Canting keel

In this canting keel device, the lever was mounted inside the fin at an angle and at the top it was connected to a vertical shaft.

The canting keel's first use in an offshore race was the 1991 Mini Transat on number 29 Fouesnant la Foret and then in the Vendee Globe of 1996-7 which Pete Goss completed in a 50 ft, Adrian Thompson-designed yacht named Aqua Quorum.

Subsequent use in major competition was in September 2004, when five boats using the canting keel in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup placed ahead of the previously unbeaten world champion Alfa Romeo.

The 6.5 ton ballast bulb, hanging over 16 feet (4.9 meters) below the water and capable of canting up to 40 degrees, produces a tremendous amount of righting moment (over 130,000 ft·lbf, or 176,000 N·m with the hull level), allowing the boat to reach speeds of over 30 knots.

Unlike a centerboard or daggerboard trunk, the opening for a canting keel must allow significant lateral motion, which requires sliding seals.

The boat movistar had problems on Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race, 200 miles off Cape Horn, during the night on 2 March 2006.

[5] In December 2016, Wild Oats XI has retired from the 72nd Sydney to Hobart yacht race, citing a broken hydraulic ram.

Race spokesman Bruce Montgomery said Wild Oats XI was unable to move its keel after a hydraulic ram broke.

The America's Cup Class Committee, chaired by Ken McAlpine, issued a ruling on 8 May 2007 which stated that canting keels and other movable appendages were specifically prohibited.