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Winners understand that keel shape is a significant factor in sailboat performance. Sailors who win races use Computer Keels patented templates to fair their keels for significant performance improvements.

Computer Keels Company started in 1981 with templates to fair the keel of a severely damaged J/24 . As word of the performance improvements from fairing the J/24 keel with Compukeel™ Templates spread, templates for many popular boats were requested. The unique wrap around design and the keel alignment capability of the Compukeel™ Templates are patented. Compukeel™ Templates and Template Kits are available for over 100 boats, ranging from production to custom boats. The information included with the templates provides many boat owners information that allows them to significantly reduce or eliminate keel blistering.

The Universal™ Template Kit was developed in 1988 for making templates for boats which couldn't use Compukeel™ Templates. When no keel offset data is available, the Universal™ Template Kit is an excellent way to create templates. Cast iron keels present a different keel fairing process than a lead keel. Because it is impossible to remove meaningfull amounts of cast iron, the fairing process consists of obtaining as hydrodynamic a foil as possible without increasing the keel thickness by selectively adding fairing material. The multiple profiles and instructions of the Universal™ Template kit are ideally suited to this fairing task.

In response to owner requests in 1988, Computer Keels developed a proprietary keel shape for the J/24. The shape was developed to provide many of the benefits of moving the keel forward, without actually having to do so. This "fuller forward" design also provides the boat with an improved "dynamic range" of upwind sailing angles, especially in heavier air. The improved dynamic range allows sailing upwind over a broader range of angles without the keel stalling. The keel also bites more quickly when tacking, and allows tracking wind changes more fully. Many owners feel that the biggest advantage to the design is the improved downwind performance of the boat. Owners report sailing two to five degrees lower on runs with equal or better boat speed. The proprietary profile is allowed under the class rules.

In response to owners' requests in 1990, Computer Keels developed a proprietary keel shape for the J/22. The fine entry of the stock keel encourages stalling as the wind speed increases. The "blunter", proprietary design significantly improves the keel's stall resistance. One-design racers like it because it makes up-wind sailing in heavy air easier, and reduces trim errors when tacking. PHRF J/22 owners like it because they can use their genoas at higher wind speeds without stalling out the keel and close reaching instead of going to weather. The proprietary design is allowable under the J/22 class rules.

The Compukeel™ II Templates and Template kits were introduced in 1999 for many of the boats for which Compukeel™ templates are available. This product has more detailed instructions and details the best practices and go fast findings that have evolved from twenty three years of user feed back. Additional information on the template patterns simplfies and speeds up the keel fairing process. A template locating ruler facillitates accurately positioning the templates.

In response to owners' requests in 2005, Computer Keels is introducing a revolutionary ready to use Compukeel™ III Templates for the more popular boat models. These templates are precision machined in an engineered thermoplastic for quickly fairing your keel. Breaking new design ground, these patented templates build on the functionality of the Compukeel™ II design, taking it to the next level to greatly speed up the fairing process. A specialized tool that greatly speeds up the keel fairing process also is included with these LEASED templates . Call for details and availability.

For a listing of popular boats for which Compukeel™ templates and template kits are available see Compukeel™ Template Boat Listing. For Universal™ Template chordlengths for popular boats, see Universal™ Template Boat Listing .

Computer Keels Company is located in the Edina, MN, suburb of Minneapolis. The phone number is 952 829-5670, and they can be reached by e-mail at: info@computerkeels.com

Updated March 1, 2005 © 1997-2005 Computer Keels Company All rights reserved ()

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