Typhoon keels

[Doug Lankow]

I am looking at purchasing a Typhoon Weekender and have looked at a few of them here in the New England area. Can anyone tell me what year the keel changed over from all lead to something else? What is that something else? How does it compare with the all-lead keel? Thanks for your help.



dlankow@babson.edu

[Richard Smith]

They changed to cast iron around 1980. They also added bronze ports, brown boot top and bottom paint and buff antiskid.

The ballast is internal and encapsulated.

The effect of the cast iron ballast is to slightly raise the CG making the boat more tender. I had a 1981 CD-25 also with cast iron ballast. The boat was plenty stiff.

Richard Smith



sailnut@asan.com

[Serge Zimberoff]

To my knowledge they all have encapsulated lead keels. Later models seem to have a better resin seal on the top of the lead, but that is a minor difference. Typhoons do not, as a rule, have keel problems.
Serge
Ty #1700 'Cloning Around'



serge@srtrop.com

[Serge Zimberoff]

Richard...thanks. I stand corrected. However I agree that the 'stiffness' change is barely noticeable if at all.
Serge



serge@srtrop.com

[Doug Lankow]

Thank you for the information. I was not sure if there was a noticeable difference between the lead and the cast iron.



dlankow@babson.edu

[Bristol Bronze]

I am looking at purchasing a Typhoon Weekender and have looked at a few of them here in the New England area. Can anyone tell me what year the keel changed over from all lead to something else? What is that something else? How does it compare with the all-lead keel? Thanks for your help.

Answer to a question not asked.

In a boat as small as the Typhoon there will not be much difference in the sailing qualities in the lead VS cast iron debate. Lead is more dense and therefore heavier. The Typhoon is just not big enough for the difference in weight to have much effect. This is not true for larger boats.

The big difference between lead and cast iron come into play if you ever run aground. Cast Iron is much less maleable than lead and therefore transmits the shock of grounding throughout the entire boat. This shock can do considerable damage elsewhere. I have seen broken fasteners throughout a boat that hit hard. I helped repair Pearson 26 hull # 1 that hit a rock at 6 knots. The keel bolts were all bent aft 3 inches or more. A lead keel on the other hand will deform on grounding but absorb the shock imparting much less damage to the rest of the boat.

In the thirty-two years that I have owned her I have found my share of rocks with my boat. Since my keel is lead I have had very few problems. I have had to use a sledge hammer to bang a few lumps out of the lead keel but that was not a big deal.

So why use cast iron in the first place? Answer - $$$$$$$ A cast iron keel is cheaper to make. Since most customers won't know the difference (at least until the first time that they hit a rock) it means more profit for the manufacturer.

Roger W.
Bristol Bronze
401-625-5224



info@bristolbronze.com

[Catherine Monaghan]

Doug,

As far as I know, Cape Dory only used lead in their keels. I have never heard of any CDs with cast iron ballast.

Anyway, I have a 1986 Cape Dory 32. I think she can be considered a late model CD. I still have the original Cape Dory Owners Manual that came with the boat, and it is mentioned, in black and white, in that manual that the ballast is cast lead which is lowered into the keel and encapsulated. This same manual covers the Typhoon Senior, CD26, 26D, 28, 30, 32, 330 and 300MS but not the Typhoon or Typhoon Weekender, so I cannot be certain about those models.


Cathy
CD32 <a href="http://www.hometown.aol.com/bcomet/real ... ization</a>, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

I am looking at purchasing a Typhoon Weekender and have looked at a few of them here in the New England area. Can anyone tell me what year the keel changed over from all lead to something else? What is that something else? How does it compare with the all-lead keel? Thanks for your help.

catherine_monaghanNOSPAM@merck.com