MacGregorSailors.com

Answers to Bluffing Ricks Questions

In the MAC fleet - i am insinuating that the admirals club is almost exclusively mad up of femmes.

The beer, wine, and captain morgan spiced rum are gone - we don't leave any on the boat for safety reasons. imagine the issues if teens broke in and found that stuff. anarchy.

it is hard to not be careful with a top speed of 13mph (tank full). there has been no reason to think any part of the deck is dangerous so far. tubing is almost boring

11, 7, 7 last time out

I resemble that - - - and I never bluff unless I don't have anything

My wife has a tee shirt that says "When in doubt BLUFF". When she wears it she never bluffs and always gets called.

Rick

I don't think you're ever going to hit 20 MPH.

Sloop John B has had some interesting things to say about how Roger got the boat to 20 so he could put it in the brochure. Something about an unballasted Mac with no gear, cooler, cushions or carpet, driven by Pedro, a 70 lb. Mexican boy with nothing on but a pair of shorts.

Blake Beam
Beam's Reach

You are doing about right for 400# of crew on an M with a 60HP based on posts here. Getting another 3 mph would probably involve distributing the weight correctly to get the boat on plane.

A more honest way to represent this boats' performance is as 16 mph flat out, and comfortable 8-10 mph cruise capable

I knew - I just knew I would regret not getting that 90hp etec . crap!

DDB-

To each his own, but IMO, it sounds more like you're regretting buying a sailboat instead of buying a powerboat!

K9

Nah - its just that it is summer - and i am anxious to coerce the kids into boating life - that means tubes and knee boards not sails.

fall and spring in Atlanta will be sailing season for me and i am anxiously awaiting those times.

So i just want to get to a speed to interest the kids in tow sports - 13.8mph is not gonna do it...the rest is all icing.

Bob, My Yamaha 60 pulls the tube fine. Its not a ski boat but the kids will have plenty of fun. I dont think the 90 would get them too much extra fun than the 60. In other words, I dont think you are leaving too much fun on the table.

daydreamerbob wrote:Now should not the 60T push this thing faster? i cannot get to 20mph no matter what? does not make sense

Since I have to work today - Saturday May 31 and therefore cannot enjoy my own boat, I should at least take a moment to address the concerns of a laughing fellow rover.

Bob, your 16.8 mph max at wot seems fairly indicative of what many others have reported on the two Mac sites that have equipped their 26 M or X’s with 50-60 HP outboards. The only surefire obvious solution for more speed at wot, which I have been peddling to anyone who will listen for the last 4 years is to up grade to a larger outboard.

At the risk of annoying anyone with my repetition; I prefer the Tohatsu (Nissan) TLDI 90 HP at just under 320 lbs. If motoring speed is what you're after, without sacrificing sailing performance then go-for-it. But even with the larger motor in order to maintain any type of consistent performance from your outboard you will have to avoid collisions with any obstacles.

Kind Regards,
JonBill

DDBob - That 's the same thing I did...get the kids hooked on boating first by taking them out on the tube, gunkholing around the islands and finding secluded beaches to anchor off of for the night.

Once they realized the boat could be fun, then I worked on converting them to sailors!

Blake Beam
Beam's Reach

Beam's Reach wrote:.
Sloop John B has had some interesting things to say about how Roger got the boat to 20 so he could put it in the brochure. Something about an unballasted Mac with no gear, cooler, cushions or carpet, driven by Pedro, a 70 lb. Mexican boy with nothing on but a pair of shorts.
Blake Beam
Beam's Reach

I saw that kid in Costa Mesa - - - I wondered how he got a Mac

Rick

Couple of comments.

We finally got our Suzi 70 out of it's "break in" period and opened her up yesterday. Ballast in, 2 full sized adults and a kid we got up to 18-19mph. WOT was about 5000 RPM and I have no clue what prop BWY put on this thing. This is at about 5000' altitude and the bottom has gotten a bit dirty. I was impressed as were some on lookers at our marina. "What kind of motor do you have on that thing?"

People on the bow. You learned the danger of that already with the admiral fall. Last year on our lake a woman was killed when she was riding the bow, the boat hit a wave, she flipped over and the boat ran over her with the prop.
People on the bow can be dangerous and kids especially. Please please please be careful doing that, especially at high speeds and watch for waves.

Go to a 10 pitch large paddle prop.

RussMT wrote: People on the bow. You learned the danger of that already with the admiral fall. Last year on our lake a woman was killed when she was riding the bow, the boat hit a wave, she flipped over and the boat ran over her with the prop.
People on the bow can be dangerous and kids especially. Please please please be careful doing that, especially at high speeds and watch for waves.

Thank goodness SOMEBODY else agrees with me - - - bow riding is a dangerous practice, especially kids who think they are immortal. PLEASE be careful with this and warn your kids, even at 13 MPH - - - watch for waves is right. Pretty Please

Rick

OK - empty ballast me at 185 and my son at 130# 18.3mph WOT at 5800 RPM. Consistently 17.5 and above.

Question - Any gain with mast and boom left on Dock?

Assuming top speed is going to be 18.3 or less - on a relatively calm lake - how much concern is there about wife and kids tubing with no ballast - the boat handles great with just 2 of us in there and no ballast.

What if i shorten the tow rope?

would older kids get a thrill out of kneeboards or wakeboards at 14mph

DDB