Keel vs no keel

[halfmoon]

Apparently, Albin made a few 28's with I/O drive which did not have a keel. Any I/O owners out there who care to express an opinion? Or better, anyone with experience with both I/O and keeled 28's who can speak from experience regarding both hull forms.

[RobS]

I believe the I/O model is under 1% of all 28TE's so not sure how much feedback is available.....

[Mariner]

The primary purpose of the keel on an Albin is to protect the shaft, propeller, and rudder. The I/O achieves that without a keel.

The keel also provides stability in rough water, but a skilled operator can use the outdrive to compensate for roll movement.

But most of all, the I/O with no keel would be prefered by someone who wants a shallow draft boat, so the lack of a keel is a tradeoff they're willing to accept.

There are too many variables to predcict what impact it would have on fuel efficiency. You would think it might be better, but then you have to consider that relocating the engine farther aft may affect the trim attitude, so it's really hard to say one way or the other.

[chiefrcd]

I've only seen two of these inboard outboards and in both cases the units appeared to be badly corroded. Both boats were older models. I would be concerned with so much weight being farther back in the boat as the Albin 28 is weight sensitive.

[Mariner]

Don't forget that the drive unit can be trimmed up and down, so that may alleviate some of the problem of the weight distribution.

[craw_daddy]

the drive motor tilt won't have an appreciable affect on changing the weight distribution since it is only the outdrive traveling vertically (very little horizontal travel) + the weight of teh thing traveling is negligable when compared to the fixed position of heavier masses (like the engine, fuel tanks, etc..)

The really big deal would be improved 'shoal water' performance by I/O trim..

[Mariner]

I meant that vectoring the thrust will affect the trim attitude of the boat and could potentially compensate for poor weight distribution.