MacGregorSailors.com

Highlander wrote:Any modification done to a mast does not necc. increase the risk of breakage. John

thats right, i said it can.

anyway i was talkin about a mac, as it was done by the company, not a maccutter.
i was worried by the strenght of the original boat and its mast.

When i make a mod on my boat , well that is my toy, and im liable of any result .
May be it works bettr than the original.........may be not...but its my fun.

And i like this site because is full of fun and experience.

I'll drink to that Marsanden

Catigale
55 degrees did it twice standing on the rail at 35-40deg . blowing a blast 45deg starts to get scary but is ok 55deg oh Sh-T here we go getting kinda wet released the sheets hope the boom does'nt drag me over more were talking 400sq ft of sails on a mac19 thinking shoulda reefed sooner on the up-swing almost went o/b was not intenional nor recomended. Go figure I do it again the next day learning how to steer a cutter rig with the sails. Now I reef sooner to old to be showing off plus I dont swim as good as I used to . Had to climb back up the stern ladder to get back on board once "don't ask" in a 3ft chopp was not a pretty site "sail alone " fully clothed felt like I was 450lbs heavier was wearing a life jacket . going to stand on the rail buy a proper safety harness. I have one now. Better yet bring rail meet on board

I went off the heel meter on my first sailing trip on our Anniversary weekend...grandma had the girls, and the Admiral and I went up to Lake Champlain for a weekend to try out our new boat.

It was blowing pretty hard, and we ended up probably heeling about 45 back and forth, rounding up, bending a spreader, etc...

Im guessing 20-25mph winds, sailing with full 150 genny and full main, and no experience



Its a wonder she still sails with me, but she stuck with me through the learning curve, now she loves Lake Ontario and the Cape with those steady winds, no freighters, no rocks, no zooming power boaters..

Was sailing down in lake Ontario last year seen one 26x docked in Picton area, was sailing in the middle of Lake Huron hull of a big storm came up fired up the 40hp suzi powered about 12-15miles into Kincardine harbour see a 26 on trl. "dry docked". When sailing in Georgian Bay go into Meaford harbour three mac's docked 26, 26x, 26m then over to Waubaushene one 26x docked at a marina, lots of shallow water reefs & rocks & power boats hard sailing there. No time to go up to Port Severn & the Big Chute but been there lots of times before really nice but the locks are just to busy. Was sailing in Lake Simcoe no mac,s .What gives. The mighty wee cutter keeping you's all at bay . Ah well talked to the new guy on the block "Alex" he just bought a and he is working on some mods will be seeing him soon to swapp some Ideas he lives about 2hrs from me. So we might get a race going next yr

John

In Sep 2005 Sail mag was a story about someone sailing Apostle Islands on Lake Superior and was hit by a white squall, which I have never heard of...

A white squall is a mass of fast moving air, 60 mph or so, that comes down from above, so there are no markers, whitecaps, etc to warn you at all..


Sounds very nasty...just another thing to remind you why they are called the GREAT lakes....

Catigale wrote: ... now she loves Lake Ontario and the Cape with those steady winds, no freighters, no rocks, no zooming power boaters..

That's sailing magic. SF Bay includes the winds, no rocks, no zoom.
But must watch for freighters, tugs and ferries, and all of them move at surprising speeds.

Also, they may not have the name of "white squall" but I think the Colorado lake sailors contend with something similar ... burst-gusts at incredible speeds, with no notice.

Frank...

There's an old saying about sailing here..."if you can sail Colorado, you can sail anywhere".

I heard it many years ago before moving here. Didn't believe it. I do now.

Wind can be real shifty and bit wild at times.

Catigale wrote: Im guessing 20-25mph winds, sailing with full 150 genny and full main, and no experience
..

Sounds familiar-first outing with our new 26M was on Winnie. Wind blowing 5-25 in no particular direction. We had a full main and 150 genny-what a wild ride that was! Now I know that the windows dont leak. I just figured I wasn't familiar with the boat yet,till I noticed the rest of the group was bare poles!
We now have a reefing system and lazyjacks that work!

Wanna go sailing?

Just came in from the National Weather Service.......

"WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE AND SHIFT NORTHWEST TOWARDS NOON. AT FIRST...THE WINDS WILL MAINLY BE NEAR THE FOOTHILLS AND SOUTH OF DENVER...WITH OCCASIONAL WINDS AT SPEEDS OF 15 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS OF 50 MPH. A RAPID INCREASE IN WINDS IS EXPECTED IN LOCATIONS EAST OF INTERSTATE 25 BY NOON...WITH NORTHWEST WINDS OF 30 TO 45 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH DEVELOPING."

They are right but a tad bit late.