MacGregorSailors.com

Highlander,

The rudders are just about the same size. They are actually about 1" shorter than the stock ruders on the and are about as wide, maybe a touch wider. The bottom is squared instead of rounded and the overall foil shape is wider at the leading edge and narrows to the trailing edge. I ordered a pair a while ago, but decided to send them back. They didn't fit the brackets properly. I talked with Joel just yesterday, since I ordered a weighted keel from him and he says they have all the specs just right now for the rudders. I'm going to wait to see how the keel turns out before I consider the rudders. If the keel does what I hope it will, I probably won't need them. I can't say how good they are, since I haven't sailed them.... didn't install just sent them back.

baldbaby2000 wrote:Richard O'Brien,
How abouts we race our 26Ms at the Leukemia cup on Chatfield on 19-21 May?

BB

I've only watched these races a half dozen times. I confess that i'm a little nervous about the communications at the race start, and some of the crowded tacks at the buoy: however, If i don't have enough confidence to avoid wrecking someone elses boat, and or i have trouble crewing mine. I'd be happy to crew yours. Do you carry plenty of ginger snaps on board. Let's talk about it later this spring. Do you race with a spinnaker?

They Theirs,

I must give credit where credit is due. I had a chat with Jeff at Arena Yacht Sales (on a different topic,) who in my book is a Mac & overall sailing expert. He is a very experienced and knowledgeable sailor & pilot, and knows the Mac inside out. I asked about a hanked jib vs RF. He concurred with your point that the hanked jib will outperform the RF jib every time, due to the sag in the forestay. They weight, though not much, just makes a huge difference and it doesn't matter how tight your rig is. The problem can be significantly alleviated with a backstay, however, which will narrow the performance gap, but the hanks still get the edge. For anyone interested, he also told me that Roger is working on running backstays for the which should go into production in the near future. He is also working on a self-tacking jib.

PS. I still wouldn't part with my RF and I still think it's much safer. With all the pros and cons for both, what puts me over the edge on RF is the convenience, safety, and probably most important, instant reefing or unreefing. On San Francisco Bay, I find this very valuable, and you can't do that with a hank-on headsail.

Richard,
I'll let you know if we race. We could probably use an extra crew. We probably won't bother with the spinnaker since the legs are so short but who knows. I've raced quite a bit and the starts can be a little nerve wracking but you could race your boat and follow us across the start and then pass us later! It would be really cool to have two 26M's in the race.
I was disappointed in the race committe chairman last year but it's for charity and can still be fun. Ginger snaps; no problem.

BB