My Cal 20 has a cast iron keel... 950 lbs of it. It makes it quite stable on
the bay.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Maxprop" wrote in message
.net...

"abstrait" wrote in message

First of all, the wing on the Beneteau First 235 is NOT fiberglass.

No commercially-produced boats have strictly FRP wings. They all have
some weight in them, whether iron, lead, or whatever.

In
fact, it is made of IRON just like the keel, and covered with
epoxy/resin to seal it.

While iron is less desirable than lead for obvious reasons, it is
increasingly more common in production yachts as keel ballast. Lead is
more costly and less available, and there are some environmental issues
with lead/antimony keel materials as well. While most manufacturers would
prefer lead ballast, many are going to iron. Even high-end builders, such
as Moody, are using iron. No big deal, IMO, if properly encapsulated and
maintained.

Max