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    RL24, RL28, and RL34 Trailable Yachts
    from Rob Legg Yachts

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    RL34 Keel bolts
    Hi, I am new to your site. I recently looked at an RL34 swing keel, to buy. I noticed the keel holding bolt immediately forward of the engine, was really wasted and would have NO strength. Can anyone advise me of how much work is required to replace these bolts, how many are there, Estimate a shipwrights cost to do the job etc. Regards Shawry.
    Andrew shaw28-Dec-2012    Edit    Delete 
    Re: RL34 Keel bolts
    Andrew.
    From memory there were six 18mm dia bolts holding the keel on the RL34, One front and back and two pair in the middle, these were inserted into the casting mould before the iron was poured and are not accessable from the outside. The total tensile strength of these would have been approx 100,000 Kg giving a safty factor of 60 when new. However if they are wasted I would suggest adding an extra one fore and aft to make sure, but they would need to be drilled right thru the iron from the inside, I doubt if it would be possable to remove the keel, as it was also bonded to the hull with Butal mastic and that was enough when new to support the weight of the keel.

    PS The origonal boats had drop keels, and if in fact the boat in question has a swing keel then I cannot vouch for the outer keel, and must have been constructed after October 1988

    Rob Legg28-Dec-2012    Edit    Delete 
    Re: RL34 Keel bolts
    Andrew.
    Some further thoughts re keel.
    The keel material is 11,000 grey cast iron and is quite easy to work, so, it may be simpler to drill in only about 40mm with a tapping size drill, and tap the hole, then use threaded rod instead of thru bolts.
    Rob Legg29-Dec-2012    Edit    Delete 

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