Brand new mac owner

[OverEasy]

Hi All!

Be Free: This sport is supposed to be fun. There will always be a slight, usually manageable bit of danger inherent in taking a small boat out on the water but there is no reason to remove one of the central safety features of the boat for a slight, theoretical increase in speed or acceleration. That's not fun, that's folly.

Russ: The safety decal clearly states to fill the ballast. The part that says "see manual for exceptions" seems foolish

I fully agree with both Be Free and Russ!

When things screw up on the water people inevitably get hurt and endangered.
People surrounding the event try to help and also become endangered as well.
The local emergency services often then also have to get involved and become endangered and tie-up community resources unnecessarily.
It’s more than folly and foolishness —— It’s STUPID!

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[tuxonpup]

I've sailed many boats that were not self-righting but all of them were small enough that they could be righted by myself without any additional assistance. I don't think I could right my "X" on my own and I really don't want to find out one way or the other.

Hence me saying if you want to play Evel Knievel, you better be near a tow and haul out service, no way you're righting a 26' boat that turtles. And remember, even Evel wore a helmet.

I only mention it as the wink MacGregor used in his marketing materials was indeed acted upon by the first owner I met. He also had a self installed internal gasoline tank that I could smell from the cabin. Hence I chose to fly to another city and buy a more stock example from that model year.

[OverEasy]

I only mention it as the wink MacGregor used in his marketing materials was indeed acted upon by the first owner I met. He also had a self installed internal gasoline tank that I could smell from the cabin. Hence I chose to fly to another city and buy a more stock example from that model year.

Smart Move!!!

[Russ]

I only mention it as the wink MacGregor used in his marketing materials was indeed acted upon by the first owner I met. He also had a self installed internal gasoline tank that I could smell from the cabin. Hence I chose to fly to another city and buy a more stock example from that model year.

Yea, internal fuel tanks require special considerations. If you SMELL fuel, it's not done right. Most boat explosions are from gasoline fumes. Somewhere on this forum a member had his fuel tanks leak into the motorwell and leak into his boat cabin via the drain. He wisely called the FD and had a big mess to deal with. No booms.

Roger really pushed the marketing. Even his video of Mike Inmon out on the roaring ocean is a bit deceptive. Not a good idea.

My rule is NEVER EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES sail without ballast. We already own compromise boats, so performance should never enter our minds.

I'm at the point where I fully expect every other sailboat to smoke me in performance. I don't care. I'm not out there to get anywhere fast or I'd just fire up the iron genny. Floating along is peaceful and all I need.

[dlandersson]

It isn't?

Even his video of Mike Inmon out on the roaring ocean is a bit deceptive. Not a good idea.

[Gotro]

I sail and motor full ballast and board down most of the time. I will pull up the swing keel up down wind. Don’t try to motor with mast up and board up with no ballast around a bunch of other boats . Admiral and I tryed this once and the wakes from other boats causes violent uncontrollable rocking. It was my second time out on my new Mac 26 x I know better now.

[OverEasy]

Hi All! )

Just for the purposes of defining that crazy is as crazy does is there anyone out there loony enough to sit in basically a semi sealed 5 foot 4 inch long bathtub for 106 days without interruption or resupply to simply have the bragging rights to having crossed the Atlantic???

The smallest boat to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean is Father's Day, a sailboat measuring 5 feet 4 inches (1.62 meters) in length. It was sailed by Hugo Vihlen from Newfoundland, Canada, to Falmouth, England, in 1993, taking 106 days


I believe that must be close to the same speed of crossing as an untethered “No Wake” buoy would match …..( my bet would be on the buoy )

So there are always gonna be ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’ out there doing dumb stuff…..

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[dlandersson]

Next trick - going over Niagra Falls.

Hi All! )

Just for the purposes of defining that crazy is as crazy does is there anyone out there loony enough to sit in basically a semi sealed 5 foot 4 inch long bathtub for 106 days without interruption or resupply to simply have the bragging rights to having crossed the Atlantic???

The smallest boat to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean is Father's Day, a sailboat measuring 5 feet 4 inches (1.62 meters) in length. It was sailed by Hugo Vihlen from Newfoundland, Canada, to Falmouth, England, in 1993, taking 106 days


I believe that must be close to the same speed of crossing as an untethered “No Wake” buoy would match …..( my bet would be on the buoy )

So there are always gonna be ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’ out there doing dumb stuff…..

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[socalmacer]

An empty ballast did not end well for these boaters.....https://abc7.com/post/1-person-killed-a ... /15505960/

[OverEasy]

Hi SoCalMacer!

Thanks for that last post!
It’s tragic that this happened but from the way the boat is sitting it surely looks like the ballast was not full when it was out in strong winds.
One can only surmise that whoever was responsible for the boat’s operation and personnel onboard didn’t properly fill the ballast tank.
This is because the way it is floating on its side. If the ballast had been properly filled the weight and center of gravity of the full ballast tank would have self righted the boat. Instead it’s on its side.

Either it was empty or worse only partially filled. Yes it is worse to have a partially filled water ballast tank! The full ballast tank is a static defined moment load that is defined and stable. It doesn’t shift around. A partially filled ballast tank is anything but static, or defined and it shifts around a lot!

The built in floatation fully appears to have worked in that even though capsized and on its side it remained afloat.
If the ballast tank had been properly filled the boat would have been able to self right and it may have been possible to have better outcome from this tragic event.

Sad…..

Best Regards,
Over Easy