Actual rigging time

[Rafael]

I've probably watched that Mac Factory (55min) videos more than 15 times already and like the boat more an more every time.

I was wondering what you guys that actually trailer the boat often think about it. How easy and time consuming it is to set up everything ans start sailing. Am I looking at 30 min or 2 hours from when I pull to the ramp till I am out in the water?

The video makes it look super fast and easy. But I also see race cars having the 4 tires changed and the tank filled up in less than 10 secs and it sill takes me a lot longer just to change a single flat.

Thanks

[Russ]

Oh, some will claim speedy times at this chore. From the time I pull into the ramp area until she's floating takes me a while (90 minutes or more). Much of that is I'm slow at it and have a lot of stuff to put on (wind indicator, antenna, etc.)
Take out takes me longer because I'm so careful about tying stuff down and putting things away.

If I didn't slip my boat, I'd store it mast up. That way all I would have to do is hook it up and down the ramp.

Some have claimed 30 minutes to rig and launch their boats. I guess it depends on the person. Little in the video is not exaggerated. The Mac is a great boat but not as simple as Roger makes it out to be. 25mph with a 50hp motor, yeah right.


--Russ

[AlaskaMan]

It takes me at least 90 minutes to have Mental Floss ready to go once she's in the water.

[Fxwg80hd]

I use a boat ramp that allows me to do all the rigging before I launch the boat. Still it takes me about 90 minutes from the time I pull in till the time I pulling away from the ramp and ready to sail. Times are improving the more I do it. I believe the very first time took me 2.5 hours. Since I keep my 26m on a boat lift at my house, I do not get that much practice trailering (just lower and go). I'm pretty sure if I launched from the trailer every weekend, I could get the time down to under an hour.

- Chris

[Catigale]

Give yourself an hour...it takes me 90 minutes to launch for Cuttyhunk, but that includes prepping the boat, two dinghies, and 6 kids and gear and stuff for 7 days cruising ...

[pokerrick1]

I was slow and it took me 45 min to an hour, if I had no help; if I had help, it took longer. However, I quickly tired of this and put it in mast-up storage - -- and then quickly tired of that and put it in a slip (slips are best). Do your rigging on land on the trailer -- - that way you don't have to worry about falling into the water (you just have to worry about falling onto the pavement and breaking your neck) I rarely trailered anywhere unless I was going to stay for AT LEAST several days, because I did nt want to lose two hours sailing time rigging and derigging. Big Bear Lake was only was only 18 miles from me; but I only took it there once because of the lost rigging time - - - as well as "discussing" with Lake Patrol people whether the boat was 25 or 26 feet (maxmun there 25') - --that's when your 25' 10" boat becomes 25' not 26' as it says on the side.

Rick

PS Pull the trigger and buy it now! I didn't pull the trigger for 15 years and lost 15 years sailing time!

[mackatt68]

Not to be a shill , but there's the Speedy Rigger video available the this site's catalog ( I never bought one, so I can't vouch for it) When we did trailer sail our 26X it seemed to take forever, mostly because we never developed a system, so we'd also plan to stay at least a week. Now that we slip it and store it mast up in the winter it's become a moot point

[dennisneal]

We keep our boat on our driveway. So, before we leave the house we load all of our gear into the boat: clothes, food, ice, etc., etc.

Once we pull into the marina about all we have to do before going to the ramp is raise the mast. On a good day that takes about 40 minutes with two people who cooperate with each other. I've done it by myself and it took well over an hour and fifteen minutes. Speedy times come with practice.

We've tried mast-up storage and its been my experience that it didn't make things a lot faster, or easier. For example: instead of loading our gear into the boat directly at home, we had to load our gear into our truck, then reload it from our truck into the boat. Also, we had to wash the boat before going home, rather than leaving the marina and washing the boat at home at a convenient time.

Maybe Superman can raise the mast in the times specified in the factory video, but I'm 68 years old and I can't.

[pmcco]

I trailer my x all the time and can rig it in about 30 min. I do leave every thing hooked up but the front and rear stays so that when the mast is up all I have to do is hook them up and put on the boom ( the main stays on the boom). I know someone that keeps his boom and main on the mast all the time. I will try that next spring. If there are other sailboats around it does take me longer because I like to look at the other boats.
Patrick

[Erik Hardtle]

I am not bragging... but when I arrive at the launch, I can have mine rigged in 15 Minutes. By myself... The Admiral just holds the docking lines.

You can ask Victor (26X Compromise) and Billy (26X Double Cross) for proof of performance.

How can I do it?

1. Dual Axle Trailer.
- I have everything I need for the trip already loaded on the boat.
2. 26M Mast Raising Kit
- Makes putting the mast up faster and easier then the X raising kit.
3. Roller Furlng Jib
- No hanking on
4. Boom on Mast storage
- I keep my boom attached with the sail on it and have a sunbrella cover on it (see my website for pics of mod)
5. Boat next to my house
- I keep the boat stored next to my house and load up there and have a large tarp over it (keeps it clean)

[Don T]

Hello,
Lynn and I average 45 minutes. It seems the older we get and the less we use the boat we begin to get steps out of order. That being said if we have kids and/or grandkids along, it doubles to 90 minutes (managing them while they're supposed to be helping).

[nedmiller]

We rig on every trip. At the first of the season it takes a bit over an hour. In fact, the first run may take a couple of hours getting everything sorted. After that it gets down to about 45 min with both of us working efficiently. If I get the tandem axle and can load everything in the boat we might get it down to 35 min. I'm going to try keeping the boom on the mast to save that time on our next trip. We try and leave all lines connected, etc.

SILK

[Doug W]

I started practicing rigging at home before the 2010 sailing season started. At first, it was easily taking me 90 minutes (if I left the sail on the furler and boom).
I watched both the factory DVD and both speedy rigger DVD's many more times than the rest of the family could handle... I picked up a lot of little tips from the speedy DVD even though it is with an . By the time we got to the water in March, I had it down to 60-70 minutes.

We rig every time we go out. The Admiral and I have a system now where we each know what needs to be done. I have made a lot of tweaks to our procedure, replaced some hardware. Made a boom extention so that I can leave the forsail on--even during transport. If I preload the cooler, meal baskets and kits (clothing and stuffs) before leaving home, we've cut our time down drastically. With the latest rounds of hardware replacement/modifications, we have cut the rigging time down to a leisurely 35 minutes. I think by the end of next season, we'll be at 20-25 minutes but I cannot see a way for us to cut our rigging time shorter than that. I am semi- anal and double/triple check to make sure everything has been done correctly. hmmmm, if I stored the main boom on deck or even better, on the mast-- I could see getting close to the 15-20 minute window.

Derigging is another story. It seems to take 45-60 minutes--generally because we have people come around and ask questions and/or tour the boat. I'm a proud papa with her and love to show her off. Ironically, my fastest derigging times, aside from one in a major thunderstorm where my son and I were extremely motivated to get the mast down (lots of lightning), have been fastest when we derig in the dark at night...nobody to slow me down. Angie fell asleep in the truck one night and I de-rigged the boat in 30 minutes without any help.

I am fortunate to be both strong and energetic for my age. Spastic is the word my Admiral uses... I hope you find the Mac to be the boat for you. I do not regret my decision to buy mine.

Hey, Silk! I've been keeping an eye out for your Mac on the lakes! Perhaps, next summer we'll meet up! Just look for the pretty blue boat usually doing something totally foolhardy...
...Doug
http://starsloop.blogspot.com

[Hamin' X]

Rigging for day sail is about 30 minutes, single handed. When I first started with my X, it was about an hour. This is from arrival at ramp, to launch. Take down is about 45 mins., because of securing everything. Roller furled foresail and boom in cabin, with sail attached.

~Rich

[magnetic]

From Morwenna's new swing mooring at http://www.360cities.net/image/tai-mei- ... -2.05,40.0 it now takes me the thick end of 8 minutes to get free and sailing; the previous pontoons in Dubai Creek and Aberdeen Marina Club were significantly quicker - probably less than 3 minutes (2 of which was spent dropping the rudders and daggerboard).

I am not being complacent; I am trying to reinforce the point made above about how much quicker life is without having to trailer and if you keep the sails on the boom and furler. Again, without wishing to sound cyncial or flippant, I think my all-time record for launching her singlehanded from her trailer was probably slightly over 3 hours before I felt ready to power up the engine - and at least 20 minutes of that would be spent trying to get the forestay to stretch, and another 20 spent putting elastoplast on the resulting blisters. The I had previously was far, far more straightforward (no spreaders!) and the Beneteau 343 I ran for 18 months needed a boatyard and a significant lottery win to adjust the rigging, let alone step the mast or anything like that.

There is no doubt that having a systematic and well-rehearsed approach will speed things up immensely; however, I certainly prefer spending an extra 2 hrs 52 minutes sailing each time I visit the boat, compared to the nice-in-theory life of a trailer-sailor. The downside is that the bottom of my boat looks like a cross between a strip of Velcro and a gravel pathway. That having been said, I did see off a Hunter 27 in a clean fight this afternoon - F4, flat calm water, took me about 2 nm to pass him to windward, having started out 500 yds behind him. The traveller works wonders, but on one occasion when I manually rotated the mast into the breeze, I lost about a knot of SOG. Wierd!