Part 2 - making the Keel. What's the keel you asked ? It is that middle part underneath the hull that is sticking into the water and carrying some weight or ballast (please see pic ).
In my simple understanding of its function, the keel with weight helps to keep the sailboat balanced while in water. It acts as the counter weight when the wind acts on the sail. Thus the sailboat will not flip over when the wind blows and is able to keep upright when the wind dies. With this in mind, the keel is important and must bear the weight of the whole boat. The keel must therefore be made of strong material and ideally also not too thick as to obstruct the flow of water. I found that the easiest material to use for the Keel of a footy is the cheap "made-in-china" wooden 12 inch long ruler !! It costs only 20-25 cents per piece here in Singapore.
So where do U install the keel ? If U study the pictures of many footy boats, U will soon realise that the keel is usually located just after the main sail mast. And the longer the keel, the more stable the boat may be but that may likely cause your boat to sail more slowly - well that's what I thought - U might have to experiment to find out if that's the case. U may also find you need 2 wooden ruler glued together ( using 5 min epoxy ) on their flat sides to form a broader keel.
The pictures shown below illustrate how the keel could be installed onto the Hull. A piece of foam shaped to sit nicely within the hull is glued ( using 5 min epoxy ) in position. The wooden ruler is cut on one end to form an "L" and this "L" end is then slotted right through the hull on the outside through to the foam on the inside of the hull. This is done through a slit opening cut through the foam and the hull. The installed keel must be such that it is perpendicular to the hull and does not lean to one side. The installed keel must be glued using 5 min epoxy and excess epoxy shall be applied to seal slotted areas so as to prevent water from entering.
More examples are shown below. After the keel is installed, further reinforcements using depron must be made within the hull so that the keel is able to hold the full weight of the boat and remains perpendicular to the hull at all times.
