Yara said..Chris 249 said..wongaga said..Seebreasy73 said..sirgallivant said..I am forevermore convinced after sailing a few of the pre 1990 26-28 feet class boats available around Oz that the Adams 28 is on the top of the list.
The Top Hat is another little yacht on the top of the list which is worth mentioning.
I do not - this is purely personal - look kindly at the full keel boats in the class as they are not very good sailers, though most of them are well built and if properly maintained will reward the owners with many hours of pleasant memories spent aboard.
Like there is no single fishing rod, gun, motorcycle, or car is yet made for all occasions - nor has a sailing yacht left it's mould yet which could be qualified as 'all purpose'. Not with any honesty, anyway.
Perhaps, this makes it such fun and subject of never ending pleasant subject for banter and discussions as long as it is kept civilized.
not discussing for all purpose sailboats. Jsut for the purpose of cruisng. And for that purpose, full keelers are pretty good I think. Certainly not the best for sharp turns and rapid tacking.
No, but they are great to run aground in! Your keel stays there even, if it gets a few dings!
What pre 1987 fin keel boat has lost a keel?
A If you lost your keel at sea, you would be unlikely to survive to tell the tale.
B You don't have to lose a keel, but if you do get problems on an old boat, the cost of rectification is probably going to cost more than the boat is worth, for a boat in this size range.
Actually, there are lots of post '87 boats that lost their keels and had some, most or all of the crew survive. Martela, Drum, Planet X, Clywd, Speedboat, Wild Thing etc had all of their crews survive. Others tragically lost some crew, but luckily not all of them. So in fact you have a very good chance to tell the tale.
Of course, even if the crew do not survive, floating hulls have been found that tell a tragic tale - once they have lost their ballast, many modern boats float. But those that lose their keels are not pre '87 boats.
So why are people insinuating that boats like East Coast 31s, Currawongs, Holland 30s, Farr 1104s, Endeavour 24s and 26s and even Bluebirds inferior or unsafe in any way on account of their keels, when it appears that there is not the slightest bit of evidence for this claim?
I used to know a guy who had a Baker built Top Hat. It cracked around the keel off Lord Howe and damn near went down. Similarly, in the 1998 Hobart the long keelers had the worst record of deaths and sinkings out of all types, although we are dealing with very small numbers. I haven't raised those facts much, but they certainly give room to doubt any allegation that good fin keelers are significantly more prone to sinking or keel loss than long keelers.
