Help on my Keel

She's a 57' George Beuhler designed cruiser and I am nearing the end of building the keel. My engine is a DD4-71 and I have a 2" shaft to a 28-20 3-bladed RH prop. The keel is 11" thick. My question is what is the best way of carving that big thick keel in the area around the cutless bearing housing so as to maximize flow over the prop and minimize the kick of the prop as well. I assume I will want to carve what, viewed from the stern, would look like an "S" shape, with the shaft coming out in the middle of the "S" but my question is, which way will the prop kick the boat? And which way should the "S" face? Should it look like a standard "S" viewing her from the stern, or a reversed "S", and why? If this is not a clear question please view my little attached drawing.


View my progress at this album page:
http://picasaweb.google.com/GreyFox1931/GregSBoatyard#

 

Prop walk is a fact of life with single screw applications. You actually want to whittle down the deadwood assembly on both side as well as top and bottom, to offer the best flow you can to the prop.

Typical Beuhler designs fancy a big *** deadwood assembly, which will limit maneuverability a good bit. A near 60' yacht will want a bow thruster to tuck in around docks or tight anchorages.

Starving one side of the prop to gain a slight boost in efficiency isn't a reasonably approach.