Bought an ugly boat (26X) today!

[Steve K]

Hi Eric and welcome,

Hope to hear more thoughts from someone of your level of experience in the future.

I thought the Xboat was the prettiest darned thing I'd ever seen, when I first learned of them. Guess I'd still own mine if it had performed as advertised. I now own an older MacGregor. Good performer, and not making payments.

I worked with my Xboat for about five years, trying to get her to be the best she could be. I got my boat to sail pretty well and was at the top of the heap among other Xboats, at least.

There are those on this list who can give many tips that work on these boat to improve their performance. I'll tell you what helped mine the most.

1. As much weight forward as you can, to offset the outboard.
2. clean, smooth hull
3. full batten, loose foot mainsl made considerable difference on my boat.
4. stand the mast up as straight as possible (little rake as possible) and give her about a three inch bend (3 in. between a tight halyard and the back of the mast, measured @ the spreaders)

These are things that seem to work best for me, as I say.

I would also think about another rudder design. I base this on the boat I own now. The older Mac has the same popsicle stick type rudder (although the Xboat has two). A Re-shaped NACA 0012 foil with a leading edge about 2.5 inches ahead of the pivot made a huge difference on my older Mac and I think this is what was missing on my Xboat, where control was concerned.
And believe me, I'm not expert in all of this. Just telling what worked well for me.

Anyway, again welcome.
I don't post much anymore (just don't have time) but I do check up on you guys regularly. So looking forward to reading more from you.

And hi to everyone esle, BTW.

On the cheap boat thought......
Funny, when I owned my Catalinas, I heard plenty of people call them "tupperware boats", "bleach bottles" etc.
Then again, this past weekend, one of my inlaws was over and he was knocking my $0.5 million home.
Dude lives in an apartment.
SK

[kmclemore]

Early Mac prototype:



Note the banded side-stripe with windows. Note also that the piloting position and ability to see forward are largely unchanged.

[Steve K]

RE: 17mph................

Hit 11 once. Most people don't believe me when I make that claim.

Perhaps with no ballast, nothing in the boat, a small outboard and a big reaching spinnaker, depending on conditions, you could do 17.
Don't get me wrong, the boat has the potential. Once she's on a plane anything's possible.

I believe this would be the exception, not the norm however.

SK

[kmclemore]

I don't know.. maybe I'm the exception.. but with a fully loaded boat in calm conditions on a flat lake my Tohatsu 50 has pushed our X up to 17mph (as measured on the GPS)... two souls on board.

[art]

Highlander,
A good post on your Mac 19. Have you posted pictures, especially showing the cutter rig features? I wonder how this has been attempted on the X.

Art

[Divecoz]

Yes Eric,!! Sailing in excess of 17 mph!
ahhh but that was right before the weee little fellow in dressed all in green piloting the Fair Sloop was driven to sand by the Tsunami wave he was riding. . . came to shore.
But Yes in Excess of 17 maybe even 37 mph
your results may very BTW

[kmclemore]

Yes but the marketing brochure says "in excess of 17mph under sail".

Eric

I was under sail.

To be exact, I was seated just under the sail, which was neatly tied to the boom at the time.

[Catigale]

WHy is gasoline both flammable and inflammable ??

Good one on 'under sail' Kevin

[vkmaynard]

Steven,

What did you do to have a Loose Footed Mainsail?

I was plannig to remove as much rake as possible the next time I stand up the mast, too much round up.

What does bending the mast do for the performance?

Victor

[Frank C]

What does bending the mast do for the performance?

Victor, Steve K doesn't read here every day, so ...

You should tune the mast for the amount of bend that matches the mailsail's luff. The 26X factory mainsail luff curves forward about 3 inches from vertical (at center, at the spreaders). With proper degree of bend, the mast can "true" the luff and flatten out the sail, leaving a remaining amount of belly that the sailmaker planned for.

An adjustable backstay, pulling aft at the masthead, can amplify mast bend, helping to reduce the sail's belly yet again. Flattening the Mac mainsail is nearly mandatory for sailing in higher winds, as it reduces sail pressure and helps mitigate the degree of heel.

The Featured Articles button at left includes Bruce Whitmore's Rig Tuning Primer, which describes the tuning process. I don't exactly follow Bruce's tuning process (your own process will evolve, too) but it does provide a good overview. His excerpt on mast bend ...

... fractional rigged boats with backswept spreaders, the upper shrouds induce the mast bend. The lower shrouds limit the bend, in effect "freezing" the amount of mast bend and keeping the mast from "pumping" over waves and in puffs. Also, double check your mast bend, and make sure it is a nice smooth bend, with no s-shapes, etc. Ideally, you will keep adjusting first the upper shrouds, then the lower shrouds.

[Steve K]

Steven,

What did you do to have a Loose Footed Mainsail?

I was plannig to remove as much rake as possible the next time I stand up the mast, too much round up.

What does bending the mast back do for the performance?

Victor

Victor

Basicly you unseam the foot of the sail and remove the boltrope. You then sew on 2in. dacron tape, folded in half (the pre-creased stuff works best). You run a leech cord (only here you call it a foot cord) through this tape. Add a cleat at the clew end for the cord, just like the one for your leech line in your other sails.
Web on an outhaul slug @ the clew that will slide in the slot in the boom. Remember, this slug now carries most of the load on the lower rear of the sail, so it should be webbed onto the sail well.

You can get the stuff you need for this job @ sailrite.com.

I started with a new factory main. I did this (loose foot) to it and also added a second reef point, full battens and a cringle for a cunningham. It was a great sail.

The MacGregor mainsl is cut for a bent mast. I think (if I remember correctly) the manual even mentions setting the mast up with 2 to 3in. of bend. This makes the mainsl a little flatter initially and also helps move the draft forward. The sail is too baggy, when hoisted on a straight mast.

You can further add some flattening ( to the upper third mostly) on the fly by adding an adjustment to your backstay.
SK

[Steve K]

Didn't see FCs post.
Basicly covered some stuff he already mentioned.

He's right....... I don't post much at all anymore.

How's it going Frank btw?

Work's busy lately. (ergo the little and no posting here)

Birthday was 12/15. I turned 54. I can retire @55. Can't wait! I'll have a little more time then....... not much but a little

sory.....off topic.

SK