All good points. I'll add my own anecdote: Some years ago my boat (then
"Air Apparent") won the NA's. I'm told the bottom was extremely smooth
and it had a professional keel job. The keel (until yesterday) was fat and
asymmetrical, 1/4" on one side. All this underscores the adage that (amateur)
races are usually won by the boat that makes the fewest mistakes. But still I
thought it was worth braving a 10 degree February NJ morning to power
plane the keel because small differences do add-up. Even a .5% difference
(i.e., .03 knots) amounts to more than 5 boat lengths on a 6 mile race,
whether you're in front of the fleet or in back. The good news: Of the
approx 30 lb. I removed, only about 10 lb. was lead - from the aft 30% to
take "bulge" out of the flat section. Confirms Bob's comments that the lead is
pretty close to right.
