Help me to understand Swingkeels

[Scout 30]

Originally Posted by Ungvar

Good advice Scout, I checked the towing capacity for my car, which is a 4 wheel drive model, and it is rated for 3500 lbs. Displacement for the CS 22 is 2200 lbs, so I think my car will be okay. I am not in a hilly or mountainous region.

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Yeah, that sounds good. We've got the Vera Cruz & it's got the same rating. Having 4 wheel drive is a huge help getting up a wet ramp.

[nelson.groome]

Have you considered leeboards?

[Ungvar]

I saw a couple of interesting leeboard designs in cruising world, but they were out of my price range.

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[Arthur Garfield]

check out expedition sailboat Seal.There are photos of keel box and keel construction.Great stout robust swing keel boat.Pretty much the GOLD standard of swing keels as far as I'm concerned.Additionally,this boat has the best swing rudder system I've ever seen.
Captn/Owner sailed with Skip Novak and I'm certain Novak copied these setups though never gave credit to designer nor Hamish.



All the Best

[Hard Rock Candy]

short and sweet. I was visiting a young friend in San Francisco with about 1500.00 dollars in my pocket. He talked me into sailing on his thunderbird. It was great. Then He told me about a 25 ft swing keel Mac that the sea scouts had been donated. Someone had stolen the sails from it but everything else was there and in fairly good shape. I offered them a thousand and they sold. I was driving a 73 Datsun Pickup at the time and hauled it home to Oregon with no problem. After going through the complete boat and repairing anything that looked doubtful, I started looking for sails. I found a good deal in San Francisco Used but they were 3 ft too high. So I bought a piece of the same size mast and welded it on the original. I rigged it up with some new cable and got ready to use it. after learning to sail it up in the San Juans, I and my friend towed it to Belize. what a ball. we sailed down to Guatemala and up the Rio Dulce. and spent 6 weeks playing with it. No problems. When we got in shallow water we just picked up the keel. The only trouble we had was one storm in the bay of Honduras. Our motor kept raising up out of the water because of the High waves, and we needed to keep going into the wind to get to Livingston. But whatever you do, do not pay to much attention to other sailers. They are generally as full of wind as there sails should be. Mac

[Ungvar]

Very interesting storey Mac!

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[basssears]

Originally Posted by Hard Rock Candy

But whatever you do, do not pay to much attention to other sailers. They are generally as full of wind as there sails should be. Mac

But how can you not be biased about Macgregors when your name is Mac? Suspect

Seriously, the great thing about boats is there are so many different takes on how to do them, your chances of finding the one that fits you and what you want to do are a lot better than if you were, say, buying a new car.

That being said, I think a lot of the Macgregor hating comes down to the water ballasted, "I'm a powerboat and a sailboat" models at the expense of the (earlier) true sailboats.

-- Bass

[Ungvar]

Yep, older Macs are on my list. Mac 26's I think are fine boats for the right person, but aesthetically they don't appeal to me.

The only boats I currently have viewings arranged for are Halman 20's which are tiny fullish keel jobs similar to a Nordica 20 and the CS 22.

If a suitably equipped Mac 25 came up for the right price, I would consider it. The same is true of Tanzers.

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[basssears]

Originally Posted by Ungvar

Yep, older Macs are on my list. Mac 26's I think are fine boats for the right person, but aesthetically they don't appeal to me.

The only boats I currently have viewings arranged for are Halman 20's which are tiny fullish keel jobs similar to a Nordica 20 and the CS 22.

If a suitably equipped Mac 25 came up for the right price, I would consider it. The same is true of Tanzers.

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If you come across a Nimble 24 I would recommend checking it out.

[Ungvar]

Originally Posted by basssears

If you come across a Nimble 24 I would recommend checking it out.

Very high on my list. On the original ad, when I listed my current boat I specified trade for a Nimble instead of payment as an option.

There just aren't many around Ontario though.

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[basssears]

Originally Posted by Ungvar

Very high on my list. On the original ad, when I listed my current boat I specified trade for a Nimble instead of payment as an option.

There just aren't many around Ontario though.

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FWIW, here's the Nimble forum that has as much info as anywhere else you might find on Nimble's... might be able to troll for one there:
Nimble

[secrabtree]

One thing to watch out for on some of the swing keels is the method of retaining them in a down position. The old Venture 17, Venture 21 nd Venture 24 (All produced by McGregor) had a pin that went through a hole in the swing keel to hold it down. I've known of a few cases where the boats went aground and the pin was bent. The pin couldn't be removed, therefore the keel couldn't be retracted and the boat could not be put back on the trailer at the end of the day. I do not know how the pin eventually got removed. I expect that the boat was lifted on a crane and the keel pried forward thus bending the pin straight. But I don't know. Catalina 22s have a bolt that presses against the side of the top of the keel preventing THAT problem.

[Ungvar]

Interesting find! Just found a Cape Dory Typhoon nearby.

Not a luxurious week ender, or a swing keel, but might still fit my criteria. Plus, she's a sexy as boats come.

Less than $1000 too.

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[Boulter]

Hi:

I own a Sandpiper 565 18.5 feet 1200 lb that I can (just) tow with my 2000 pound vehicle rating. I have sailed in Bay of Quinte and North Channel, as well as larger inland lakes, and Ottawa River at West Ottawa and Pembroke. I am comfortable in winds up to about 20 or 25 knots under reefed main alone. It is the waves that usually encourage me to be in shore.

I also own a Tanzer 22 centre board, said board never used yet since it is stuck. At 3200 pounds, it needs a 5000 pound towing capacity, so I borrow a truck for seasonal launch and retrieval. I expect next vehicle when my wife is retired, we will acquire such a vehicle. I just got this boat launched August last season, then a family medical emergency wiped out most of the fall, so not much time sailing it yet.

For your vehicle I would think most displacement you can consider is about 2200 pounds, maybe 2500 if the trailer is light.

Boulter

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[Ungvar]

Excellent post Boulter, thank you, I was thinking for something like a Tanzer I would need to rent a truck to trailer.

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