Using the Mac as a powerboat only? No mast, no rigging.

[Spirit of the Wind]

I sail out of Belleville, Ontario on the Bay of Quinte, St. Lawrence River or Lake Ontario, but once a season we leave the mast behind and cruise either the Rideau or the Trent Severn canal systems. Before we moved from St. Petersburg, we sailed exclusively. That versatility is the main reason I bought the boat in 1996 and I have yet to regret it.

Bob Cameron

[kmclemore]

This past season we had *planned* to sail the Mac, but due to a serious injury I was unable to sail her, so we took the mast off and ran power-only. Spent our summer holiday on Lake Winnepesaukee that way, too. Actually, I think she looks pretty sharp that way.

How do you protect your bottom when pulling up to shore like that? Do you use a keelguard or some other sort of protector? If so, how well does it work?

Actually, although it looks like I'm beached in that picture, we're not. I had an aft line out with an anchor... I dropped it on the way into shore and payed it out until we almost reach shore, then I cleated it off on an aft cleat (click on the picture, and if you look very carefully you can just see the line running aft near the base of the upraised rudder)... then I went forward and installed the land anchor & line which you can see in the picture. (The bottom was sandy and had a number of small pebbles and rocks, so would not have been the best place to park it!)

Dropping anchor on the way in....


My eldest son watches carefully for obstructions as I slowly approach the shore....


Now fully anchored out, you can see the bottom a bit better in this shot... not something you'd want to sink your bow into!


This method of beach landing is kind of a reversed verson of the more tradional "Mediterranean Mooring" as shown below:

[Rolf]

While my family and I do not sail any part of our 20 mile each way Catalina trips, I find the mast helps counter balance the boat better(along with the 80 pound dinghy on deck) against our 310 pound 90 tldi on transom, 20 gallons of gas, wife and kid in cockpit, and 300 pounds of gear below(boat pics under TO boat show dowsar thread in mods section).

This is without ballast under all conditions but especially when planing at 18 knots. Also the mast up gives me the feeling of security even tho I carry a capable 3.5 horse I can use as backup.

Little more setup time but worth it if going for at least one night. Must admit however I would do a lot more daytrips if didn't have to deal with mast-- but then again daytrips are for sailing!

Also I'm afraid I would be too lazy to ever re-attach mast if I ever took it off. I took it off couple years back to get canvas work done and easily reattached, but still--

Either way the Mac does it all.
Rolf



T O boat show dowsar

[Night Sailor]

From our first Mac, a V222, hull no. 234, the Admiral instituted a requirement when beaching that presented a challenge and then became a tradition: the crew and management must be able to ingress or egress the boat when beached without getting their feet wet. Sand and mud with a little gravel was the usual beach media, so in four years of ownership we did wear through the gelcoat on the bow along the center line. Easily replaced. The deck was low enough, no ladder was required.

Now with the X, the deck is too high to get on board without a ladder, so I have KeelShield on the hull from the boot stripe to the centerboard slot for beaching. and it has saved the bottom paint. I made a wood ladder bracket for a folding ladder to fit behind the pulpit or stern stanchions, and so far tradition has been met.

Incidentally, the KeelShield (chosen because it has a better warranty) has not detracted in any measureable way on performance. But I have the perception that it has increased the straight line tracking ability under power with no foils down.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

Terry,

Thanks for the offer of the mast stub, I'll keep it in mind. Overall I'm after something a bit more swoopy than just a straight piece of aluminum.

My general idea is based on the mast on the foredeck of this boat, the Shannon 38 SRD.









I haven't decided if I will go with wood or StarBoard. I might even do something weled up out of aluminum that has a similar shape. No matter what material I will probably finish it in white instead of varnish.

It will attach to the standard mast step and use the baby stays for support.

[eric3a]

..

[rockman]

Two weeks ago - i arrived at the lake to find two 26X and two Mack28's tied up to the shore. One of each did not have the mast up. Of course as a friendly mac owner - i called by to say hi. Got to talking about the no masts - and they said it was because they were out for a weekend on the water - not a weekend of sailing. The Mack28 also did not have its rudders attached.

[Rolf]

Duane I think that short mast is going to look sharp. Keep us posted on how you make it. Will it be "sailable" with a dinghy size main?
Rolf

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Eric, your picture link is broken.

Personally (hmm, maybe its cause I'm from the med region), I always anchor stern-to. Makes it much easier for the kids to get on and off the boat with the built in ladder.



Plus, when they come in all full of sand, I'm waiting for them with my wash down hose, ready to spray them down before they can track sand into the cabin.



I frequently do this with an offshore wind (protected lee shore), just make sure all 3 foils are up and back up with the motor tilted up a good bit, then throw the stern anchor.

[K9Kampers]

(lost photos)

[beene]

Nice pics guys.

I never get tired of seeing new Mac pics.

Cheers

G

[kmclemore]

Eric, your picture link is broken.

Fixed link.

[Catigale]

Still broken for me, I get a client permission error msg....

[Loefflerh]

Link is still no good...... forbidden....

[kmclemore]

OK, I give up. That Google pic site is just way too hard to link to. So, I downloaded the pic and re-uploaded it to Photobucket... here it is:



Eric, in future, try not to use imbedded spaces in file names when creating pictures that you'll be linking later. So, instead of "My Picture.jpg" try to use "MyPicture.jpg". (thanks!)