MiG-36
- There are as many sailboat keel designs as there are boats. For a keel, the objective is to offer a lateral plan to counteract the wind pressure on the sails by presenting a form below the waterline to help prevent sailing sideways. The keel produces the hydrofoil action, influences handling and steering, and offers a location for ballast. But why so many options? If our concern is towards relatively small sailboats, we can attribute the evolution to going from workboats to cruising boats and onto racing.
- Note: Also on the Blog.
Swing keel; Centerboard.
- From immemorial time, the keels were long and adapted to the type of boats, commercial activities, conquest, but mostly for building considerations. The possibility of being launched from the beach, deep-sea fishing, and private enterprises all show that feature, which offers directional stability and the ability to hove-to, all included in the logical thinking of the time. They did not get involved, but superficially into the elements of keel action to resist the drift force.
- Colin Archer's Norwegian Rescue boats, showing the underwater profile of a long keel.
