venture 17 Mods

[hailodintx]

Hello all new member to the forum here and I have a modification idea I would like feedback on. I recently acquired very cheaply a venture 17 sailboat. It turns out the swing keel it stuck in the trunk due to rust expansion, I have tried everything to remove it with no luck. My idea is since I really do not like the swing keel and the deep draft that comes with it, is to remove it completely along with the trunk and fiberglass over the hole. I would then add some internal ballast about 300# (slightly more than the keel weighs) amidships along the centerline of the hull. For lateral resistance I was thinking of using some Michalak style leeboards. Does this sound crazy? Is there even a small chance of these mods resulting in a functional sail boat. Also this boat would only be used on lakes and bays no offshore stuff.

Thanks,
James B

[Doug Lord]

From what I remember the V17 was pretty tender with the keel down-I'd be real leery of permanently raising the CG as high as you propose. Have you tried sailing in or floating the boat with the keel in the retracted position? That might give you and idea about how tippy it is. And beyond that, a lot of swing keel boats are hard to or impossible to right with the keel retracted.
I'd get some friends to help and pull the boat over with weight(a person or two) in the cockpit and see how it behaves. It will give you a feel for the boat before you do anything else. Good Luck!