Paul356 Posted August 14, 2019 Report Share Posted August 14, 2019 This is really a modification to improve trailering recovery, not sailing performance. That's in keeping with the principle that most of the time we spend fussing with our boats seems to have to do with systems other than sailing, such as trailers, motors, electronics, and so on. As you probably know, the front end of the keel on the Core Sounds is about two inches thick and rounds up to the hull. But this bump always hit an unfortunately placed cross piece on my otherwise handy Karavan trailer. The cross piece was a ubolt that held the tongue to the rear frame, so I smartly figured it ought to stay in place. I put a roller in way of the cross piece, so the boat no longer scraped over the ubolt and associated sharp edges, but the leading edge of the keel refused to roll up the roller. This meant backing the trailer into the water sufficiently to submerge the roller, which also seemed to mean submerging the tail pipe and lower reaches of the rear tires. Grrr. So (and without consulting Graham, so this is all on me), I carved back the keel bump into a 1:6 slope, in hopes this will now roll up the roller, alleviating the need to submerge the roller. I should be able to crank the boat up onto this and more forward rollers without the need to back so far into the water. I will be on a solo road and boat camping trip soon and will need to have easier recoveries. I got stuck at a ramp once, and it was not pleasant. Pictures follow. I assume boat performance will not be affected by losing the front 6" of the keel, but if I am swerving all over the lake, I will have no one to kick but myself. The offending cross piece, with protective roller I installed (from stbd side). You can just see the top of the ubolt that helps to hold the tongue to the frame. It only sticks up a little, but it created a real obstacle. The plywood pad was an earlier attempt to ease the boat over the ubolt, but it helped only a bit: This is the forward end of the keel as built (from port): Here's my cut line: And the finished product. As you can see, the brass protective strip gives me problems at every step of the way. I have never mastered that thing. Will see what happens, but at least now I think the boat will roll up on the roller in the first picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_Potts Posted August 15, 2019 Report Share Posted August 15, 2019 Hi Paul, I'm certain (and being an engineer, I never use that term) that the modification you've made to the keel will not have an adverse effect on the performance of your boat under sail. And given that, if it improves your boat ramp experience it's a very good mod. I don't remember having that big a step on Southbound, but it's been 15 years or so since I looked at that part of the plans and maybe the round-up to the hull was different on my boat. For launch and recovery I always put the tires in the water but not the rims and I never had a problem, but the trailer was set up so that the rear-most roller was right out at the end of the structure. I applaud any effort that makes launch and recovery easier or quicker because I think it increases the use of any given boat. Thanks for sharing the tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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