MacGregorSailors.com

Maybe Superman could do it in 10 minutes!

Eric, I know of a Mac. 26x that took his mast down in 3 sec. , Dec. 29th. They ran into a tree limb at Homestead right after they raised their mast in the sailboat rigging area, same day another Mac 26S lost his mast in Biscane bay heading for Bimini.
Talk about a fluke.

eric3a wrote:I'm sure I could take the mast DOWN in 10 seconds...
Eric

Pull into parking lot, get out of truck, 30 minutes later backing rigged 26 M down ramp.
Time varies due to interested parties wanting to talk.
Add additional time for Me, for getting down off the M and helping someone with his mast and rigging as well.
30 minutes is very doable but all I am doing is raising mast attaching boom and main sail Everything else was done at the house.

For us it's about 40-45 minutes to rig and launch, and about 30-35 min to derig when we pull out until we're driving away. Sometimes quicker to derig because as we're motoring back to the ramp we do as much as we can, like furl and cover the jib, put seat cushions away, etc..

Not sure if there's any secret to it besides practice, and learning which tasks are good to delegate to first-timers while I focus on the things I need to do - Here's my checklist..

http://www.brownz.com/checklist.pdf

If I'm just going motoring (knee/wake boarding, or cruising due to little wind), I don't bring the mast - I unclip the 4 shrouds (color coded so I can hook them up right and fast) and hoist the mast up into the garage rafters with a pulley at each end (we're lucky to keep it in an RV garage). Takes me about 10 min at home. But then I can launch in < 15 min - just the time to put seat cushions out and tie on the fenders and a few minor things.

It takes me about 45 minutes, with the Admiral's help, and an hour w/o her. Iam generally not in a hurry, Iam also 64, and always on a diet

Thanks for that. I just ordered an M - delivery in April - and the checklist helps a lot - Im sure I'll adjust it for my options - but its a great starting point.

I made the same list for my Lido 14 - obviously a simpler boat - and quickly cut down my launch time.

Yes, the checklist is helpful, particularly when you first get a boat. I don't use it while rigging any more, but I always refer to it just before launching to mentally go through and make sure I didn't forget anything (like leaving the bolts in the rudders, or leaving the motor steering linkage locked).

I see you're in Portland, Oregon. Did you just order your boat from the the boat show at the Expo last week from Cheryl at Blue Water Yachts? I live in Aloha and can share my favorite ramps, spots to sail, etc. with you offline if you like. You can send me a message.

Welcome aboard!
Gary

Pam and I talked it over and we both agree:

10 minutes!!! Haaa hoho Haha awwww.... 10 minutes LOL

Bill at Boats4Sail set me up real nice.
pins on everything - definitely helps, no tools except mounting the boom.
All lines running to the cockpit - probably faster since there already in place, but more confusing and more to snag going up.
boom vang - tad sloer
I've added three carabineers to the mast raiser - definitely helps
furling genoa - helps so I don't have to hank on anything.
Slugs - helps, but I lift the main while still on the trailer long enough to get all the slugs into the track
Load the cooler.
I'm a newb, but middle age. I've had it since February and have had it in the water... oh... about ten times. My last time solo took 40 minutes from getting out of the truck... to rigging... to launch... to beaching... to going back to the truck on the ramp... to parking... to pulling away from the beach.

I think with a little more refinement, I'll get it down to around 30 minutes, but 40 is close enough to what it took to launch my old Hobie Cat.
It seems to take me closer to an hour to reverse it. Maybe tired... maybe tougher to pack up. Usually jaw jacking though, so hard to tell.

I just read my post from January 17, 2008 where I said we could rig our 2006 26M in less than an hour.

With some more practice and a few good tips from Mike Inmon we have the time down to about 35 - 40 minutes. That assumes that nothing gets hung up, like a shroud stay, or the Genoa. Then, we may have to lower the mast and correct the problem. We're getting better at recognising problems earlier, too.

It just takes practice. We're a little old and slow, so I don't think we'll get much faster. But, I'm satisfied.

Our detailed checklist really helped. We don't use it anymore, as the procedure has become somewhat routine.

I'd sure like to talk to the guy in the factory video who can do it in ten minutes! I hope the other marketing claims like "This boat won't sink!" aren't quite as wild.

Dennis

I can raise my mast in 10 minutes.
Of course if I want it to stay up ,I have to make a lot of connections etc etc then its a little less than an hour.

Inquisitor wrote:Bill at Boats4Sail set me up real nice.....
I'm a newb, but middle age. .... I think with a little more refinement, I'll get it down to around 30 minutes, but 40 is close enough to what it took to launch my old Hobie Cat.
It seems to take me closer to an hour to reverse it. Maybe tired... maybe tougher to pack up. Usually jaw jacking though, so hard to tell.

Bill fixed me up too
Last summer with a lot of help and some hinderence from a 13 yr old son, we were from mast down just pulled up to the launch area - to - boat in water clearing the ramp area in 30 minutes, pulling out seem to take much longer with wife nagging and complaining but it was about 30 minutes also. Funny thing when I had more helpers it usually took longer. Bill knows how to rig things right.

5 days.

Daydreamerbob, I sure hope that means the time left to get your Mac.

Ray

nah - it took me five days to get both sails rigged...with multiple issues during this period including a dropped mast and broken spreader