MacGregorSailors.com

I tossed macgregors on the rocks for 40 days and I lost my truck, my dog, and my wife signed me up for AA.....

300 hundred pounds of lead in a mac! No way, thats like 500 dollars. Rodger mac would never get that elaborate and wasteful with his money. it's 300 pounds of sand and resin if the truth be told.

A quick update. Last time I went out I dived down and checked the daggerboard. It was well cracked and a chunk missing from the back. I couldn't believe the damage given the modest impact but perhaps it had been damaged before (the boat is third hand) or perhaps I hit it harder than I thought.

Anyway, it was a great sailing day so off we went and had a good time. At the beginning of the day I could still retract the daggerboard but not so at the end of the day! This afternoon I dropped it out the bottom of the boat with lines attached and then snagged them with the boat hook and pulled it on the dock.

It was a total right off and in the end I cut the few glass fibers holding it together and took it away in two pieces. The worst part was the walk of shame up from the slip and past the club house!

A new one from BW Yachts is US$ 460 + US$ 30 crate + shipping so I'm crying in my beer tonight.........

Cheers,
Richard.

Save the old daggerboard - good weekend project to rebuild as a spare. Build up the damaged areas and patch together the pieces with just about anything - wood, metal, fiberglass, rebar, whatever. Just make sure everything is coated in resin and maintain the airfoil shape. Even though I have traditionally used epoxy, polyester resin is pretty cheap. A layer or two of fiberglass cloth over the repair will hold it together well.
One trick that worked for me was that after I got things kind of put back together, I took a sheet of thick plastic and a few boards - wrapped the plastic around the damaged area to act as a mold release and provide a smooth surface and clamped the boards from the good part over the bad part. Filled with resin and after setting, removed the boards and plastic and had a pretty good and smooth airfoil shape.

1 - every sailor runs aground at some point. The dagger down just ensures damage unfortunately. Fortunately it is a good circuit breaker and nothing else gets damaged.

2 - You are paying about $100 more than I have paid in Canada for a dagger shipped from the US. Shop around!

Rob

Kohi wrote:A quick update. Last time I went out I dived down and checked the daggerboard. It was well cracked and a chunk missing from the back. I couldn't believe the damage given the modest impact but perhaps it had been damaged before (the boat is third hand) or perhaps I hit it harder than I thought.

Anyway, it was a great sailing day so off we went and had a good time. At the beginning of the day I could still retract the daggerboard but not so at the end of the day! This afternoon I dropped it out the bottom of the boat with lines attached and then snagged them with the boat hook and pulled it on the dock.

It was a total right off and in the end I cut the few glass fibers holding it together and took it away in two pieces. The worst part was the walk of shame up from the slip and past the club house!

A new one from BW Yachts is US$ 460 + US$ 30 crate + shipping so I'm crying in my beer tonight.........

Cheers,
Richard.

No that would be 300# pounds of sand & resin moulded into the trunk base

J

I agree the sand and resin are molded into the bottom of the hull, not the dagger board. I am a old fat, and weak ,retired accountant (fortunately I do have some other more positive attributes ). But, even I could lift the dagger board out of the trunk. I can't lift 300 lbs.

The sales literature I remember reading, and the video, just says it's 300# of permanent ballast...doesn't say what it is...

Truthfully, does it matter what it is?

I'm not sure where I heard "lead" from--I may have just assumed it. All the documentation does just say permanent ballast. Sand and resin it is.

The new board IS about $460! I just got a new one from Bill at Boats4Sail after the Lake Winnebago sharks tried to eat mine. The prices almost doubled after the first of the year.
Do we blame CA pollution regulations?

The sand monster reached up from the deep and grabbed my keel a couple of times this last weekend. Sure wasn't my fault. Guess from the sounds of this board I will have to crawl under the boat and have a look.
Ron

[Thanking God I have a swing-keel]

Truthfully, does it matter what it is?

...let's not start that thread again.....

I think it's canned Higgs Bosons......or maybe encapsulated spotted dick....

Kind of makes the swing keel more attractive, Da?

Y.B.Normal wrote:The new board IS about $460! I just got a new one from Bill at Boats4Sail after the Lake Winnebago sharks tried to eat mine. The prices almost doubled after the first of the year.
Do we blame CA pollution regulations?

Cptron - Do you use a depth finder? I would think that would help in the river. Was wondering what it's range might be and if you had one that it might be too late for your daggerboard by the time you see that you are in shallow water . . . I was thinking that maybe I would keep the daggerboard about 3/4 way down outside the shipping channel for insurance.

cptron wrote:The sand monster reached up from the deep and grabbed my keel a couple of times this last weekend. Sure wasn't my fault. Guess from the sounds of this board I will have to crawl under the boat and have a look.
Ron