I have a 12' skiff from uncle johns
http://www.unclejohns.com/skiff/Default.htm set up for sailing with a removable daggerboard.
I am wanting to put on a small full length keel to improve performence and hopefully negate my lack of sailing abilities.....any thoughts,suggestions or input would be appreciated
Thanks
Gee Bob, I don't think a full-length keel would do either of those things if you've already got a centreboard. The best way to negate a lack of sailing abilities is to go sailing a lot!
Well bust my bubble
No improvement of the BOATS perfomance with a keel ?
:
Yes, a fin keel (not full length) would improve the sailing abilities a little, but this would be hardly noticeable by a novice sailor. A skilled sailor could get better windward performance from a well designed and positioned fin, but you'd suffer from extra drag down wind.
On that boat, you're better off with the daggerboard, amazingly enough. It can be retracted when going down wind, which reduces turbulence and wetted surface, so you go faster. How much faster? Well, maybe a 1/4 of a knot, but against another identical boat, that hasn't hoisted the board, you'll slowly but surely pull away.
That boat really is a beginners sailor. It's performance potential is limited. Coupled with, slab sided foils, home made sails and a novice at the helm, it's not going to rip up the lakes. 5 MPH is the best you can expect.
If the sail was well shaped, the boat trimmed properly, the foils NACA shaped, a skilled skipper might be able to get that boat to scoot up to 7 MPH, but that's about the best you could hope for and you'd have to work pretty hard to do this (big wind, hiking out, etc.)
What are you looking to get, in terms of additional performance?
In a little boat, 5 mph looks pretty fast from inside the boat. I poke along in the harbour at about 6 knots in my seaplane and have to resist the urge to go a little faster, but in my little boat if it in fact even goes 6 knots, which I doubt, that speed feels like it's really fast!
While more Speed is good I can live with what I have, but really seem to need some improvement in tacking.
No matter what I do I cant get this boat up wind,I can go across(perpendicular to) the wind all day but I cant get even the slightest bit upwind.
Sorry I do not understand all the proper lingo to explain better.
Now thats a really cool learning tool...I had to do a lot of reading and use a lot of diagrams to understand the basic principles it illustrates so well ,wish i had found it before.
In the proper terms Beam Reach,port or starboard, is the best i can get.
any attempt to approach a close reach and rudder will not respond and seems to offer some resistance.
adjusting the sail angle to the boat makes no difference.
Bob, describe the boat a little better ( sail and dagger board configuration) and also how you tack.  Please list each step you take without any combinations.  Does your boat have the extreem rocker I see in some of the photos?  Does she sit on her lines or ride above them?  Are you sailing solo or do you have a person near the bow? Also can you post a better photo of your boat?
The most common mistake a novice sailor makes when having trouble tacking is two fold, they over sheet and they make huge helm swings.
Over sheeting is most common, you've hauled the sheet in tight, the boats heels over and you're going up wind all right, but "pinched". The boat is slowed dramatically this way and you just don't carry enough momentum to pass through the "eye" before she's stops and you're left with a fluttering sail (in irons). If this happens, quickly reverse the helm, let the boat back down a few yards and she'll flop over on her new tack, at which point you quickly push the helm back to where it's supposed to be. This takes longer to describe then to do.
The second most common thing a novice does, is crank in way too much helm to initiate the tack. With the helm hard over, it acts like a brake, not a rudder and the boat loses most if not all of her momentum and you're in irons again. Most small boats need to be "steered" through the tack. By this you initiate the turn with a little helm input, which gets the bow moving in the direction you want, then you wait for the boat to round up, following it's progression with a little more helm input. This lets the boat keep her "way" on and she carries through the eye.
An easy way to insure you'll make it through you tack is ease the sheet a little as you approach the tack. This lets the boat build speed and momentum. Then put the helm down, but gradually and not with a lot of angle (at least initially). This initiates the tack, but the rudder isn't acting like a brake and the boat continues through. As you get to the eye of the wind, you can apply more helm input which brings the bow through and you're started on the new course, but the boat speed is way down. To prevent this speed lose, sail lower, with the sheet eased out, so the boat picks up speed, then haul in the sheet and steer up to a close hauled course again.
It's all about practice, but unfortunately, I think you're practicing mistakes (another common novice issue).
Another cool trick which works very well on a small boat is to move forward as you start your tack. In fact, if you move forward, the boat will try to tack all by herself. Moving forward will help the boat through the tack and once you're past the eye of the wind, move aft, which will force the boat to "bear away" completing the tack. This particular tactic separates the pro's from the amateurs in dinghy racing. A pro can tack a dinghy at the same time and same speed as a novice, but when both are finished with the maneuver, 3 seconds later, the pro has a full boat length advantage and is going faster then the novice, just by moving forward and aft during the tack.
This assumes your boat is balanced correctly. To check this, sail as close to the wind as you can, then let the helm go. The boat should immediately round up into the wind and luff (sails are flapping). It should do this with authority, but not enough to flip anyone out of the boat. If the boat does this, but is lazy about it, or worse if the boat bears away from the wind, you have a trim problem that needs to be addressed.
I've never seen a boat go well to windward, without a fair bit of weather helm (the tendency of the boat to round up when released). Without this tendency, your boat will resist tacking. If this is the case, rake your mast forward a little bit, then test it again. If still a problem, post some pictures of your boat on the water and on the trailer, you may have some fundamental flaw that needs addressing.