well protected cockpit for cold and wet conditions

64′ Pilot House with proper pilot chair

Down the staircase forward, the emphasis is very clearly on the generous living room with its four areas – kitchen, dining, a lounging area and navigation. Forward is the owner’s cabin and bathroom. Facing aft, under the pilot house and between two watertight bulkheads, is the engine room which houses all major installations. There is good floor space and access to all installations and 1,57 m standing headroom.

64′ Galley, aft to port side

64′ dining, forward to port

64′ office, starboard aft

64′ entrance to engine room from navigation / office

64′ full width engine room

Down a staircase aft from the pilot house are two smaller cabins, one en-suite guest double and a guest twin cabin. This makes use of the third bathroom which also serves as the yacht’s daytime w.c.

Forward and aft, accessible from deck, are two walk-in stow rooms.

Understanding a fast shoal-draft full keel yacht

The ATOA’s performance on the wind was unexpected and of course tickled our curiosity. Somewhat later we had the opportunity to discuss our experience with Professor Lars Larsson at Chalmers University of Technology, in Göteborg, Sweden, and later to start a study on shoal draft keel concepts. The study was conducted by Andre Sauer under Professor Larsson and Michal Orych, comparing a thoroughly modern cruiser / racer with a deep keel and the same boat with a very shallow keel. 

The two keel concepts were tested on two different hulls, one 20m long, one 10m. This time, the keel was given a slightly more sophisticated shape, with a bulb gradually turning into an beaver tail kind of end-plate back at the rudder.

The results, in short, are that the boat with the shallow keel still sails rather well. Even to windward.

Study of deep fin vs. shoal, full keel

As expected, the shoal-draft VMG (windward ability) is certainly inferior to the deep-draft boat.  Still, I am not convinced that such extremely shoal draft would work as well for any boat: Our hypothesis is that it only works well for relatively large and slippery yachts. That the efficiency of this inefficient keel is very speed-dependent. There is room for further research on this.

I am not advocating anything here. Personally, I have a very soft spot for fast and responsive boats. On the other hand, giving away half a knot may perhaps be acceptable if you are going at around 8 or 9 knots anyway – especially taking into account the way most boats are used, very shoal draft keels could perhaps be a serious option for some.  There are lovely cruising grounds with limited water… being able to enter more or less any harbour may be worth a lot more than losing that half knot.

It is interesting to contemplate this as you take a look at the market: More or less every boat has a kind of deep draft fin keel – be it fixed, lifting or swinging. If you set out to search the Internet for data on a thousand different sailing boats, chances are that you will not find a single one equipped with a fixed keel of such shoal draft that there is almost no keel there at all. Still, I think the ATOA shows that this may be a sensible option.

You can read more about the shoal-draft research here

• << Yacht design

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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RM Yachts: French plywood sailboat manufacturer

Over 30 years of plywood yacht building expertise.

Welcome to RM Yachts!

French sailboat manufacturer since 1989, our shipyard based in La Rochelle is specialised in the construction of fast cruising yachts of 30ft to 45ft in plywood and epoxy – approximately 9 to 14 meters.

Whether you are looking for a coastal cruising sailboat, or planning longer open sea trips, such as Atlantic, Pacific crossing, or round-the-world sailing, there will always be an RM yacht fitting your project.

We are actually the sole shipyard and manufacturer having built over 500 monohull sailboats using this material and this sailing yacht building technique. Needless to say, we know plywood-epoxy in-and-out.

This material’s benefits are numerous: lightness and stiffness, for increased performance under sail, and a dry and sane interior atmosphere, thanks to its thermal and phonic specifications.

Not to mention its reduced impact on the environment, compared to other materials usually found in naval construction (GRP, polyester, etc.).

Designed by award-winning architect Marc Lombard, RM yachts are 100% made in France, and then sail around the world. Our clients frequently share their anecdotes and logbooks from their solo or family adventures on our modern sailing boats.

Available in different appendage versions (single-keel, twin-keel, lifting-keel, single or twin rudder), RM Yachts are customisable, starting with their hull colour and interior design.

Advising you to choose the best cruising sailboat

Thanks to our many years of experience as a sailing yacht manufacturer, we have designed our website to provide you with all the information you need to select your next cruising yacht :

• What is important when choosing a cruising sailboat?
• What is the best size for a coastal or bluewater cruising yacht?
• How to choose the best sailboat to live on?
• What options are to be considered when preparing an ocean crossing or a circumnavigation?

Our F.A.Q. section is also a great source of information to help you find the ideal sailing boat according to your needs and sailing plans.

You are more than welcome to visit our premises, and we can also set up a sea trial! Our team will be more than happy to help you configure your brand-new sailing yacht

Alternatively, you can also have a look at our previous models and see how high our used monohull sailboats are on the market. Our expert brokers remain available for additional information.

Finally, acquiring an RM also means you have access to a panel of services, provided by Grand Large Yachting group’s dedicated subsidiary: Grand Large Services. Whether it’s about training lessons, spare parts, maintenance, or refit before slipping lines, our specialists are here to help!

Bring your own dreams, we’ll take care of everything else.

Looking forward to meeting you soon,

The RM Yachts team.

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Keel design – options to consider when choosing a yacht

by Simon Jollands | Boat Maintenance , Yacht ownership

Keel design is constantly evolving and nowhere is this more apparent than in modern racing yachts such as the Imoca Open 60 class. These fast offshore monohulls use highly sophisticated canting keels to help them stay upright when sailing upwind. The boats are designed to be as light as possible while at the same time being solid enough to cope with ocean racing.

While cruising yachts are not designed to win ocean races, there are several options of keel design available. Traditional yachts tend to have long deep keels which are an integral part of the hull, which make them heavier than modern designs, but stable and seaworthy.

Many modern yachts have fin shaped keel designs, which are bolted beneath the hull. This produces lighter, faster and and more manouevrable yachts than deep keel designs.

Below is a summary of all the common keel designs found on types of sailing yachts on the market today.

Long keel design

Long, deep keels are common on traditional yachts. They form part of the hull structure as opposed to being bolted on to the hull. They provide plenty of strength and stability but are less efficient than modern designs.

Fin keel design

A fin keel is bolted on to the underside of the hull. Fin keels vary from shallow fin to deep fin. Cruising yachts tend to have shallow, wide fin keels, sometimes with heavy bulbs at the foot to minimise the yacht’s draught. Racing yachts tend to have thin and deep keels with heavy bulbs to improve performance.

Bilge keel design

Twin, or bilge keels enable a yacht to remain upright when dried out at low tide. They have a shallower draught than fin keels, making them suited to cruising in shallow, coastal waters. They do not perform to windward as well as a fin keel and are used for cruising as opposed to racing yachts.

Lifting keel design

A lifting keel enables a yacht to stay afloat in very shallow water. Lifting keels work in a similar way to a sailing dinghy’s centreboard. They are an alternative solution to bilge keels, with the advantage that when lowered they perform as well as a fixed fin keel. Their design is ideal for trailer sailers.

Canting keel design

Canting keels are used on high performance racing yachts. They have a deep fin with a bulb. They can be tilted or “canted” out sideways to counter the heeling forces. These advanced designs are used with daggerboards and foils to further improve performance. Boats with canting keels are pricey.

When making a choice, consideration should be given to the shape of the hull as well as the keel design. The shape of the bow and stern are the most noticeable aspects of hull shape as they are above the waterline.

Modern designs favour vertical bows but in the past raked bows were more common.

On modern yachts, the scooped stern is popular as it allows for a swim platform and easy access on and off the boat from the water. In the past canoe shaped sterns and flat  transoms were popular and while pleasing to the eye, were not quite as practical as today’s designs.

When choosing a yacht, there are many design variations and shapes that will influence your choice. It is worth spending some time exploring the options and weighing up the pros and cons to ensure that the boat you buy will suit the type of sailing you have in mind.

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Cruising the Moskva River: A short guide to boat trips in Russia’s capital

There’s hardly a better way to absorb Moscow’s atmosphere than on a ship sailing up and down the Moskva River. While complicated ticketing, loud music and chilling winds might dampen the anticipated fun, this checklist will help you to enjoy the scenic views and not fall into common tourist traps.

How to find the right boat?

There are plenty of boats and selecting the right one might be challenging. The size of the boat should be your main criteria.

Plenty of small boats cruise the Moskva River, and the most vivid one is this yellow Lay’s-branded boat. Everyone who has ever visited Moscow probably has seen it.

This option might leave a passenger disembarking partially deaf as the merciless Russian pop music blasts onboard. A free spirit, however, will find partying on such a vessel to be an unforgettable and authentic experience that’s almost a metaphor for life in modern Russia: too loud, and sometimes too welcoming. Tickets start at $13 (800 rubles) per person.

Bigger boats offer smoother sailing and tend to attract foreign visitors because of their distinct Soviet aura. Indeed, many of the older vessels must have seen better days. They are still afloat, however, and getting aboard is a unique ‘cultural’ experience. Sometimes the crew might offer lunch or dinner to passengers, but this option must be purchased with the ticket. Here is one such  option  offering dinner for $24 (1,490 rubles).

If you want to travel in style, consider Flotilla Radisson. These large, modern vessels are quite posh, with a cozy restaurant and an attentive crew at your service. Even though the selection of wines and food is modest, these vessels are still much better than other boats.

Surprisingly, the luxurious boats are priced rather modestly, and a single ticket goes for $17-$32 (1,100-2,000 rubles); also expect a reasonable restaurant bill on top.

How to buy tickets?

Women holding photos of ships promise huge discounts to “the young and beautiful,” and give personal invitations for river tours. They sound and look nice, but there’s a small catch: their ticket prices are usually more than those purchased online.

“We bought tickets from street hawkers for 900 rubles each, only to later discover that the other passengers bought their tickets twice as cheap!”  wrote  (in Russian) a disappointed Rostislav on a travel company website.

Nevertheless, buying from street hawkers has one considerable advantage: they personally escort you to the vessel so that you don’t waste time looking for the boat on your own.

Prices start at $13 (800 rubles) for one ride, and for an additional $6.5 (400 rubles) you can purchase an unlimited number of tours on the same boat on any given day.

Flotilla Radisson has official ticket offices at Gorky Park and Hotel Ukraine, but they’re often sold out.

Buying online is an option that might save some cash. Websites such as  this   offer considerable discounts for tickets sold online. On a busy Friday night an online purchase might be the only chance to get a ticket on a Flotilla Radisson boat.

This  website  (in Russian) offers multiple options for short river cruises in and around the city center, including offbeat options such as ‘disco cruises’ and ‘children cruises.’ This other  website  sells tickets online, but doesn’t have an English version. The interface is intuitive, however.

Buying tickets online has its bad points, however. The most common is confusing which pier you should go to and missing your river tour.

“I once bought tickets online to save with the discount that the website offered,” said Igor Shvarkin from Moscow. “The pier was initially marked as ‘Park Kultury,’ but when I arrived it wasn’t easy to find my boat because there were too many there. My guests had to walk a considerable distance before I finally found the vessel that accepted my tickets purchased online,” said the man.

There are two main boarding piers in the city center:  Hotel Ukraine  and  Park Kultury . Always take note of your particular berth when buying tickets online.

Where to sit onboard?

Even on a warm day, the headwind might be chilly for passengers on deck. Make sure you have warm clothes, or that the crew has blankets ready upon request.

The glass-encased hold makes the tour much more comfortable, but not at the expense of having an enjoyable experience.

Getting off the boat requires preparation as well. Ideally, you should be able to disembark on any pier along the way. In reality, passengers never know where the boat’s captain will make the next stop. Street hawkers often tell passengers in advance where they’ll be able to disembark. If you buy tickets online then you’ll have to research it yourself.

There’s a chance that the captain won’t make any stops at all and will take you back to where the tour began, which is the case with Flotilla Radisson. The safest option is to automatically expect that you’ll return to the pier where you started.

If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material.

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Sale yacht in Moscow

36 yachts for sale in moscow, customer reviews, popular destinations.

• Sell yacht in Moscow
• Sell yacht in St Petersburg
• Sell yacht in Vladivostok
• Sell yacht in Samara
• Sell yacht in Saratov

Moscow is the largest city and historical capital of Russia, the country's most popular tourist center and the center of the Russian Orthodox Church. In this metropolis, antiquity and modernity are whimsically combined, numerous cultural and historical sights, viewing platforms and entertainment centers make it a center of attraction for tens of millions of tourists from all over the world.

• Price: low to high
• Price: high to low
• Estimate price

• Length 6.90 m
• Beam 2.50 m
• Draft 0.60 m

• Length 6.00 m
• Beam 2.00 m
• Draft 0.00 m

• Length 6.06 m
• Beam 2.36 m
• Draft 0.40 m

• Length 11.80 m
• Beam 3.00 m
• Draft 1.00 m

• Length 8.00 m
• Beam 2.40 m

• Length 8.10 m
• Beam 2.80 m

• Length 10.75 m
• Beam 3.56 m

• Length 8.13 m
• Beam 2.60 m
• Draft 0.90 m

• Length 7.16 m
• Beam 2.58 m

• Length 7.06 m
• Beam 2.55 m

• Length 11.50 m
• Beam 3.50 m
• Draft 0.95 m

• Length 7.05 m
• Beam 2.70 m

• Length 7.01 m
• Beam 2.59 m

• Length 5.81 m
• Beam 2.26 m

• Length 16.20 m
• Beam 7.00 m
• Draft 1.20 m

• Length 9.44 m

• Length 14.00 m
• Beam 4.80 m
• Draft 1.10 m

• Length 9.99 m

• Length 11.88 m

• Length 9.60 m
• Beam 3.05 m
• Draft 1.45 m

• Length 8.60 m
• Draft 0.50 m

• Length 17.80 m
• Beam 4.90 m
• Draft 1.35 m

• Length 8.25 m
• Beam 2.97 m
• Draft 0.59 m

• Length 18.00 m
• Beam 5.80 m
• Draft 1.40 m

• Length 11.40 m
• Draft 0.80 m

• Length 12.30 m
• Beam 3.95 m

• Beam 4.50 m

• Length 16.00 m
• Draft 1.30 m

• Length 10.00 m
• Draft 0.89 m

• Beam 8.00 m

• Length 9.45 m
• Beam 3.30 m
• Draft 1.98 m

• Length 8.67 m

• Length 10.53 m

When planning to buy a yacht in Moscow , pay attention to the offers of 2yachts - we hope you will find a suitable option among current and profitable ads from direct sellers.

Sights of the Russian capital

On the territory of the largest city in Europe with a 9-century history, there are many interesting places and objects. Some of the best attractions of modern Moscow are:

• The Kremlin and Red Square, with which it is worth starting to get acquainted with the city;
• Arbat - the main tourist artery of Moscow;
• The business center of the city with skyscrapers is Moscow City with viewing platforms, including a 360-degree circular view of the capital;
• The Bolshoi Theater is one of the most significant in Russia and the world;
• Tretyakov Gallery with the world's largest collection of Russian painting;
• Ostankino TV Tower, the country's main television tower 540 m high with 2 viewing platforms - open type and glazed at different levels;
• St. Basil's Cathedral (Cathedral of the Protection of the Holy Virgin);
• The historical district of the capital is Kitay Gorod.

It is also worth visiting the river berths, beaches (in Rublevo, Strogino and Serebryany Bor) of the Moscow River, Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve, Moskarium Oceanography Center, Novodevichy Convent, Moscow Planetarium, Darwin Museum, Zaryadye Natural Landscape Park and Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy (VDNH).

The best restaurants in Moscow: Pushkin, Balzi rossi, Wine & Crab, Osteria della Piazza Bianca, White Rabbit, Björn, Northerners, Beluga, Lavkalavka and others.

Yachting in Moscow

You can leave your yacht parked in Moscow at the pier of one of the many yacht clubs on the banks of the Moscow River and the Khimki Reservoir - for example, on the territory of the Yacht Port “Estate Port” with 36 berths for vessels up to 15 m long or in CHALET RIVER CLUB yacht club on the border with the Moscow region with 57 berths for vessels up to 17 m long and with a draft of up to 1.7 m. If you are interested in selling yachts in Moscow , we recommend that you use the services of one of the trusted yacht brokers in the region, for example - PRESTIGE YACHTS, ULTRABOATS, IY C or WEST NAUTICAL.

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Yachting Monthly

• Digital edition

Boat handling: How to use your yacht’s hull shape to your advantage

• Toby Heppell
• October 8, 2021

Whether you have a long keel or twin keel rudders, there will be pros and cons when it comes to performance. Toby Heppell explores three boats' differences

Boat handling: how to use your yacht’s hull shape to your advantage

Ask any sailor to explain the differing characteristics of hull shapes and they will be full of opinions about the advantages and disadvantages of one boat or another.

But these views are usually clouded by past experience and bias.

To a degree the vast array of opinions on offer about any given design choice support the need for such a variety of hull shapes, keel choices, rudder types and so on.

Every yacht ever designed is right for someone out there in the world.

Given these deeply held biases, it can be difficult to get accurate representations of what the compromises and benefits that come from certain boat designs actually are.

Taking a data-driven approach to this question can be a very difficult task indeed, so naturally YM set out to do just that.

Raw data may seem dull, but understanding your boat’s numbers can improve your sailing and your boat handling

We set an objective to take three types of boat, broadly reflecting eras of design, and put them through their paces on the water in an attempt to find the idiosyncrasies inherent in each design and measure them.

Although far from a comprehensive overview of all design options available, the three representative styles we settled on were: a long keel with keel-hung rudder, a medium displacement fin keel and skeg, and a modern, wide hull with twin rudders.

We felt these gave a representation of the broad direction in design over the last 50 years, though there are many permutations of hull and keel that were not included.

In an ideal world, we’d have three boats built to the same length at the same time, by the same designer with only the differences listed above to speak of.

However, our proposal for commissioning, designing, building and sailing three brand new yachts for a comparative test was inexplicably shot down by senior management, so we did the next best thing and called up three owners, each with different style of boat to come to Lymington for the day.

We ended up with a Contessa 26, Rustler 37 and Jeanneau 389, and took our chances with the weather.

Boat handling: The three yachts:

Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 389

Credit: Graham Snook

High-volume hull with lift keel, twin rudders and sail drive

• Name: Windcatcher
• Owner: Flexisail.com
• Designer: Marc Lombard
• LOA: 11.75m/38ft 6in
• LWL: 10.40m/34ft 1in
• Beam: 3.76 m/12ft 4in
• Draught: 1.10m-2,25m/ 3ft 7in-7ft 4in
• Displ: 6,920kg/15,256 lbs
• Ballast: 1,769kg/3,900 lbs
• Sail area: 70 m2/754 sq ft
• SA/disp: 19.68

Medium displacement, fin keel and keg-hung rudder

• Name: Andrilott II
• Owner: Tim Stevenson
• Designer: Stephen Jones
• LOA: 11.28 m/37ft 0in
• LWL: 9.07m/29ft 9in
• Draught: 1.91m/6ft 3 in
• Disp: 8,845kg/19500 lbs
• Ballast: 3175kg/7000 lbs
• Sail area: 81 m2/ 871 sq ft
• SA/disp: 19.31

Contessa 26

Long keel with keel-hung rudder

• Name: Brizo
• Owner: George Smith
• Designer: David Sadler
• LOA: 7.77m/25ft 6in
• LWL: 6.10m/20ft 0in
• Beam: 2.29 m/7ft 6in
• Draught: 1.21m/4ft 0in
• Disp: 2,449kg/5,400 lbs
• Ballast: 1,043kg/2,300 lbs
• Sail area: 22m2/244 sq ft
• SA/disp: 12.15

How hull shape affects boat handling: methodology

Our aim was to try to make comparisons between the styles of boat without comparing the boats themselves.

Our interest was not in finding out if a Contessa 26 outpoints a Jeanneau 389, rather trying to get to grips with the key characteristics of the different styles, what they delivered in data, and also to evaluate each style of hull with as unbiased a gaze as we could muster.

Sailing the boats against one another is always going to be difficult as the sail setup and rig has such an impact on performance.

Toby notes the Contessa 26’s data. Credit: Graham Snook

For the sailing portion of our test we chose to measure each boat’s apparent wind angle; apparent wind speed; compass heading; course over ground; and speed over ground, both up and downwind. We also set out to record heel and pitch, but in the light airs , these numbers weren’t that revealing.

This data should give an idea of how each boat was performing in the conditions and to see how close-winded each boat was and what their relative leeward drift might be.

For other factors we were more subjective and based it on how we felt each boat performed.

For the manoeuvring both in open sea and a busy marina , the data should be less subject to other forces and should give a better steer as to the differences inherent in the design choices of each boat.

How the boats sailed

On the day of our test, the NNW wind was light – in the high single to low double digits all day – and coupled with a flood tide, gave a very flat, wind-with-tide sea state.

Long, slow upwinds, and downwinds dominated by a significantly reduced apparent wind as the tide washed the boats toward our leeward mark were the order of the day.

YM editor, Theo Stocker, and I rotated through each boat noting the data, upwind and downwind , and trying to get a feel for the performance of each boat.

In light airs, good sail shape and minimal drag become more important than boat speed. Credit: Graham Snook

Clearly sacrificing so much waterline length to the other two boats, the Contessa 26 was always going to struggle in terms of outright pace.

Boat speeds were surprisingly close, however. Clearly in these conditions none of boats were reaching hull speed, so all the boats were being blown directly downwind at a relatively even speed.

Additionally in the light winds, the Contessa almost certainly benefitted from less wetted surface area than the other wider, heavier hulls.

Sailing under white sails, we decided to test each boat goosewinged dead downwind and then on a deep broad reach, replicating an easier downwind course.

In these conditions, the speed over ground for each boat is almost identical downwind .

Continues below…

How hull shape affects comfort at sea

Understanding how your hull shape responds to waves will keep you and your crew safe and comfortable in a blow,…

How keel type affects performance

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

What makes a boat seaworthy?

What characteristics make a yacht fit for purpose? Duncan Kent explores the meaning of 'seaworthy' and how hull design and…

Rustler 37 – Yachting Monthly review

New yachts from Rustler don't come along very often, so when they do we tend to get a bit excited.…

Thanks to the conditions, none of the yachts could really pick up their skirts.

Downwind it was surprising  that the Jeanneau was slower to accelerate than the other boats and was, in most conditions, closer to the Contessa than it was to the Rustler, despite having the longest waterline.

Clearly the wide hull, winged stub keel with swing keel extension and the twin rudders increased wetted surface area and drag, which was significant.

She also offered less feedback through the helm, with response to helm inputs being less clear, making her less positive to steer and respond.

Though it is not reflected in the table (below), there were enough moments that the Rustler struggled to get as deep as the other two boats, possibly due to her large main blanketing the headsail, that we concluded she certainly felt more comfortable sailing a slightly tighter angle under white sails alone.

It’s worth noting that in the table (below), the Rustler was sailing in much lighter conditions than the other two boats, so though her speed is broadly within the range of the Jeanneau, she was clearly the fastest on the water.

As the data shows, the wind was oscillating through a significant range, and thus the angle of tide as compared to heading varied too.

This does give us some difficulties in terms of making hard and fast statements.

What is clear, however, across all the data is that the Rustler had the least leeway consistently, presumably a product of dynamic lift from her keel.

Upwind, experiment with how close to the wind, or how free your boat most likes to be sailed. Credit: Graham Snook

It is probably less of a surprise to see that the Contessa was losing little leeway when the tide was not a significant factor, but the large surface area of her keel possibly left her more at the mercy of the tide.

It was surprising to analyse all of the data and see the Rustler losing much less leeway across all the upwinds, as on the water, and anecdotally we all agreed that the Contessa had felt much more close- winded than the Rustler in particular.

The Contessa may have benefitted from being sailed slightly freer, but it could be a symptom of her keel shape.

Where the Rustler should be sailed at pace, allowing dynamic lift from the keel to help the boat to windward, the Contessa would lose less ground to leeward as a product of inherent drag but made up for this through being closer winded.

The drawback for the Contessa, of course, being the benefit from her keel in terms of leeward drift becomes her achilles heel in terms of tidal drift.

The Rustler 37 made good progress upwind when sailed slightly free. Credit: Graham Snook

For her part, we all agreed that the Jeanneau sailed similarly close to the wind as the Rustler, but was also consistently closer winded on starboard – either a factor of the tide, or her instruments needed calibrating.

With little feedback through the helm in these light conditions, she was hunting for the breeze a little more and rarely felt in the groove. It could be this that caused the Jeanneau’s results from the day to offer the highest rate of discrepancy in her numbers, a feature we saw throughout all the data sets.

There are two conclusions to draw from this. Firstly, were it my boat, I would be having a good look at setup in terms of rig tensions , how vertical the mast is and the like.

Secondly, it seems relatively clear that in these light winds the boat just does not perform all that well.

Her wide transom and twin wheels require a little more breeze to develop heel before she would be likely to pick up her skirts and really get going.

We took several sets of data over the course of the day to provide a representative sample across a variety of conditions. Here, the data presented represent the ‘cleanest’ runs we took for each boat. As should be expected in relatively light conditions we saw some significant discrepancies in the data we got back, specifically as the wind was oscillating consistently. * 150-170o of the wind, both sails set same side

Boat handling: how the yacht sailed

This was the most close-winded on test, but with a slower hull speed and large keel, was most affected by the tide.

Surprisingly quick particularly downwind in the light weather, a product of narrow hull shape with less surface area and the light winds not allowing the other boats to use their length and reach hull speed.

Jeanneau 389

Twin wheels and rudders damped the feel on the helm in light winds. As such she was hard to sail in her groove.

We’d expect her to perform much better in more breeze, so she could exploit her more powerful hull shape.

Despite her heavy displacement, pointing to a boat designed to perform well in heavy seas, she sailed very well in light winds and for a medium displacement boat is much more easily driven than similar boats of earlier decades.

Needed to be sailed reasonably free to get the best from her.

Felt slightly less comfortable than the other two sailing very deep downwind, though with time to pole out her headsail and set up for a long passage this might be less of an issue.

Boat handling and manoeuvring

Boat handling: Heaving to

Our first manoeuvring test for the day was to set each boat up hove-to, in order to get some sense of how each might perform.

The results were relatively surprising in their similarities.

All boats behaved similarly in terms of their leeward drift, here defined as SoG.

There was a difference in how the boats lay relative to the wind, and thus how comfortable they may feel in a seaway, but we were expecting to see larger disparities here than we saw in general.

Boat handling: Carrying way

With sails down we started with some open water tests, firstly motoring in a 360° circle with engine a touch over tick over to see how quickly she would spin.

Then motoring at 4 knots, we dropped into neutral and let go of the helm.

We timed how long it took each boat to decelerate to 2 knots while also measuring how much each deviated from their course without helm inputs as it slowed.

We were not too surprised to see that the Contessa required more relative space in order to complete her turn. Without a central keel to pivot around, she is always going to struggle.

In confined and busy waters, the more speed you need for steerage, the more stressful things become. Credit: Graham Snook

It also seems relatively clear that she completed her manoeuvre quicker than the other two thanks to being significantly smaller and lighter and thus responding more quickly to engine input.

Perhaps the most surprising outcome from this test, in fact, was that of the Jeanneau. We tried the circle with both keel down and keel lifted and her time to complete the manoeuvre and the distance required were almost identical.

As for the momentum test, we conducted this into a 5-knot headwind and into tide. The relative weight of the Rustler is clear, both taking longer to slow and deviating the least.

The Contessa was a surprise in just how much it deviated from course with no helm input. We had assumed that the long keel would offer the best directional stability.

The results from the boat handling tests

Given that the Contessa had offered impressive directional stability in the sailing tests, this was clearly only an issue without the sails up.

Ultimately, we believe – and have spoken to a couple of boat designers who agreed – that this is a product of several factors.

Essentially much of the boat’s lateral resistance is well aft with a long forefoot ahead. This could be working to almost trip the boat up over herself.

Secondly, with this lateral resistance aft and relatively more weight aft once the boat does start to turn, which is relatively easy with little bow drag and significant aft drag, she can end up offering more and more keel to the turning force of the water as she turns, further accelerating the turn.

With sails up and driving or engine in gear there is more water flow over both sides of the keel to remove this problem.

Boat handling: In harbour 

Manoeuvres around the Lymington Yacht Haven pontoons did throw up possibly the most significant differences.

Though trying to be as data-driven as possible, it is difficult to go into these situations without some preconceptions and I was expecting the Contessa to be the trickiest of the three boats to steer in tight situations.

Heaving to gives a good impression of how quickly your boat will drift without steerage. Credit: Graham Snook

In order to see how the hull and rudders performed on a twin keel boat, we opted not use the Jeanneau’s bow thruster .

This is perhaps a little unfair then, but does show more clearly the impact of hull design, ignoring additional manoeuvring aids – the Rustler 37 did not have a bow thruster fitted.

Boat handling: 180° turn 

Each boat entered a narrow gulley between pontoons, performed a 180o turn and then motored back out, and repeated turning both ways.

The Contessa managed her starboard turn in a single shot, without any adjustments of the helm or engine, though this is more a measure of her relatively short length.

Even when she needed to go astern, the Contessa performed similarly to the other two boats in terms of number of helm and engine inputs and time taken.

Have you measured your boat’s turning circle? It will help visualise how your boat will respond in harbour. Credit: Graham Snook

The Contessa did take longer to come round with the helm hard over, but there was always an indication she was starting or ending a turn.

She gave plenty of warning that she was starting to turn and so was not at all alarming. In astern, we did not see a significant amount of prop kick from the Contessa, which we had been expecting.

The Rustler, though requiring a larger space to turn, felt controlled and deliberate. Keeping the speed low was the order of the day, with a light touch on the wheel and throttle and allowing enough space to complete her turn, largely thanks to her heavy displacement.

However, her combination of fin keel and single rudder meant she was very predictable, and controlled even at low speeds, making her manageable even in confined waters.

The Jeanneau, particularly without the use of the bowthruster required a particularly brave and steady hand on the throttle.

Here, the twin rudders really did work against her.

Stick a bit of throttle on and even with the wheel hard over, but without direct prop wash over the rudders there is little reaction until the boat has almost 2 knots of way in order for the rudders to provide positive steerage.

This means that, although she conducted her turn in a similar time and in a slightly smaller area than the Rustler, some of the sections of her turning required significant pace, heading in the direction of other moored yachts before the steering would kick in and she would veer away.

In anything other than benign conditions, the bow thruster would be fairly indispensable.

Boat handling: Steerage astern

Remaining within the pontoon berths we wanted to test how long it took each boat to have positive steerage astern from a standing start.

The Rustler 37 strayed from her course least in astern. Credit: Graham Snook

We conducted this test both stern to and away from the wind. The results show the relatively higher boat speed the Jeanneau needs before she gets positive steerage.

It is also worth noting that with bow into the wind, (as with the momentum test performed previously in the day) the Contessa once again picked up a significant course deviation.

Boat handling: Springing 

Our final test of the day was to look at springing off a pontoon with the engine ahead and then turning round (in an attempt to be working against the wind) and trying the same thing with the engine astern.

We timed how long it took until each boat had sprung out to its maximum angle and how big that angle was.

The angle of the bow had a big influence on springing the stern out. Credit: Graham Snook

Here we were expecting a degree more variation from boat-to-boat. Ultimately, though, we found that all the boats can spring off, but for different reasons.

The Contessa and the Rustler had prop wash and could use this to lever their stern out, whereas the Jeanneau did not have the benefit of prop wash, but its width and resultant distance of prop off the pontoon gave it more simple leverage.

The narrow beam of the Contessa made it hard to spring the bow out. Credit: Graham Snook

Springing back in was the tell for this – the single rudder boats could use prop wash to push the stern back in, but the Jeaunneau’s twin rudders could not do this.

In the Jeanneau, if you want to drive your stern in, in an offshore wind, you will need to warp in, or put her stern in first, then use the bow thruster.

How the boat handled

• Much more receptive to helm input astern than we imagined.
• Drifted furthest off course in both the momentum and motoring astern tests. Lateral resistance of the keel well aft probably responsible for this without drive from engine or sails.
• Had largest turning circle.
• Responded well when manoeuvring at low speed.
• Her mass meant she was somewhat slow to manoeuvre but was the most deliberate in her response.
• Relatively lightweight and twin rudders require active engine control.
• Occasionally unpredictable until moving at pace.
• Not able to spring back in under prop alone.
• A bow thruster (fitted but not used for the testing) does much to relieve all of the above.

Get to know your yacht for better boat handling

The biggest surprise was how similar the data from three different designs were.

The gulf between the boats lay rather in the way they needed to be handled to achieve similar results.

With each of the skippers familiar with their boats’ quirks, the same tasks could be completed, but knowing how much to sheet in, put the helm over or push the throttle was the key.

The Rustler clearly had the best pace upwind and only needed to foot off a little compared to the more closely winded Contessa, but this pointing difference felt significant onboard.

The Jeanneau lacked pace in light airs, but this should improve as the wind builds.

All the data from the tests were fairly similar for all three designs. Credit: Graham Snook

We had hoped to measure heel and pitch, but in light airs and flat water, this wasn’t possible.

How the boats feel in a seaway would help separate the designs further.

In harbour, we expected the long-keeled Contessa to be more of a handful manoeuvring astern under engine, but she was relatively well behaved and took a similar time to turn as the other two, though of course she is much smaller.

While the Contessa’s long keel gave her a mind of her own astern initially, as long as she had a little way on with the occasional nudge of the throttle she was entirely predictable. The Rustler also rewarded factoring in prop walk.

With a sail drive, the Jeanneau did not suffer from much prop walk, but lacked steerage under two knots, which would be enough to fray nerves on a windy day.

Better to line up using the bow thruster, then go for it.

Close quarters is much less stressful at one knot than at two knots, and mitigating for a lack of low-speed steerage requires forethought.

Understanding how long it takes your boat to achieve, and lose, steerage and what she will do before then is key to mastering your boat in harbour.

Harness what your boat wants to do naturally rather than fighting against it, and boat handling becomes much less stressful.

With thanks to Royal Lymington Yacht Club, Lymington Yacht Haven, boat share membership company Flexisail.com and all the owners, crew and rib driver who helped make this article and photoshoot possible.

Enjoyed reading Boat handling: How to use your yacht’s hull shape to your advantage?

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