MacGregorSailors.com

Here is the cross diagram of the M from the company website. I don't know if a balance change has occurred, but you can see that the ballast looks very evenly distributed. The most weight appears to be right in the middle where the permanent ballast is.


I tried to find an X cross section, but was unsuccessful.
Ray

I'd venture that without any heavy modifications, but with two people in the cockpit, full water ballast, a 50 HP engine, and 20 gallons of gasoline in the tanks, etc. this boat rides level in the water, as it should.

dennisneal wrote:I'd venture that without any heavy modifications, but with two people in the cockpit, full water ballast, a 50 HP engine, and 20 gallons of gasoline in the tanks, etc. this boat rides level in the water, as it should.

Pretty much does - - - right Dennis. If the water is like glass - - - it moves right along with no pounding.

Rick

I have under the aft bunk. It should have been bigger, However I have So much STUFF in the Bow it sits 3 inches below water line and the aft is about 2 inches above.

Make sure that you do not sit it on anything, secure the hoses so that they do not poke through. I put the fill inlet under the helmans seat. Do not over fill.

You may want to change the faucet as well.

yes but which model, manufacturer?

I think it is the plasmo. It was a bad job. Please get the one with the outlets on the end or where you can put them.

I do carry a spair 7 gal as I can be away for people for a week just in case it breaks.

Alternative to the flexible kind

I just scored a Todd 9 gallon PE water tank at the local WM discount table at half price (40 USD)

CHecking defender, they list it as discontinued, but I still see it at Jamestown

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/us ... o?pid=6479

This is the largest tank I think that you can fit through the front seat on an and then mount on the 'shelf' next to the ballast valve FG out of the way - dimensions are 17x14x10

The next size up (13 gallon) wont go through the seat opening and also wont fit on the shelf

A 9 gallon tank is perfect for my cruising needs - in 7 days I have just used one of my 7 gallon reliant portable tanks and started on the second with 3.5 of us on board.
I carry 5 gallons of spring water in 2.5 gallon portable containers under the galley for cooking and drinking too. I like having water in a couple of different places in case there is a leak or contamination.

James V wrote:I think it is the plasmo. It was a bad job. Please get the one with the outlets on the end or where you can put them.

Yes I agree I got the 50 litre Plastimo with the fill and drain outlets on the top and bottom in the middle of the bladder. Had to be a retard that designed it, what were they thinking. It makes it hard to fit under the aft berth and cannot be filled as full without lifting the covers. Perhaps I need to relocate the bladder to the bow.

NiceAft wrote:I tried to find an X cross section, but was unsuccessful.
Ray

Try WebArchive.

You are correct the water ballast under the X's aft berth was removed in the M, probably to account for the 100+ pounds extra weight of the Mercury BigFoot EFI 4-stroke (in 26M pictures) compared to the 50 HP Tohatsu carbureted 2-stroke popular at the time of the X's design.

Here's an item that may help you provide a lot of additional fresh water storage in a MAC. I think the dimensions might apply to a couple of locations.

However, it probably has the capacity to significantly alter the trim of the boat!

http://www.campingworld.com/browse/skus ... 5&src=SRQB

Wonder if anyone has thought and discussed putting a 1100 lbs volume rubber bladder in the ballast tank. It could be filled with fresh drinking water and as it was used the holding compartment can be replaced with sea water for ballast.


on edit, I realized that I wrote 150 gallons when I ment to say a 1100 lbs of water volume bladder.

I was hoping that this thread would have run its course a long time ago. With my 58 year old prostate, every time I think bladder, I........sorry can't finish the thought. Gotta go


Ray

What do you others think? Is a Mac nose heavy

I was thinking that could be a good thing when sailing. In the Mac 26 M manual on p 26, "in light wind keep the crew forward and positioned so the transom is almost out of the water and the boat is heeled about 5-10 degrees." Reducing the transom drag is one issue here; the other is reducing the wetted surface area by heeling. I looked at a photo of mine the other day sailing upwind with the Admiral below decks and it was definitely nose heavy according to the waterline. I have a Tohatsu 40hp 2-cycle that weighs in at around 180 lbs if I remember right.

Daniel

Daniel said:

I looked at a photo of mine the other day sailing upwind with the Admiral below decks and it was definitely nose heavy

Daniel,

Don't tell her that


Ray

Don't know if anyone has mentioned it yet, but Practical Sailor recently did a review on water bladders. May be a good reference for anyone looking into one.