How far can a 40 foot sailboat keel over before it hits the water and sinks?

Question

How far can a 40 foot sailboat keel over before it hits the water and sinks?

Answer 1

Based on the other answers, yacht races that have gone to the wall and personal experience. the boat tends to sink a long time after the crew has soiled their underpants, screamed "I Want My Mummy" and been taken off by the coast guard.

Most yachts survive going 360 or pitch poling.

Answer 2

You'll probably have a hard time getting it over that far in normal conditions. There is a lot of weight in the keel and the further the boat leans, it has more weight to overcome to go further. You might submerge the toerail but that should not be of any real consequence. Even if you do get a knockdown, it does not mean you'll sink. Many sailboats have this happen with minimal damage and the boat should recover normally.

Answer 3

52 Degrees

Answer 4

There is no set degree  that a boat will heel over, boats and conditions vary . If safety precautions are followed, such as having hatches closed during heavy weather, etc, she will heel over and come back up. That is what the keel is for. If hatches are open when she puts a rail in the water, water going below can be a problem. 40-footers have broached and pitch poled and survived.

Answer 5

If you google the term "Righting Moment", you'll be able to find all sorts of information on the subject.

The "point of no return" for a boat varies depending on a number of factors:  beam, keel length, percentage of weight in the keel, water conditions, etc.  I have a 28 foot boat that has 40% of its total weight in the keel.  It will have to be turned on its ear at 135 degrees before it will turtle.  That means that the mast will be 45 degrees under the water before it flips.

Sailboats, because of their righting moment, tend want to sit up right.  That's why that even when they flip upside down, if there's any sea state at all, they will sooner or later flip themselves back over.  Only the widest boats like catamarans and trimarans will tend to stay upside down.

Answer 6

Unfortunately, there is no 'hard and fast' answer to your question, it will come down to each boats' maximum angle of heel. Newer boats, usually with the high-aspect keels with a lead bulb in the bottom can only go until about 90 degrees, and then they go over, especially with significant wave action.

Older style boats, with the long, low keels can generally get pushed until 110 degrees (sometimes further) before they go beyond their ability to roll back upright.

I have been on a J105 (35') and been pushed until the lower-most spreader is nearly in the water, and come back, although that was in low wave conditions.

Having said all the above, the second part of your answer asks about sinking. Know this - unless the boat absolutely fills with water, and is hulled, even if she rolls through 360 degrees, it probably won't sink. Witness many, many sailboats getting rolled ('79 Fastnet race, for example) and found up-right, abandoned, floating, days later.

Furthrmore, even Rafael Dinelli's Vendee Globe racer, which was rolled through 360 degrees AND hulled, sat upright, though foundering, for over 24 hours.