[C320-list] Keel Replacement

[Andrew Santangelo]

Hello Dennis,

Yes, I did the big change on our C320 from wing keel to fin keel, and as I said before in past emails the difference in performance is profound.  We went from middle of the fleet to either winning or top three finishes on many occasions.  On another interesting note - our PHRF did not change with the fin keel even though the new keel clearly improved our performance.

The process was straight forward, if my memory serves me correctly.  We worked with the local Catalina dealer and a boat yard in West Michigan (Sail Place and Torrensen Marine).  In your case you want to work with KKMI.   A new fin keel was shipped from Catalina.  The old one was removed and we got some credit for the old keel.  The keel was removed, the new one installed and we were good to go.  The boat not only points better, but you will also be carrying less weight, about 400 lbs less.  This combination alone is big.  FYI - the cost is a bit pricey.  In 2000 it ran us around $7500 if I recall correctly.

FYI - a year in a half ago we moved "Dawn Treader" to San Francisco.  We are in the cruising mode right now, but we hope to be racing again soon in the area.  Where do you race out of?


Best Regards,
Andrew

C320 "Dawn Treader"
#333
Pier 39
San Francisco

  
On May 5, 2011, at 7:50 PM, CARY DENNIS LOWE wrote:

> Has anybody replace the keel in their boat?  I have a shoal keel and would like 
> a fin keel.  I sail/race in San Francisco bay.  Last night we had three 320's 
> racing together with 22 knots of wind.  There was no way I was able to point 
> with the other 2 boats. The other two boats had fin keels.  Any information is 
> appreciated.
> 
> Dennis
> on "Grace Kellie" #917