I am carrying out similar repairs on A87. I did seriously think about rolling the boat on her side for the repairs but opted to block her up to a height where I can work comfortably underneath (as comfortable as one can be working overhead!) as I had to replace some of the hull planking above the waterline as well. This has been Ok so far but when I am ready for sheathing (I am going to sheath the hull with cloth and epoxy this may displease the purists however it is a necessity here in NZ) – It would be significantly easier to do this with the boat on its side – first one side then the other. I intend constructing three hoops out of timber and plywood, one positioned at the forward bulkhead, one at the companionway bulkhead and one at the aft bulkhead and then roll her over. ….should work!
I am also using cloth and epoxy to strengthen the hull to keel joint by running a strip (about 500mm wide) of triaxial cloth down the centreline and then bonding (with sikaflex so it will be easier to remove if required) a new sand keel on the outside of that.
Murray