What is Keel?

In this boat school post were defining, keel which comes in many variants with perhaps the most common being, non-sailing and sailboat keel. For our purposes, as we don’t build sailboats, we’ll focus on the first type.

The Importance of Keel

The keel is often a structural beam that runs in the middle of the boat from bow to stern. The purpose of the keel is to help give the boat greater stability and control while moving forward. Without the keel, a boat might slip or skim on the water which is often common in vessels with an entirely flat bottom. In most cases, the draft of your v-shaped hull relates to the keel which is the part that runs the deepest.