I faired a keel on a Catalina 27 and it appeared that the lead mold widened at the middle due to the stress of hot lead placed in the mold. Correcting this required removing one-half inch of lead on each side of the keel in the mid portion of the chord and adding 3/4 inch to the front part of the keel. The result was amazing. The boat just begged to go upwind and pointed much higher and was easier to stay in the groove when pointing. My keel on my J-30 looks and feels smooth buti think the template can reveal what the eye cannot.
