BYYB Forums

having experienced how tender the super skipjack was, im wondering if a pocket cruiser could be made a bit more stable with some added ballast, maybe wing keels? anyone have experience with that idea?

Wing keels (not sure what this might be) will not improve stability, at least not initial stability, which is what most desire. Ultimate stability may be slightly improved with a different appendage(s), but not if it's as shoal as a PC. Wing keels like that used on the Americas Cup boat Australia 2 (where it was made famous) improve handling an pointing ability, but slow the boat with increased drag at the top end. The races that made this notorious, proved this, but Australia 2 was so much faster in acceleration and maneuvering, that they were able to over come the loses at the top end. They out tacked Jimmy Connors by nearly a 1/2 second per tack. The final race had the two boats even with 3 apiece, but a tacking duel (50+ tacks) progressed on the last uphill leg and Australia kept Liberty covered for the remainder of the race, taking the A/C cup for the first time in 132 years. So, wing keels can offer stuff, but not stability.

In order for ballast to really affect the initial stability of a PC, which is pretty tame as most small boats go, it would need to be well below the current CG on the PC. This could be done to a marginal degree with a "stub keel", which is simply a hunk of weight, bolted to the bottom of the boat. This are seen with centerboard boats for two reasons, the first to lower the amount the case intrudes into the cabin spaces and second to lower the ballast as much as practical.

The PC is the more stable of the bunch in this little yacht family. I'd recommend you sail her for a while, before resorting to adding ballast. If you do decide about adding some weight, consider placing sand bags in the middle of the cabin, maybe more toward the forward end, just to try different amounts of weight, where to locate it and how it feels underway.

I don't think any of these boats need ballast and only Vacationer can take much, simply because they're small boats and their PPI (pounds, per inch of immersion) is small. Adding ballast might seem to make her more stable, but what's really happening is you're decreasing how much the boat can carry. The extra weight will "steady 'er down" a bit, if it gets rough out, but most are heading for shore and looking to put her back on the trailer when it gets too bad.

Thanks paul. Im interested in your comments about it being the most stable. Why is that? Is it the leeboards, beam or the extra weight of the cabin? There don’t seem to be many builders here that gone with the PC
My impression is the cockpit is to small id probably make it larger and give up some cabin space and maybe design a centerboard and lose the leeboards

It's more stable because it'a a little heavier, but the real boost comes from her beam and underwater shape. The boards don't do diddly to her stability and is a common misconception. I'm not a fan of leeboards, but can see why some employ them. A centerboard would decrease drag slightly, but the deadwood assembly is still the same as used on the rest of these yachts, which is very draggy. If you did the retro fit keel I've drawn up, plus an additional centerboard, replacing the leeboards, then you gain some improvements. The local Bermudian sloops are still going to kick your butt going uphill, but down hill and broad off, you'll keep up with them. Ask Keith about how the keel upgrade works on his boat. It's not a perfict solution, but is significantly better and there's no such thing as a perfict solution, except death.