KEEL

in shipbuilding, the main structural member and backbone of a ship or boat, running longitudinally along the centre of the bottom of the hull from stem to stern. It may be made of timber, metal, or other strong, stiff material. Traditionally it constituted the principal member to which the ribs were attached on each side and to which the stem and sternpost were also attached. Another type of main keelproperly, the full keel, or ballast keelis a vertical downward extension of the boat's hull, narrowly V-shaped; it is usually ballasted or weighted for stability and lateral resistance. Types of keels The backbone keel may be supplemented by other keels (see Figure). A centreboardalso called a drop keel, or sliding keelis a retractable keel midships that may be lowered to increase lateral resistance and prevent sideslip. A skeg is an aftward extension of the keel intended to keep the boat moving straight and to protect the propeller and rudder from underwater obstructions. A fin keel is a narrow plate (of wood, metal, or other material) fixed midships to the keel of a shallow boat (such as a racing yacht) and projecting downward to provide lateral resistance. It is intended both to steady the boat and to make it handy to steer. A bilge keel is one of a pair of longitudinal plates that, like fins, project from the sides of a ship or boat and run parallel to the centre keel. They are intended to check rolling. On large ships the outward projections of the bilge keels may be slight; on small yachts they may be comparatively deep.