MacGregorSailors.com

17 mph, shoot I can't even get that with the iron sail at full tilt.

When I first started to dream about owning my own sailboat I was living on Lake Erie about 30 miles west of Put-in Bay. I read that brochure and being as naive as a nun in a porn shop said this is the boat for me. I reasoned that the stat was probably inflated, but even I could squeak out 60% of that top speed it (10 - 12 mph) it would only take me a few hours to get to Put-in bay. And of course I could always drop the engine and cruise and 24 mph and be there in little more then an hour.
Well those dreams shattered many years later when I was able to buy the boat (of course without a test sail) and took it out. It took me several times of me hitting my head wondering what I was doing wrong not to be able to sail it that fast. Of course when I came across this web site I felt silly for thinking that Macgregor ad had any fact in it.

The longer I own my X and know its limitations and strengths I love the boat more and more, but Roger, Roger, Roger shame on you for your misleading the naive astray.

God Speed
Dave

Hello:
OK I'll post this. (Believe it or not)
Once on a down wind run, wing on wing going up river, I have hit 9~10 mph (gps). The current on the lower Columbia runs 2 to 6 mph (depending on tide/current) so I'm sure I hit double digits and the boat was planing. This was not a situation I had planned for but got caught off guard and it lasted a couple of hours. The boat became hard to handle because of the lift being generated with the boards down. I would never motor that fast with them down. The boat kept trying to broach. It makes me wonder what I could have done if I had more room to pull up the centerboard but as it was I could not let go of the wheel. My wife became ill with her inner ear problem and I found myself single handing on a boat that was not equipped to do so. I did not consider it sport, in fact I was very worried. The lower Columbia can turn nasty real quick. Since then I have incorporated many mods to allow me to single hand our Mac. I never know when my mate might become incapacitated. I can pretty much count on it whenever the water gets rough. I am reasonably sure of the speed because of the gps and the fact that in a couple of hours I made it all the way back to St Helens (25 mi.)

craiglaforce wrote:Page 9 of the 26X brochure says... The 26's light weight and its powerboat underbelly allow the boat to get up on top of the water and plane in heavy winds. In such conditions, these boats have exceeded 17 mph under sail.

It sure would be awsome if the Mac really did hit 17 mph. Is that supposed to be an "n" nautical for nph?

Anyway, I was thinking. Now I realize the possibility is remote, but are Frank and Roger one in the same person? I mean you'd have to be as crazy or worse to claim 17 mph in a sales brocure as apposed to a website. From thier claims, both seem to live in a dream world. The "Frank" we know could be really be Roger's way of communicating to the outside would anonymously? Why would a "normal" person make such claims if it weren't really Roger? Has anyone seen both men in the same place at the same time? I'll bet not. I even had a flying Mac dream one night where Frank looked like Roger. I've had this suspicion for some time now.

Would an image of a righteous, swashbuckling, sword-wielding, ruffian type Roger, not Frank, hanging Errol Flynn like onto the rigging of his Mac taking on a crew of foul-mouthed drunken anarchists be more appropriate?

All this anarchist stuff going on. Frank, or is it Roger, is still over on the "Future of Yacht Design" thread going back and forth with those anarchists. Its up to 20 some pages now.

Is that Roger. Is that Frank. Are sailers in real life really that annoying? Is there really a 4th mode of sailing? Will the Mac really do 17mph. Can I tow it behind a Taurus. Is a new M faster than the X. Is it better inside. Is carpeting bad on the walls or not. Does the factory really buy resin by the train car load when there are no railroad tracks by the factory. Can I water ski behind a Mac with a 50hp? Are many of the factory "impovements" really "improvements" or just ways to save money in production. Is the trailer built well enough? Fix this replace that. What modifications to do? Off shore yes/no? The questions go on and on. I am so confused. I just don't know anymore.

Would the real Roger please standup

In spite of it all, there is just something about that darn boat that people really love. To the point where they really don't care what others think of it.

I was laughing along until I hit the water ski part. My wife has skied several times behind our Mac. I even have a copy of the $87.50 ticket for [b]illegal[/b] skiing!

She always skied with the mast up, main sail on under the cover, and the jib furled. Once we also had 800 lbs of crew, and she got up the first time.

No, she is not a pro.

All this is with a Nissan TDLI 50hp motor and stock prop.

I wouldn't say impossible too fast. The fact is that none of us are likely going to sail our own Macs with no ballast in heavy winds that would be required to plane....just too much risk. But if it were somebody elses (like the factory) stripped down boat (didn't matter if it capsized), then I would volunteer to be a test pilot! Conditions would be about 25 kts wind in a protected area without big waves. As Chip said, you would be hiked out the side, have no CB down, and only one rudder on a broad reach. Who knows, you may even need a modifed rudder with less drag for planing. I would rather like to think that somebody has actually done this before and the factory wouldn't just make up a bold face lie about it. Of course, the rest of us will be stuck with our sub-planing speeds of 8 knots, but even that is not all that bad based on cruising boat norms. The boat probably transitions to a plane around 9 knots, so it probably takes a little extra push at that point to get it over its bow wave.

I've owned my 26X about 10 months now and in that time, at least two dozen people have talked to me about the boat, some on other boats some not. Virtually everyone compliments the boat's design. It is the perfect family boat for these waters...but of course, most of you already know that.

Hi,
Sailing faster than the wind is hard to explain - try this link:

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/sailing.html

and have a read. Throw in Bernoulli's theorem and you've got a great debate.

It's technical and goes into vectors, etc, but the illustrations kind of tell the story... I can almost understand it

cheers
Phil.

I had my 26X going a steady 65 miles per hour on my way to Key West.
Made it there in less than 48 hours.
From Wisconsin.
On its trailer.
Behind my Dodge van.
On the Interstate.

Good forum here. Thanks for your link Phil and the benefit of your experience Shock.

Guest wrote:Pardon me, but could someone please explain how a sail boat can go faster than the wind propelling it?

She hit 16.6kts in 14kts of wind, and 19.9kts in 18kts of wind!

I have some sailing theory question. Please follow up on:

http://macgregorsailors.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=584