A keel works only if the motion of the boat is not exactly in the direction in which it’s pointed. The boat must be moving somewhat sideways. In that “crabbing” motion, the keel moves through the water with an angle of attack. Just as for the sails in the wind, that causes the water on the “high” (more downstream) side of the keel to move faster and create a lower pressure. Again, the net lift force on the keel is due to the combination of that decreased pressure on the high side and increased pressure on the other (low) side.

The first sentence is a bit silly, since if the boat is moving in the direction of the keel (rather than the direction of the wind), one could also say that the keel is working quite well.

But the real problem is the explanation of lift based on pressure differences caused by the speed of the water on each side. It's not exactly false, but isn't this the same classically unhelpful explanation that implies a symmetric wing (such as an angled barn door) produces no lift?

Isn't it clearer to think about the angled keel pushing the water out of the way as it moves through the water? https://www.av8n.com/how/htm/airfoils.html. Or is there some difference about water and air that makes the Physics Today explanation more useful for keels on boats than for wings on planes? But then way do they say "just as for sails in the wind"?