Hello one and all.

I've just bought a 1980 Super Seal 26 called Mistral. Had my first sail in her yesterday...Wow! Coming from a Jaguar 23 the difference in pointing ability and general performance is quite striking.

I'm just wondering if this association is still 'oft visited' before I pester members with the usual questions a new boat owner might have. I ask this as the last post on the SS26 section of forum seems to be a year ago. Have things moved onto the PSSA facebook page perhaps?

I look forward to hearing from, and perhaps one day meeting, PSSA members.

Cheers,
Fred

Hi Fred
You are very welcome to the pssa
U now own the best boat in the world !
Our web site is great for information and answering many questions that new and old members have

Where are u based. I guess you have joined the association,you will receive a membership handbook which will give u names and clubs where other seals are moored by location so you can join in with a local rally
Enjoy Mistral

Peter Lowry
Sophia 275 * 53
Formally Cleo SS26 * 21

Thanks Peter - I'm on the East Coast, Pin Mill on the Orwell. Will be joining up soon, waiting till payday as went out on a bit of a limb to purchase the SS26! Not cheap boats, but I understand why now!

My main query at the mo is can I remove the keel to give it a scrub? Boat has sat on mooring all summer. I've scrubbed hull with a long handled scrubbing brush and removed a fair amount of life, and by swimming with a hand brush. I would like to scrub the keel - am I right in saying it can be lifted straight out upwards once the cover plate is removed? My mate can lend a hand - my research suggests keel is well under 100kg, correct? ...and how to remove cover plate please?

Welcome! Quite a few other Seals & Parkers on the Orwell who are also PSSA members. Try searching the forum for keel info. The cover normally comes off quite easily with the removal of the obvious screws. Once off you can see how everything works - beyond that I can't help with the SS26.

Good sailing - hope you are making the best of the weather at the moment!

Dick

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Hello Fred
Once you have removed the cover plate the lifting line can be taken to a suitable halyard, spinnaker is easiest if you have one.
The angle is wrong so take some load and then pull the halyard forward to get the keel up a bit, keep repeating to get as far as you want.
The early 26 keel is light, less than 50kg, your later model may have the heavier one, still possible to lift this way.
Philip
rascal 26 number 50

Many thanks to you both, will have a go at keel removal tomorrow and report back.

Well, a haul on the keel uphaul would suggest mine has the heavier of the keels - I would guess its well over 50kg. I think it can wait till lift out time!

Fred, I am the very proud owner of Nauti, a SS26 with sail no 24 from 1979.
I will lift out this winter and extract the keel in preparation for a trip to Cherbourg next summer (nearly 40 years since she did this as her initial sea trial!!
Good Luck with Mistral and I hope to meet you at a PSSA event in the future.

Fred, although I like and use Philip's method for getting the keel right up when drying out, I find it a bit scary for complete removal even though I have the 'light' keel. Following advice elsewhere on the forum I cut off a piece of drainpipe about a foot long and cut a split into it lengthwise so it will 'snap' over the forestay foil (or rolled headsail) - this spreads the load. Then I wrap a rope around it a few times and attach the kite halyard to the top of the rope wrap and a 4:1 block and tackle to the bottom (a handybilly to seadogs, apparently). Then I pull the pipe with the top block of the handybilly halfway up the forestay so it has a more direct pulling angle on the keel and attach the bottom block to the top of the keel. Get the backstay hard on as possible to get the forestay taught, and then a simple matter of heaving on the 4:1 purchase for a controlled keel removal. If you're out of the water and want to lower the keel to the ground you'll need a lot of rope for the 4:1. Last winter I even managed to get it into the back of the car and take it home to scrape it back to the gelcoat and antifoul it in the kitchen. I've been asked not to repeat that feat however, Mrs Dann didn't like the smell.

If you don't have the blocks lying around to make a handybilly it might be cheaper to buy a snatch block instead and use the pole uphaul or spare genoa halyard if you have one led to the halyard winch to pull the keel out.

Hope that helps

Peteer SS26 Mya

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I described how we lifted Miss Fidget's keel in a forum exchange about nine years ago - but I see its attached image is no longer there, so I'm repreating the article, plus image, here.

We lifted Miss Fidget's keel using two pulley blocks, one attached to the jib halyard and one to the end of the wire strop at the bow that is normally used to attach the tack of the jib. We attached a long line in place of the normal keel hoist rope, and led it from the keel through the pulley block on the jib halyard, then through the one on the wire strop at the bow, and then back to the jib halyard winch. We then hoisted the jib halyard well above the deck, and cleated it off. The block at the end of the halyard needed to be high enough that the keel would lift clear of the slot in the deck before the lifting rope reached the pulley block on the halyard, but low enough that the pull of the lifting rope on the keel had a forward component, to help the keel slide on the forward-slanting slot. (On the diagram, the lifting rope looks almost vertical, but it should be more slanted to the right than it is - sorry!)



We then lifted the keel using the jib halyard winch. There were some alarming groaning noises, but we decided that we weren't actually applying any higher loads than the various fittings would experience while sailing, and kept going, and the keel gently popped up!



Gilliane

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Wow, many thanks Peter and Gilliane, both those methods had not occurred to me and seem straightforward enough. Boat comes out in a week - this will be one of the first jobs.

Thanks too for the kind words Askham - much appreciated!