actually it is a swing keel

Posted By: Alex K
Date: 7/3/07 8:29p.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: keel (sand sailor)

Actually my 1970 Santana 21 is a swing keel like Davids. Thanks for the tips. My keel cable and winch look practically new, I think the previous owner replaced them. I would never try to sail with the keel up but thanks for the warning. I had my Santana out on Eagle Lake, Ca this weekend but it was gales almost the whole time. Sunday afternoon I reefed the main and went out with that and the smallest jib I have. After about an hour of great sailing the wind really picked up and we had to take them down completely. I noticed the boat does not do very well upwind when the main is reefed or maybe it was the swirling wind that caused it. We got up to 7.3 mph with reefed sail while clawing our way upwind. Of course on Monday after I was back home the wind there was perfect. My friend brought his MacGregor 26X along and we were out on the lake in the calm morning with no breeze whatsoever. I raised the main while he went below to fill the ballast tank. When he came back up 2 minutes later there was so much gusty wind we dropped the sail and motored back to camp. We saw a Prindle cat doing about 20 mph across the lake in the gales... very impressive!