26X First Sail

[Dutch01527]

I have just bought a 2000 26X and have just been on a shake down sail on Lake Windemere in the UK.

The boat has the following modifications ( I think that I have been lucky and a previous owner had been knowledgeable ):

- all lines back to cockpit
- 2 x treble lewmar rope clutches
- lewmar self tailing winches
- kicker (vang)
- adjustable back stay
- hydrolic steering
- cdi furler

I have added:
- new 40m Halyard that functions as 1) back up forestay 2) spinnaker halyard 3) mast raising system ( with pole). Works great.

Initial impressions are as follows:

Good(almost everything)
- the " not a proper sail boat" comments on various web sites are nonsense. It sailed well. Yes, it is tender but no more so that the racing boats of a similar size I have sailed on. Not as quick but still felt stable and reasonably fast. Just needs attention to gusts and a quick hand on releasing the main sheet.
- the "can not manoeuvre in the marina" comments are nonsense. With 1/4 keel down and rudders 3/4 down at slow speeds it was great, even when windy
- it balanced really well. With a bit of tweaking it sailed easily with no helm input
- it tacked well even in light winds when bearing off a bit and backing the jib flipped it around nicely

Not so good
- speed of rigging - has anyone found quick release pins that are safe and strong? Those Clevis pin rings are pain.
- main sheet cam cleat is wrongly rigged imho. It faces downwards and anyone stepping on the line can release it inadvertently - has anyone rigged it the other way around i.e: pull down to lock and up to release. Maybe needs it lowering?
- water ballast handle is too low to reach easily- mod ideas
- water ballast vent ( under v berth) is a pain to release / replace. I have read about the tube mod to anchor locker but is there an option to add a permanent air vent with a floating seal to prevent water exit?

Any ideas welcome.

[dlandersson]

Re: the water ballast handle is to low. I have always used a boat hook to pull it up and push it down.

[Tomfoolery]

Mine's on an extension. I just reach over the helm seat to push or pull. It's a bit exposed, but I've never bent or broken it, and from the look of it, it's been there a while like that.

[DaveC426913]

Re: the water ballast handle is to low. I have always used a boat hook to pull it up and push it down.

How often do y'all open it? (not including trailer launch/retrieve)

I almost never drain the ballast. I don't go full throttle nearly enough to ever bother dumping it.

[DaveC426913]

- main sheet cam cleat is wrongly rigged imho. It faces downwards and anyone stepping on the line can release it inadvertently - has anyone rigged it the other way around i.e: pull down to lock and up to release.

I have often thought it was poorly designed. Let me know how it goes if you try it.

[Herschel]

With 1/4 keel down and rudders 3/4 down at slow speeds it was great, even when windy

Glad you are enjoying your "new" sailboat. I agree with your assessment of her sailing capabilities. I did notice the reference to rudders 3/4 down. I, too use the centerboard partially down for docking, but I carefully avoid any "in between" setting on my rudders as I have found that there is a "unsweet spot" where, in a tight turn, the rudders and the prop occupy the same space where the prop always wins. Now I could be wrong about your rig because I have the original rudders on a 1998 26X, and my understanding is that the rudders changed after that. Perhaps, it is not an issue with the 2000. thought I would mention it just in case. I am careful to avoid rudders in a 1/2 or horizontal position when there is any chance of a need to turn the wheel. So I just don't ever do it because it is such a vulnerable position to put the rudders in. I just do all the way up or all the way down even for docking.

[Azzarac]

Welcome aboard Dutch and congrats on your new purchase. I'd say your evaluation of the is spot-on. As for the vent system, here is what the original owner did for Chameleon and I love this system: http://svchameleon.weebly.com/ballast-a ... ystem.html

As for rigging I use these 1/4" spring loaded quick release pins: http://svchameleon.weebly.com/johnson-lever.html. Not exactly what they were designed for but they are solid stainless steel and have never failed, bent, or shown any other signs of fatigue over the last few years of use.

As for rudder position, I have to agree with Herschel here. Up or Down. There is just too much chance of over stressing the rudder or mount in any other position and while I haven't checked our 97's clearance to the prop under full swing it is now on my list to look at. Maybe I'll get around to it today when I change out the impeller on our Honda BF50... Yeah, gotta get that spring maintenance done...

[NiceAft]

Dutch,

Congrats on the boat, and the apparent good deal with its purchase. I do have a question. You have hydraulic steering on your Mac All of the other respondents do not mention this, so maybe I'm a little behind the times. Really, hydraulic Don't you find it a little slow to respond

Ray

[dlandersson]

Ditto

With 1/4 keel down and rudders 3/4 down at slow speeds it was great, even when windy

Glad you are enjoying your "new" sailboat. I agree with your assessment of her sailing capabilities. I did notice the reference to rudders 3/4 down. I, too use the centerboard partially down for docking, but I carefully avoid any "in between" setting on my rudders as I have found that there is a "unsweet spot" where, in a tight turn, the rudders and the prop occupy the same space where the prop always wins. Now I could be wrong about your rig because I have the original rudders on a 1998 26X, and my understanding is that the rudders changed after that. Perhaps, it is not an issue with the 2000. thought I would mention it just in case. I am careful to avoid rudders in a 1/2 or horizontal position when there is any chance of a need to turn the wheel. So I just don't ever do it because it is such a vulnerable position to put the rudders in. I just do all the way up or all the way down even for docking.

[Dutch01527]

Thanks for the replies. There were a couple of questions asked.

- the rudders 3/4 down was only used at very slow speeds. I was a bit worried about the stories of poor handling and the were a lot of very expensive boats in the marina that I really did not want to hit. Maybe my set up is different but they are clear of the prop at all angles/heights. I think that the loading at 3 mph in the marina should be less stress than a tight turn when sailing in heavy conditions with them fully down. I will experiment with fully down though to see if the responsiveness suffers.

- the hydrolic steering is great. No lag and good feel. It seems to hold its position so that if you have helm on and let go of the wheel it does not jump back to centre. Some sort of non return valve I think. It is an Australian system which I believe is the market leader but have forgotten the name.

- the ballast lever concern is probably not a major issue in reality. It just seems badly designed in that leaning over or lifting the stern seat is bad practice on a boat that is moving around. I thought of extending it but I am sure I would end up bending it. Maybe some sort of continuous line system to a block below it might work. Pull one way to open and the other to close. I will have an experiment.

- I think that I will try a second main sheet with each fixed to the track on the cockpit combing. That should give the advantages of a traveller, enable the cam cleats to be the right way up and reduce the impact of accidental gybes. I got the idea from this forum.

The other thing that I did was fit a adjustable 4 blade plastic prop from Propulse which dramatically improved the performance under power. I live on a major river with a 8mph speed limit so can adjust the prop to high pitch for river cruising with low revs and low pitch when I am on the sea/lake for improved acceleration out of the hole. I achieved 12 mph with full balast and the masts up which I think is ok for a 50hp Yamaha. The original prop only delivered 9 mph and did not really get the boat planing.

I have a friend who is a international class racer and I am going to ask him out for a day or two and ask him to recommend how to rig the boat. I used to crew for him on his racing boat and he is a genius at squeezing out the last bit of performance. I will report back what he advises. I did not buy the boat for speed but I find the challenge of achieving best performance/efficiency interesting.

[Tomfoolery]

the ballast lever concern is probably not a major issue in reality. It just seems badly designed in that leaning over or lifting the stern seat is bad practice on a boat that is moving around. I thought of extending it but I am sure I would end up bending it. Maybe some sort of continuous line system to a block below it might work. Pull one way to open and the other to close. I will have an experiment.

As DaveC alluded to, it's not something you work very often, so it doesn't have to be very convenient. I only open mine when I'm about to put it on the trailer, so the water starts draining as soon as the bow hits the little vee-bunk, or when I need to drain it for pulling a wakeboard. But in either case, it's easy enough in calm water, and not a big deal (with the extension) in rough water.

I'd be curious to hear how, and what, your friend does with squeezing extra performance from the boat. <hint, hint>

[Jimmyt]

I dump the ballast before heading to the ramp. Lift the seat and open the valve at idle is no problem on the M. Closing it while underway after draining is complete is a different issue. I am in an open part of a river with someone else on the helm, open the seat and push the handle down with my foot.

I like the idea of a handle extension... I think the admiral goosed the throttle the last time I stepped down to close the valve while planing.

[dlandersson]

Not often. Every now and then I'll open it up, go WOT and see how fast she'll go - or when tubing the kids

Re: the water ballast handle is to low. I have always used a boat hook to pull it up and push it down.

How often do y'all open it? (not including trailer launch/retrieve)

I almost never drain the ballast. I don't go full throttle nearly enough to ever bother dumping it.

[dlandersson]

Yup, we were gonna split the insurance.

I dump the ballast before heading to the ramp. Lift the seat and open the valve at idle is no problem on the M. Closing it while underway after draining is complete is a different issue. I am in an open part of a river with someone else on the helm, open the seat and push the handle down with my foot.

I like the idea of a handle extension... I think the admiral goosed the throttle the last time I stepped down to close the valve while planing.

[Jimmyt]

Hmm. That would explain a lot.