On Samurai I have the 4 foot 1 inch cruising keel with the long flat bottom. I think this flat bottom of the keel must create considerable drag when going to windward and I am considering putting a small fairing on the bottom to help performance. I am not interested in adding weight, just getting the bottom of the keel smooth.

Anyone have any experience in this? For cheapness and simplicity I was thinking of moulding a smooth fairing out of epoxy and just bolting the thing on.

Any suggestions?

Adrian Bishop

Post edited by: poetry.life, at: 2007/10/09 10:16

Adrian,

To be honest, with the flat plane of the keel moving through the water on the same axis as the boats direction (almost - disregard leeway), it's not going to be causing any great drag or disturbance in itself.

By adding a fairing you are going to increase wetted surface area.

What's the primary thing that stops a half well designed boat going through water... skin friction.... but a blob on the keel = more skin = more friction.

Jacking the boat up, cleaning the keel off, making a mould, making the blob, bonding it on, fairing it in (and making it strong enough that the boat can stand on it).... way to hard for no measurable gain.

Spend the time wth your feet up, one eye on the telly and the other on a book about rig tuning and sail setting, whilst thinking about how to lose some weight of the boat, or at least move it out of the ends of the fine craft.

T'would be my advice.

Cap'n negative (Keith in Singapore)