Keel Flex

Hello to All! When I had my boat hauled and while it was still in the slings the driver I hired gave the keel a kick to see how solid it was, and the result was a visible flex of the keel in relation to the hull. The driver did not consider that "bad" or unusual, and was only concerned with the keel supporting the boat while he drove it down the road and when he set it off. For me anything that big and that heavy having any flex seems a potential concern, and so I am considering laying up several layers of fiberglass along the lower hull and the top of the keel to strengthen that area. I would probably add this for the length of the keel in roughly three foot wide strips on both sides of the hull. Has anyone in the group had a similar experience or concern or any comments regarding this? Is my idea about strengthening this area a good one or way off track?0 Thanks in advance, Brad Bates

My cal 29 keel flops around a bit. In the 2-27 and the 2-29, when the boat is in the water, you can stand over the keel and wiggle it by quickly shifting your weight from side to side. I have done it on a number of boats. I have thought about stiffing it, but it is a big job and one that needs to be thought out carefully. I think it needs to flex a bit. For the most part, it's not a big deal. I might become a bigger deal if you were to sail in massively confused waves. Jim East Coast Cal 29 sailor. On Sat, Oct 12, 2013 at 12:14 PM, <br… [at] gmail.com> wrote: > ** > > > Hello to All! > > When I had my boat hauled and while it was still in the slings the driver > I hired gave the keel a kick to see how solid it was, and the result was a > visible flex of the keel in relation to the hull. The driver did not > consider that "bad" or unusual, and was only concerned with the keel > supporting the boat while he drove it down the road and when he set it off. > > For me anything that big and that heavy having any flex seems a potential > concern, and so I am considering laying up several layers of fiberglass > along the lower hull and the top of the keel to strengthen that area. I > would probably add this for the length of the keel in roughly three foot > wide strips on both sides of the hull. > > Has anyone in the group had a similar experience or concern or any > comments regarding this? Is my idea about strengthening this area a good > one or way off track?0 > > Thanks in advance, > > Brad Bates > > >

Keel flex can lead to fatigue and eventual failure of keel attachment. I think adding some reinforcement is a good idea. Being old and feeble minded, I can't remember the name of our "factory guy" who passed away a few years back who stressed this, he was rebuilding the first Cal 29 which had so many major blisters he renamed the boat "Swiss Cheese". One of our members whose Cal 29 is in Santa Barbara stiffened his keel with excellent results, and made up a folder with photos of the work. I think he did some of this work from inside the hull. Wilkie. Yeah. Not to become confused with Wendel Wilkie, one of our Presidents...??? I breifly owned a tired out originale Cal 25 which had been part of a sailing instruction fleet in the Navy in San Diego. You could feel the keel do a 'whoop-dee-doo' dance as you glided over tje tops of irregular swells. I didn't like the feel one bit. Gimme me olde original Cal 24 Mk 1 tho she hates going upwind unless it's blowing like stink. Jerry On Saturday, October 12, 2013 9:41 AM, sailor7312 . <sa… [at] gmail.com> wrote: >My cal 29 keel flops around a bit. In the 2-27 and the 2-29, when the boat is in the water, you can stand over the keel and wiggle it by quickly shifting your weight from side to side. I have done it on a number of boats. > >I have thought about stiffing it, but it is a big job and one that needs to be thought out carefully. >I think it needs to flex a bit. > > > >For the most part, it's not a big deal. I might become a bigger deal if you were to sail in massively confused waves. > > > > >Jim > >East Coast Cal 29 sailor. > > > > > > >On Sat, Oct 12, 2013 at 12:14 PM, <br… [at] gmail.com> wrote: > > >> >>Hello to All! >> >> >>When I had my boat hauled and while it was still in the slings the driver I hired gave the keel a kick to see how solid it was, and the result was a visible flex of the keel in relation to the hull. The driver did not consider that "bad" or unusual, and was only concerned with the keel supporting the boat while he drove it down the road and when he set it off. >> >> >>For me anything that big and that heavy having any flex seems a potential concern, and so I am considering laying up several layers of fiberglass along the lower hull and the top of the keel to strengthen that area. I would probably add this for the length of the keel in roughly three foot wide strips on both sides of the hull. >> >> >>Has anyone in the group had a similar experience or concern or any comments regarding this? Is my idea about strengthening this area a good one or way off track?0 >> >> >>Thanks in advance, >> >> >>Brad Bates > > > >

I think that the 29 keel should be stiff and would worry if it was not. Bill C On Oct 12, 2013, at 1:28 PM, Gerald Sobel <so… [at] yahoo.com> wrote: > Keel flex can lead to fatigue and eventual failure of keel attachment. I think adding some reinforcement is a good idea. Being old and feeble minded, I can't remember the name of our "factory guy" who passed away a few years back who stressed this, he was rebuilding the first Cal 29 which had so many major blisters he renamed the boat "Swiss Cheese". One of our members whose Cal 29 is in Santa Barbara stiffened his keel with excellent results, and made up a folder with photos of the work. I think he did some of this work from inside the hull. Wilkie. Yeah. Not to become confused with Wendel Wilkie, one of our Presidents...??? > I breifly owned a tired out originale Cal 25 which had been part of a sailing instruction fleet in the Navy in San Diego. You could feel the keel do a 'whoop-dee-doo' dance as you glided over tje tops of irregular swells. I didn't like the feel one bit. Gimme me olde original Cal 24 Mk 1 tho she hates going upwind unless it's blowing like stink. > Jerry > > > > On Saturday, October 12, 2013 9:41 AM, sailor7312 . <sa… [at] gmail.com> wrote: > > My cal 29 keel flops around a bit. In the 2-27 and the 2-29, when the boat is in the water, you can stand over the keel and wiggle it by quickly shifting your weight from side to side. I have done it on a number of boats. > > I have thought about stiffing it, but it is a big job and one that needs to be thought out carefully. > I think it needs to flex a bit. > > For the most part, it's not a big deal. I might become a bigger deal if you were to sail in massively confused waves. > > > Jim > East Coast Cal 29 sailor. > > > > On Sat, Oct 12, 2013 at 12:14 PM, <br… [at] gmail.com> wrote: > > Hello to All! > > When I had my boat hauled and while it was still in the slings the driver I hired gave the keel a kick to see how solid it was, and the result was a visible flex of the keel in relation to the hull. The driver did not consider that "bad" or unusual, and was only concerned with the keel supporting the boat while he drove it down the road and when he set it off. > > For me anything that big and that heavy having any flex seems a potential concern, and so I am considering laying up several layers of fiberglass along the lower hull and the top of the keel to strengthen that area. I would probably add this for the length of the keel in roughly three foot wide strips on both sides of the hull. > > Has anyone in the group had a similar experience or concern or any comments regarding this? Is my idea about strengthening this area a good one or way off track?0 > > Thanks in advance, > > Brad Bates > > > >

Keels are not suppose to flex AT ALL. Look up Captain Woody blog here in 2008. He circumnavigated in a Cal 33 and discovered keel flex. He discusses his remedy. It is a serious issue. Mike RobinsonS/V Primrose(916) 705-3200 our blog:http://www.sailblogs.com/member/primrose/ To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com From: wb… [at] yahoo.com Date: Sat, 12 Oct 2013 13:37:22 -0400 Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Keel Flex I think that the 29 keel should be stiff and would worry if it was not. Bill C On Oct 12, 2013, at 1:28 PM, Gerald Sobel <so… [at] yahoo.com> wrote: Keel flex can lead to fatigue and eventual failure of keel attachment. I think adding some reinforcement is a good idea. Being old and feeble minded, I can't remember the name of our "factory guy" who passed away a few years back who stressed this, he was rebuilding the first Cal 29 which had so many major blisters he renamed the boat "Swiss Cheese". One of our members whose Cal 29 is in Santa Barbara stiffened his keel with excellent results, and made up a folder with photos of the work. I think he did some of this work from inside the hull. Wilkie. Yeah. Not to become confused with Wendel Wilkie, one of our Presidents...??? I breifly owned a tired out originale Cal 25 which had been part of a sailing instruction fleet in the Navy in San Diego. You could feel the keel do a 'whoop-dee-doo' dance as you glided over tje tops of irregular swells. I didn't like the feel one bit. Gimme me olde original Cal 24 Mk 1 tho she hates going upwind unless it's blowing like stink. Jerry On Saturday, October 12, 2013 9:41 AM, sailor7312 . <sa… [at] gmail.com> wrote: My cal 29 keel flops around a bit. In the 2-27 and the 2-29, when the boat is in the water, you can stand over the keel and wiggle it by quickly shifting your weight from side to side. I have done it on a number of boats. I have thought about stiffing it, but it is a big job and one that needs to be thought out carefully.I think it needs to flex a bit.For the most part, it's not a big deal. I might become a bigger deal if you were to sail in massively confused waves. JimEast Coast Cal 29 sailor.On Sat, Oct 12, 2013 at 12:14 PM, <br… [at] gmail.com> wrote: Hello to All!When I had my boat hauled and while it was still in the slings the driver I hired gave the keel a kick to see how solid it was, and the result was a visible flex of the keel in relation to the hull. The driver did not consider that "bad" or unusual, and was only concerned with the keel supporting the boat while he drove it down the road and when he set it off. For me anything that big and that heavy having any flex seems a potential concern, and so I am considering laying up several layers of fiberglass along the lower hull and the top of the keel to strengthen that area. I would probably add this for the length of the keel in roughly three foot wide strips on both sides of the hull. Has anyone in the group had a similar experience or concern or any comments regarding this? Is my idea about strengthening this area a good one or way off track?0Thanks in advance, Brad Bates