The centerboard is important if you want maximum windward pointing ability. Any boat will sail reasonably well with a shoal keel alone but the centerboard helps to point upwind when reaching or on a beam reach. I usually raise it when going down wind, as on that point of sail it doesn't add anything, actually produces drag. Wayne M17 #204 ----- Original Message ----- From: MC Carpenter To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2003 11:23 PM Subject: Re: M_Boats: monty 17 you can get lead keels from Mars Keel company ----- Original Message ----- From: Honshells To: For and about MontgomerySailboats Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2003 8:35 PM Subject: M_Boats: monty 17 My guess is that the weight of the board wouldn't make a difference, it would be the leeway allowed by lack of lateral resistance on every point of sail except a run: Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm just guessing. ----- Original Message ----- From: MC Carpenter To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2003 7:08 PM Subject: monty 17 has anyone tried to see how the boat would sail (apart from windward) without the centerboard, does the extra weight of the board make a noticeable difference. what if the you were planning on a trip down the bay and you did not want to overload the little vessel with the extra supplies so to compensate you removed the board, I'm just asking, I really don't know if it should even be considered an option. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats