Keel Guard for Hulls with Rounded Keel Edge

[Serapis]

I have a 1973 17-footer whose hull does not have a keel that is a perfect V-shape, it has a U-shape. I emailed KeelGuard to see if one of their guards would fit on the shape of my hull and they advised it would not.

I would like to hear from others who have experience and success with KeelGuard (or another brand) with hulls that have a rounded keel shape.

[Jefecinco]

You may find a site search useful. I have seen a keel guard used on a small Boston Whaler but don't know what year or model it was.

[jimh]

Perhaps you can fabricate your own keel guard. The method would be:

• Apply some release agent to the keel or even a layer of very thin plastic wrap;
• make a impression mold of the keel, including any portion of the stem that you want to protect;
• using the mold, create a plug which will serve as a mold without having to use the actual hull;
• using the plug, laminate your own keel guard using the appropriate materials and resins
• remove the keel guard from the plug, and trim it to have a uniform edge and size
• affix the keel guard to the boat using a strong adhesive

You could also attempt to apply the chosen material for the keel guard directly to the hull, but I think the method I propose of making a plug will be easier to actually laminate a keel guard that will exactly fit the hull than if you tried doing on the hull itself.

As for what material to use to make the keel guard, I suppose you could use carbon fiber, but that advice would be tempered by a tendency for carbon fiber to loose strength with abrasion. KEVLAR might also be appropriate.

There are also commercially available kits like these from Keel-Eazy

https://www.keeleazy.com/collections/keeleazy-store

and

https://www.keeleazy.com/pages/faqs

I have no experience with this product, but it looks easy and does not cost a fortune. The material used is apparently able to CONFORM to the shape of the hull bottom to which it will be adhered by an adhesive.

[jimh]

I have a 1973 17-footer whose hull does not have a keel that is a perfect V-shape, it has a U-shape.

What model is your 1973 17-footer?

In 1973, Boston Whaler referred to their 16-foot 7-inch hull as a 16-footer. The aft portion of that hull is a completely rounded bottom. The bow stem and forward entry part of the hull is a V-shape, but it may not terminal in a razor edge.