Ballasting

Boat Keel

Custom boat keels in lead, grey cast iron and ductile iron for the stability and trim of sailing yachts and vessels.

Ballast keels for stability and trim

The keel ensures the boat's stability by lowering its centre of gravity and counterbalancing the wind's pressure on the sails. Its mass and its position beneath the hull directly determine how the vessel behaves, how it holds its course and how safe it is.

Loiselet designs and manufactures ballast keels to plan, tailored to the hull, the draft and the target righting moment. Each keel combines density, hydrodynamic shape and long-term reliability.

Three materials to match the required performance

Lead

The highest density, to concentrate maximum mass in a reduced volume and dramatically lower the centre of gravity. The preferred solution for performance sailing yachts.

Grey cast iron

An excellent trade-off between density, cost and ease of implementation for series-production keels and cruising boats.

Ductile iron

Spheroidal graphite iron offering superior mechanical strength and resilience, for keels subjected to heavy loads or to the risk of grounding.

Controlled manufacturing, from casting to finishing

From the study of the hull plan to the finishing, each keel is produced in our foundry workshop to guarantee the expected mass, geometry and quality.

1
Study and modelling of the keel according to the hull plan.
2
Casting in lead, grey cast iron or ductile iron in line with the specifications.
3
Machining of the parting planes, drilling of the keel-bolt passages and finishing.

A custom keel project?

Send us your hull plan, the draft and the target righting moment: we study and manufacture the keel suited to your boat.