JohnnyOnTheSpot:

If the mizzen mast is ahead of the rudder...its a ketch; even if it says its a yawl. If a rat called itself a lion it would still be a rat (with an attitude maybe).

That mizzen mast (on a ketch) needs to be shorter than the main mast or it would be a schooner.

I corresponded with the owner of that boat a few years ago. Alexander seemed to be a very knowledgable and experienced sailor, third generation professional mariner. He liked the basic design ideas of the Mac S but felt it needed a lot of changes to be reliable on Lake Superior where he took extende...

There is absolutely no reason why anyone should experience a knock-down on this boat unless you are an inexperinced sailor or are experienced and pushing the boat beyond its limits. Sailing in 35 knot winds is crazy. The boat has no business being out in this kind of weather unless you got caught u...

I got knocked down when there was not enough wind to ruffle the sails. Four souls aboard. Sails luffing and Admiral on the tiller. I was below with 1 guest. Suddenly the boat was on its side and one crew member was hanging on to the high side screaming that he was going over. The wind was the strong...

Deep reefing is sometimes necessary. When you have to sail away from a problem like a lee shore and the iron genny is ineffective because the prop keeps coming out of the water, it is comforting to know that you can reduce sail to whatever size is appropriate. Those of you familiar with roller furli...

I was reporting above on one successful deployment of a sea anchor in fairly moderate storm conditions. This was my first attempt. The series drogue may well have performed better; but remember I wanted to avoid being taken into the middle of the (Great) lake where I surmised that the waves would be...

ModEdit: Sea Anchor/Drogue discussion vector, Split from Beaufort Limits thread ~fc . . . being out in 70+ knots in a Mac is another story! More details please. Eric, You joined this group too late to see the thread that (partially) described his 10 years on Zeno's Arrow . Since Mike Dunn is an inf...

Beene: It would be fun to sail with you. Let's do it! There was an opportunity to reef the following day in less than 20 knots and I took it. Next time I'll reef for certain. The boat handled superbly on Saturday (unlike me). Only one wave washed over completely, the rest was just spray and not that...

The weather man seemed to err all weekend. The Admiral and I decided to head for Toronto from Oakville (20 NMs). We checked two sources for weather. Light and variable was the forecast so I was wondering whether there would be enough wind. It was evident leaving the harbor that the weather man was w...

I was considering the purchase of a Simrad TP 10 for my M26S. It seems like a very strong and simple tiller pilot. Not many bells and whistles...and that's just fine with me. There is less to go wrong with it. Where can you get one for $US 280.00 That looks like a very good price if it is new and no...

James V wrote: The Keys and Bahamas the Mac is a fine boat, getting to Belize may be a problem except by car unless Cuba upens up to us from the USA. I think Keys and Bahamas will be OK too. As a Canuck, I shouldn't have any issues with Cuba nor the Coast Guard. My concern is the distance in the Flo...

I have had a 1990 26S since 2004. Having sailed as a kid and then later as a young adult on a Laser and several windsurfers, I'd never been on a keelboat. This summer I did some club racing on a Niagara 31 and learned to appreciate the heavy racer-cruiser. It is definitely more comfortable in rough ...

They Theirs produced a nice posting on this thread that included links to videos. The links appear to be broken.

I sure would like to see that video.

I was planning to go into shallow water to moor so I retracted the centerboard and dropped the sails. The main stuck about half way so I went ondeck to help it down. The waves were running about 3-4 feet and the boat turned beam to the waves. With me on deck and the board retracted, the waves caused...

Maddmike's centerboard mod and the miles he has on it, shows that a slightly longer (2') and slightly heavier board is no problem with a little beefing up of the slot. His experience of better pointing is the encouraging result. I would like to propose a mod that would keep the retractability featur...