J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Putting Rhapsody's Keel on a diet

Boat comes out tomorrow to strip, fair the rough spots, barrier coat and anti-fouling (Pettit Premium Performance). Unfortunately I only have 4-5 full days so I am going to have to go at it like a madman. I am going to throw the templates on and pray that the keel is reasonable otherwise I'll need to come back to it another time.

I am scared... someone hold me.

When did you get the templates? I would drive up to see that.
I am sure I have to do mine. I dive the boat all the time and refaired the keel 3 years ago but did not template. I know there is more speed there. And now that we are all coming together I feel I need that edge

The work is done. Finished the final wet sanding and burnishing late Saturday and Rhapsody was launched. Pictures below are Rhapsody going in the water, and friends Mike & Cheryl who helped with burnishing and hull waxing.

The maiden voyage from the winter storage spot in Fall River, MA to my slip in Newport was done Sunday morning. The crew included Vic Farmer (Vee Jay) and friends Mike & Cheryl. Winds were out of the north 10-15, and perfect for a spinnaker run the entire way. Now I need to work down the items on my list that were not in the way for launching...

So OK ... invited Bill over to look at #526 a couple of weeks ago and he tried to sell me on me doing a complete template and a shaving of lead.

But I didn't go for that two weeks before the boat was due in water.

We moved on to "plan B" which was to make a really straight leading edge and kick it out to where the specs indicated it should meet the hull ... which was just about an inch short... and over three inches rounded off at bottom.

photos are prior to final sand. I am happy with Plan B, with thanks to Bill. That leading edge looks mean.

thinking about Waterline in a recent thread ... I ran across this recent Sailing Anarchy tread on J24 keel work. On the subject of keel work

I'm just wondering as I do when we talk about the perfect specs, is what the J30 spec'd keel template was supposed to do best, based on what they knew 30 years ago ... upwind, downwind, beam ... and what the ideal wind and water conditions this ideal keel is supposed to have?

I'm now thinking the only place a faired keel is worth it ... is when every other boat in the fleet has the same shape. Otherwise some are going to be faster upwind in light air, faster upwind in heavy air, etc etc.

when you read experts talking about what design is "perfect" there seem to be a lot of very exact conditions when "perfect" applies.

one of the comments in the j24 thread talked about the most important thing being a perfectly smooth surface and nicely shaped surface.

Vic,

It's safe to say that the keel shape I had on Rhapsody and you had on Vee Jay were not fast or optimal. Pointing ability is noticeably better since templating the keel. A smooth bottom is better all around no matter what the keel shape is.

I will second what Bill is saying. There is no question that the keel fairing to templates helped our performance both upwind and down. Well worth the effort!

I have LIVED the J-24 fairing experience. I was forced to do it DIY as my boat was destroyed by Andrew, and I ended up with a J-World boat that was painted with bottom paint, and the keel was just as it came out of the factory. Some shape on one side, AWFUL on the other. There are also articles written on the subject of keel fairing. I am NOT one of the proponents of moving the keel. (We didn't have the time either) In the J-24 at that time, the minimum thickness table of offsets in the class rules resulted in a decent shape. I expect that the J-30 is similar. What you do need is a comfort level working with battens to loft a fair curve. If you are not comfortable with lofting curves, I do not recommend a DIY attempt to fair the keel. Take your time.

While I am sure my keel wasn't pretty, it did measure in, and it was very fast.

The reassembly of hull #62 is moving along. Repairs are all done and it's down to fairing and painting and such. Time to do the keel.

I've been making templates and carefully measuring. I knew it was short, fat and shallow. Surprised by how much off it is, especially the shallow part. There's almost 1.5 inches missing on the bottom. Looks like that's the way it came from the factory. Section V is under the bottom of the keel.

So...anyone with experience adding depth to the keel on the bottom? What material? The boat sits on this each winter. Should I get a "shoe" made or just epoxy with high density filler and fibers?

All the boats I know of that have faired their keels ( including mine) had a shallow depth (section 5 is off the keel). I think all left their keels short-it is too hard to make a durable shoe that won't fall off or be damaged when the boat is on the hard or scrapes bottom. If anyone has extended the keel depth, I'd love to hear how they did it. It seems to me that adding lead for the shoe to match the templated shape could really help righting moment and should be class legal...