Anyone know who this is . . .

[Searush]

Seen just off Red Wharf Bay, Anglesey last weekend.

It's a McGregor 26 out of RWB and was going pretty well. The first time I have seen one in action with the tanks blown dry. The nice, polite guys slowed down for me to reduce the wash - I had to wave them on to get the pic! She also slipped into RWB when everyone else was aground - draws about 6" of damp seaweed as far as I could tell.

Whatever your opinion of the concept, it IS unique. It may not sail as well as a fin keeler or plane as well as a pure MOBO, but nothing else can do BOTH as well as it does! I liked the concept when I first heard of it but decided to go 100% raggie in the end. But it has to be a good solution if you "Swing both ways" as they say!
/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[l'escargot]

Apparently they are quite popular on the rivers, no rig and a 5HP outboard with plenty of accommodation.

 

[colvic987]

There's one which normally passes me every now and again, down past the cans from puffin to friars bay, he normally goes full pelt down there, dont know if its the same person, but looks funny the first time you see one, a motorboat with a mast.... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Searush]

[ QUOTE ]
There's one which normally passes me every now and again, down past the cans from puffin to friars bay, he normally goes full pelt down there, dont know if its the same person, but looks funny the first time you see one, a motorboat with a mast.... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Got to be - there ain't many of them about. I also like the twin rudders (to avoid the 50hp o/b) which lift when motoring. Now I need to know if it (or the owners) can sail. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Lakesailor]

It seems they are pretty tender. If you look at the US site there are some lead-ballasted keel mods to improve the sailing performance. Presumably at planing performance expense.
Despite what some people on here will tell you, it seems that the US market punter experiences less extreme weather (wind) so the tenderness is less of an issue there.

 

[oldharry]

<<Despite what some people on here will tell you, it seems that the US market punter experiences less extreme weather (wind) so the tenderness is less of an issue there.>>

Unfortunately I remember reading of several accidents and some fatalities where owners have set the sails without ballasting up, and the boat has fallen over. I recollect there was one particularly bad one on the eastern seaboard which hit the international press after several children were drowned.

 

[srp]

What happens to the mast and rigging when it slams into a big wave at full speed?
Definition of multitasking - doing 2 things at once, rather badly Just my opinion of course. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[LittleShip]

Anyone know who this is . . .

Nope but there are a couple in Holyhead, do you know the name?

Tom

 

[fireball]

I've heard that trying to helm one is a bit like trying to drive an old landrover with dodgy steering ... you're forever correcting one way or another.
I've also heard that the only way to sail them downwind in a sea is with the engine running otherwise you won't keep anywhere near a straight course.

 

[Lakesailor]

[ QUOTE ]
owners have set the sails without ballasting up, and the boat has fallen over.

[/ QUOTE ] Quite. You can't hold people's hands every time they go out.
If you sail them as they are designed to be sailed they are a bit tender, hence the lead ballast keel conversion.

I'm not a fan, but I bet they sail better than some of the old tubs ploughing up and down our estuaries and coasts.

 

[Tomsk]

I truly like the concept and looked at them seriously when moving from stink pot to rags. The main thing that put me off was not any lack of performance but the flimsiness of the construction. Breath on the GRP and it bends. I found the Odin version to be a little stronger. Ended up buying an old slow Colvic with GRP 3/4 inch think in unstressed areas alone...

 

[jimmcgee]

I have some pics of one of them with its bum in the air, first time out and the owner forgot to drop the keel , on with the throttle , left turn and rolled like a sac a tatties

 

[srp]

Bit more about them on this thread here - read the last post from Roy.

 

[jimmcgee]

just going to check the date on my photos , cant be two Macgregor,s rolled in loch lomond

 

[jimmcgee]

yup same boat, small world

 

[Searush]

Err, forgetting to put the keel down or load ballast etc are not the fault of the vessel are they? You might as well say Moody's are rubbish because the sails fall down if you don't tie off the halliards . . . .

Maybe the problem is that they attract people who think that they are as easy to sail as a MOBO is to drive . . . when in fact they are more difficult to sail than the average raggie because of the pumped ballast system. Lots of out & out planing AZAB racers use water ballast & pump out to facilitate downwind planing - now there's an interesting scenario for McGregor owners with their tiny twin rudders!!

 

[akirk]

There is a very good article on power sailers in the July PBO - one of them - the Tide 28 was the boat created by Peter Perham which his 14 year old son recently sailed across the Atlantic - so if it can cope with that... (mind you that one doesn't have a water ballast system...)

The new MacGregor has some permanent ballast now...

 

[michael_w]

Mac 26's are the fugging ugliest boats on the water. Fill 'em with concrete for moorings.

 

[Emjaytoo]

It depends on what you want to do. Your boat wont take you ditch crawling, you can't pick up a six year old one for £16K, you can't tow it behind a car. Give what a MacGregor is designed to do, it does it very well. If really was that cr*p it wouldn't have sold 30,000.

We moved up from a MacGregor because it no longer did what we wanted to do, not because it was cr*p. Incidently, we had no trouble selling it for a good price.

 

[Captain_Chaos]

[ QUOTE ]
I have some pics of one of them with its bum in the air, first time out and the owner forgot to drop the keel , on with the throttle , left turn and rolled like a sac a tatties

[/ QUOTE ]

If my memory serves me well, the centre board had to be raised when motoring at more than a few knots because the turning force on the keel is more than it can stand. If it turned turtle, there was probably another cause.