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Is it still called a keel then? In dutch, keels are also about being a counter weight.

by rocqua 10y ago

kirrent 10y ago
Common usage would have you believe that all keels need a keel weight, but many catamarans have sharper structures on the bottom of their hulls that are called keels. Generally a keel is not retractable, a centreboard is.
- nicwolff 10y ago
  Though we do use the term "swing keel" for a large heavy centerboard.
  - escape_goat 10y ago
    Are these functionally distinct from normal centreboards? I'm trying to recall the term and what comes to mind is a keel that's hung like a centreboard to reduce grounding damage.
    - wtallis 10y ago
      The Catalina 22 is available with a swing keel that is about 550 lbs. Those models have no other keel. By contrast, my Morgan 24 has a full-length shallow keel with 1900 lbs of ballast, plus a fully retractable centerboard that is not particularly heavy. I think the only common distinction between the terms "swing keel" and centerboard is whether it provides appreciable ballast.
escape_goat 10y ago
In theory, a centreboard is a type of keel, when describing its purpose and action. However, in practice, nothing that is not a fixed structural element of the hull is ever referred to as a 'keel' [edit:1]. Thus, a reference a keel can be taken to mean a structural keel. A centreboard will only ever be a pivoting blade that rotates down from (and up into) a housing inside the hull, and such a blade will only be described as a 'centreboard', unless the meaning is otherwise clear. [edit:1 redux, 'swing keel'.] More rarely, dinghies will have simple 'daggerboards' that slide straight down, and likewise they will only be referred to as 'daggerboards' in any circumstance where ambiguity might occurs. Keels are usually weighted, of course, but there's no distinct word for an unweighted keel, structural or otherwise. ---- 1: nicwolff reports, as you might have noticed, that a (deliberately) heavy centreboard is referred to sometimes as a 'swing keel', a term with which I was unfamiliar. So, matters are less cut and dried I'd initially represented them to be. However, I think this leaves the presumption that a keel will be structural largely intact.

Is it still called a keel then? In dutch, keels are also about being a counter weight.

by rocqua 10y ago

Is it still called a keel then? In dutch, keels are also about being a counter weight.

Common usage would have you believe that all keels need a keel weight, but many catamarans have sharper structures on the bottom of their hulls that are called keels. Generally a keel is not retractable, a centreboard is.

nicwolff 10y ago
Though we do use the term "swing keel" for a large heavy centerboard.
- escape_goat 10y ago
  Are these functionally distinct from normal centreboards? I'm trying to recall the term and what comes to mind is a keel that's hung like a centreboard to reduce grounding damage.
  - wtallis 10y ago
    The Catalina 22 is available with a swing keel that is about 550 lbs. Those models have no other keel. By contrast, my Morgan 24 has a full-length shallow keel with 1900 lbs of ballast, plus a fully retractable centerboard that is not particularly heavy. I think the only common distinction between the terms "swing keel" and centerboard is whether it provides appreciable ballast.

escape_goat 10y ago

In theory, a centreboard is a type of keel, when describing its purpose and action. However, in practice, nothing that is not a fixed structural element of the hull is ever referred to as a 'keel' [edit:1]. Thus, a reference a keel can be taken to mean a structural keel. A centreboard will only ever be a pivoting blade that rotates down from (and up into) a housing inside the hull, and such a blade will only be described as a 'centreboard', unless the meaning is otherwise clear. [edit:1 redux, 'swing keel'.] More rarely, dinghies will have simple 'daggerboards' that slide straight down, and likewise they will only be referred to as 'daggerboards' in any circumstance where ambiguity might occurs. Keels are usually weighted, of course, but there's no distinct word for an unweighted keel, structural or otherwise. ---- 1: nicwolff reports, as you might have noticed, that a (deliberately) heavy centreboard is referred to sometimes as a 'swing keel', a term with which I was unfamiliar. So, matters are less cut and dried I'd initially represented them to be. However, I think this leaves the presumption that a keel will be structural largely intact.