If anyone one can explain to me in semi-engineer-eze I would appreciate the knowledge. I thought (oh boy) that a wing keel was a real viable option for shoal draft boats? Anyone with more than 5' of draft will find themselves stuck on the bottom in about half of the marinas and clubs in our area when we are in a low water situation (not right now this year). 4'6" was a number tossed around as a minimum draft for new members and tenants two years ago. While it has eased this season with higher water and dredging in our basin, it is absolutely cyclical and I don't ever see us with any boat with a draft greater than that.

I certainly won't argue that a fin keel of proper design is a thing of performance and even beauty, our Islander was a poster child for that. When out on the lake it sailed beautifully, unfortunately it also hit everything on the bottom of the basin and was stuck in the mud at times. The full keel on this IP is an option but has been a challenge to learn how to tack and turn when docking (challenge being the polite description of the train wrecks). The swing keel on the old Catalina 25 was also an option but was also a dice roll. That cast iron monster was always a parted cable or corroded toggle away from going to the bottom. We have never had a keel/centerboard and truthfully have only seen a few(OK, two) on older boats for sale around here. Sooooo, that leaves a wing keel which I see on almost all the production boats (Hunter, Catalina) Some of the other boats like the Beneteau's have a bulb but I'm not sure if that is the shoal keel option? Is that what you all see as the future then?