Keel Regulation
Keel Incidents/ Reporting The number of keel incidents/failure world-wide is hard to determine accurately because of the varied nature of participation in the sport of sailing. A World Sailing presentation in 2013 puts the number of keel failures at 72 reported incidents, with 24 fatalities since 1984. (WS Report) This report cites the main cause of keel failure as - 33% are welded fin failures - 25% from grounding or collision - 25% from hull internal structure failure A further extension of these statistics has been compiled via Kraken Yachts (here) providing additional cases along with a touch of self-promotion around their encapsulated keels. A further summary of specific incidents can be found on the Australian Sailing resources major incidents (here) Our summary of all data is in the following ...