So where were y'all today

[Tripp Gal]

It was absolutely gorgeous today. We cast off at 5:30 am to make Shilshole to pick up crew at 7:30am. The sunrise was something out of a Kinkade painting and the winds were a beautiful 10-15 all day long.

The race we participated in was a 26 mile hike from Shilshole to Possession Pt and had 90 boats out on the line. The boats that are similar in speed as a MacGregor finished the course in 5 hours and a few minutes all under sunshine.

There were 90 racers out on the water today, not a cruiser one was spotted however including a Mac. So get out there and go sailing! Who cares if it was 47 degrees.

[Chinook]

Driveway mooring slip still snowed in here on the east side of the mountains, but I'm itching to get the boat wet. Nothing more beautiful than Puget Sound on a sunny day. Can't wait to cross the pass and get out.

[Richard O'Brien]

... and the winds were a beautiful 10-15 all day long.
The race we participated in was a 26 mile hike from Shilshole to Possession Pt. The boats that are similar in speed as a MacGregor finished the course in 5 hours and a few minutes

Tripp! Glad to see You're still around. Do you mean that they were only making 4+ knots with that much wind? Darn! That sounds a little disappointing to me. Only three weeks to go here Snowing tonight.

[Tripp Gal]

5.2 hours, 26.1 miles= 5 knots VMG.
VMG (velocity made good) is decieveng however, let's take a look at the stats of our boat for the day.
Course Length, 26.1nm
Elapsed Time: 3:34

VMG: 7.43 which means that if we sailed in a perfectly straight line the entire course without tacks or gybes then we would have had a velocity of 7.43. Velocity made good completely ignores all the tacks and gybes you have to do on a course and looks only at the "as the crow flies" distance/time ratio.

When I pulled up the data for the race off the computer it turns out that we actually sailed 34.4 miles to get around the course, with an average boatspeed of 9.8 knots. Which makes sense when compared to our boatspeed #'s and SOG (speed over ground)#'s observed over the day. We had 8 tacks and 1 gybe over the course of the day wich accounts for the difference in distance between the rhumbline course and our actual sailed miles.

So with that example in mind you can probably expect that the other boats sailed approximately 34.4 miles as well (accounting for variations in tactics, current, pointing angles, downwind angles, wind oscillations, and boat sideslip variations). With that estimation, the boats similar in speed to a Mac are better estimated with an average boatspeed of 6.5 knots or so.

Does that make sense?

[Sloop John B]

Yes.

But, what is a boat similar in speed to a Mac? I hope you weren't referring to the dorky looking tubs.

[Mark Prouty]

So get out there and go sailing! Who cares if it was 47 degrees.

The lakes are still frozen.

[Tripp Gal]

Dorky? That's a bit subjective don't you think? Besides it kind of doesn't make a difference how the boat looks as it's observed performance rating is based on boat speed.

The boats who were in the class where a Mac would have been range from Columbia 26, Morgan 27, Erickson 27, T-Birds, Cat27 and Santana 20's. The T-birds, Santana 20, and Erickson 27 are the hot boats to beat in that fleet regardless of the wind speed.

[Tripp Gal]

So get out there and go sailing! Who cares if it was 47 degrees.

The lakes are still frozen.

Put some skis on the bottom and ice boat.

[delevi]

We had snow in San Francisco the last couple of days. Go figure.

[Jeff S]

So get out there and go sailing! Who cares if it was 47 degrees.

Was out sailing yesterday all day, and motored a half day today, overnight on the boat last night. Only 5-10 knots of wind, but high 70s and sunny. (Beaufort, NC)


Jeff S

[kmclemore]

Wish I'd been out sailing. It's been a beautiful couple of days here in Philadelphia - record temp of 76F degrees on Friday, and almost as warm on Saturday. But, sadly, I had to spend yesterday preparing the leaf blower, chipper and snowblower for their long summer storage (oil changes, plugs cleaned & gapped, gas stabilised, air filters cleaned/replaced and cylinders oiled), and cleaning up the garage and workshop after a cold winter of just throwing things in there.

It's rainy here today, though, so I'm off to the workshop to begin assembling the little 1100cc motor that I'm rebuilding for my wife's 1968 Morris Minor Traveller. Say... do you think I can tow the Mac with it?

[waternwaves]

tripp,


c'mon

you really dont think a couple crewed Mac can do anything but give a rudder chase to anything like a Columbia 26, Morgan 27, Erickson 27, T-Birds, Cat27 and Santana 20's


The only time I would even see them would be reaching or running with more than 15 kts wind,


Even if they give me 270 I spend way too much time going upwind

Do I hear someone willing to give 310 (if I am single handing????)

[delevi]

I thought Roger said that the Mac is the fastest trailerable sailboat in production

on edit:

Actually mine is pretty fast. It wasn't so when I first got it, but after some tuning and tweaking and perhaps some newly acquired sailing skills, I can give some of the bigger keel boats on SF Bay a run for their money. Of course, others blow right by me, particularly the multi-hulls. All in all, though certainly not a speedster, I don't agree with the notion that the Mac is a Winnebago on water or a slug, etc. Frankly, though, my Mac is the only real boat I sailed other than Hobie cats in the Caribbean so I don't have anything to compare to. I checked out the Catalina 25 at a boat show a few months ago and it certainly didn't look nearly as impressive as the Mac in blue standing next to it. No comparison as far as cabin accommodations, though the cockpit is larger and wider. I asked my dealer, who was showing the Mac sitting next to the Catalina how the two compare, and he said the Mac is much faster than the water-ballasted version of the Catalina 25. He wasn't sure about the wing keel version. He felt that would be a close race with the edge maybe going to the Cat25.

Leon

[Tripp Gal]

Actually I think that it's very possible based at the rating of the mac 26 is no worse a candidate than some of the other boats in the fleet. Smart moves on the course and good boat handling are what's really needed to make huge gains over the course, no matter what fleet you are discussing.

If you look at the level 135 fleet here you will find that even though all the boats are equally rated they all have different strengths. Some are upwind screamers, some are downwind surfers, some only move on a reach, and other are light air only or heavy air only boats. it doesn't stop the fleet from showing up each week.

I mean really, a Baba 30 is about the furthest thing from a race boat and yet they still get out there and even manage wins!

[argonaut]

Sailed Saturday & Sunday. Motored under two bridges then stepped the mast. Almost had to tow a disabled inboard in sailing to our destination. He was bobbing around, as we sailed past he yelled "hey... my engine's dead... can ya tow me?". It was getting late & I guess a sailboat looked like his last possible daylight tow. We came about, dropped sails and motored over, then he got it running again (water hose?) so we continued motoring to an ICW island and anchored out. Enjoyed the sunset, swam, watched dolphins, cooked supper, showered off with the garden sprayer. (man that's great!) Slept like a log. Sailed most of the next day, 10-15 kt wind S-SE, high 70s, low humidity. Then unstepped the mast, under the bridges and back home. Had a great time. Wish you were here.