New to the forum the 26M and boating.

A forum for discussing topics relating to MacGregor Powersailor Sailboats
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Jim B Mack
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New to the forum the 26M and boating.

Post by Jim B Mack »

Greetings from Southern Ontario.New to the forum and this is my first post/question.
My wife and I have been wanting to give sailing a try and we settled on a 2004 26M as our boat.

It has been a crazy summer at work so have not had the chance to launch yet hoping for a fall sail or two.

Anyway we managed to do a couple of dry sail days putting the mast up and down all went fine the furler works well.

However our Genoa furler and fore-stay are attached at the bow with a shackle. Then at the top of the mast is a block and the fore-stay is on a halyard so when the mast is up you heave down on this line to get the fore-stay tight and there is a cleat on the mast to secure this line to. Don't think I like this, was that a standard Mac thing???

I've watched a few youtube vids which show the fore-stay on a shackle at the top and they secure the furler to the front of the boat each time they raise the mast. Looks simple but how do they get the fore-stay tight enough.

I guess there is a turnbuckle under the furler but have not figured out how to get at it yet.

Also have read on this forum about buying a johnson bar and I did see an example of one on the stingy sailor channel.

Would like to change our fore-stay setup and would like imput from other 26M folks on what they use.

Pictures part numbers and where to buy would also be great.

Thanks Jim and Kate
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NiceAft
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Re: New to the forum the 26M and boating.

Post by NiceAft »

Jim,

Welcome. You didn’t settle on a Mac, you proudly bought one.

As to the roller furler, who is the manufacturer? Online you can get an owners manual. You can then learn how to adjust the forestay. You can always call the manufacturer and ask.

Again, welcome. This is a welcoming community of sailors.

Ray
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Jimmyt
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Re: New to the forum the 26M and boating.

Post by Jimmyt »

Welcome to the group.

If I understand you, the answer is no. It is not normal to have a halyard involved in your forestay.

Do you have a manual for the boat? If not, I think you can download it from this forum. If you can't sort it out, we can get you through it.

My Genoa Furler is attached to a mast hound at the top, and attached to the anchor roller at the front with a special pin from BWY that's easier to handle than the stock pin. I would recommend getting the pins to replace the bolts at the mast base and bow pulpit to eliminate tools from the rigging process, if the boat doesn't have them already.

Image

Keep asking if you need help.

The Halyard you see in that mess is what the previous owner used for the asymmetrical Spinnaker. It fouled the Furler regularly, so I pulled it out and will add a new hound that's higher up to prevent fouling.
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NiceAft
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Re: New to the forum the 26M and boating.

Post by NiceAft »

Here is the PDF file for the :macm: manual.
http://www.macgregor26.com/instruction_ ... CTIONS.pdf

Once you indentify the manufacturer of the furler, you should be able to get their owners manual.

Jim, you did not mention whether or not you have the mast raising system.

Ray
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Jim B Mack
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Re: New to the forum the 26M and boating.

Post by Jim B Mack »

We do have a mast raising system works great for this team wife cranks I make sure no lines foul as she brings up mast. We have a CDI furler. Lots to learn!

Thanks folks appreciate the pictures as well!

I do have the PDF manual from Mac but the manual didn't cover the furler install.

Again thanks for the info, that Halyard on the end of the forestay just looked buckshe but I guess lots of way to do things and it worked for the previous owner.

Cheers............Jim
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Tomfoolery
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Re: New to the forum the 26M and boating.

Post by Tomfoolery »

Jim B Mack wrote:We do have a mast raising system works great for this team wife cranks I make sure no lines foul as she brings up mast. We have a CDI furler. Lots to learn!

Thanks folks appreciate the pictures as well!

I do have the PDF manual from Mac but the manual didn't cover the furler install.

Again thanks for the info, that Halyard on the end of the forestay just looked buckshe but I guess lots of way to do things and it worked for the previous owner.

Cheers............Jim
Something isn't right here. It's possible the PO had the halyard hooked to the forestay for mast-down transport. I disconnect my forestay and slide it back for long trips and winter storage, as it hangs over the bow rail by many feet otherwise.

The furler is probably an FF2, which is what most Macs use, though it wasn't standard equipment.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/ ... manual.pdf

As to proper tension on the forestay, it's usually done by tensioning (and measuring that tension) the upper side stays, or outer shrouds. They balance against the forestay, so when the side stays are right, the forestay has to be right, though those values are determined by trial and error, or by taking advantage of the trial and error of others here and just matching them. :wink:

The jib halyard isn't actually used with the FF2, but it can be used to help pull the mast forward to make the forestay pin to the chainplate. I use and old style MRS, which pulls on the jib or, in my case, the spinnaker halyard, and when I crank it down hard it pulls the mast forward against the stays enough to make the pin (with a little difficulty), and when slackened, the stay tension is correct.
bobflshmn
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Re: New to the forum the 26M and boating.

Post by bobflshmn »

Jim B Mack wrote:Again thanks for the info, that Halyard on the end of the forestay just looked buckshe but I guess lots of way to do things and it worked for the previous owner.

Cheers............Jim
Be careful with what the previous owner did. I have purchase two Macs, on both boats I found things rigged very wrong. Neither furler attached with a halyard, they were attached to the hound with a swivel to allow it to spin. The halyard was for raising the head sail on the furler. Your halyard might also be for a spinnaker and the previous owner didn't know what they were doing. Go back through the owners manual on the boat rigging pages. For my D and my X it shows attaching as I described. I never disconnect the furler at the top, even when trailering. I don't think most do either.
You might just have a boat that is not properly rigged which is adding to your confusion.
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Jim B Mack
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Re: New to the forum the 26M and boating.

Post by Jim B Mack »

Something isn't right here. It's possible the PO had the halyard hooked to the forestay for mast-down transport.

Nope we rigged it with him in his driveway before we handed him the check and drove off.................funny eh!

Thanks for your post good info! Think I'll need to buy a swivel to go between the hound and the stay.

I did wonder if you could pull the mast far enough forward to get the pin in on the anchor chain plate.

Thanks everyone much less head scratching going on here every day.

Jim
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Jim B Mack
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Re: New to the forum the 26M and boating.

Post by Jim B Mack »

NiceAft wrote:Jim,

Welcome. You didn’t settle on a Mac, you proudly bought one.


Ray
ABSOLUTELY...................Guess I should have said after looking at a ton of boats we found our Baby!
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dlandersson
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Re: New to the forum the 26M and boating.

Post by dlandersson »

Did you attend the seller ceremony? 8)
Jim B Mack wrote:
NiceAft wrote:Jim,

Welcome. You didn’t settle on a Mac, you proudly bought one.


Ray
ABSOLUTELY...................Guess I should have said after looking at a ton of boats we found our Baby!
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Jim B Mack
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Re: New to the forum the 26M and boating.

Post by Jim B Mack »

Jimmyt wrote:Welcome to the group.

If I understand you, the answer is no. It is not normal to have a halyard involved in your forestay.

Do you have a manual for the boat? If not, I think you can download it from this forum. If you can't sort it out, we can get you through it.

My Genoa Furler is attached to a mast hound at the top, and attached to the anchor roller at the front with a special pin from BWY that's easier to handle than the stock pin. I would recommend getting the pins to replace the bolts at the mast base and bow pulpit to eliminate tools from the rigging process, if the boat doesn't have them already.

Image

Keep asking if you need help.

The Halyard you see in that mess is what the previous owner used for the asymmetrical Spinnaker. It fouled the Furler regularly, so I pulled it out and will add a new hound that's higher up to prevent fouling.
Thank you just looking at the top of your mast there where the stay attaches to the hound. I can't see a swivel do you not use
or need one? This is probably a dumb Norman New Guy question but does the foil just rotate around the stay and no swivel at the top required?

I was out at the boat today and took that crazy halyard rig off then put the stay on the hound no swivel just to see how close I would be to the fore-peak connection point I'm a good 9 inches short of of hooking up and the Stay/Genoa combo is quite heavy no way was I going to be able to attach the bottom of the furler to the chain plate. I did get the furler to slide up the foil and get a look at the turnbuckle (not easy to fiddle with) The turn buckle is closed right down so there is room to expand length but its neat and tidy and choked with safety wire so I did not touch it just eyeballed it for a while.

I'm thinking a Johnson Bar but all sold out of every West Marine within a reasonable dist so I'm starting to think we may have the whole winter to sort out this dilemma.

Definitely going to order the quick pins from BWY's hope they will ship to Canada.

So how do folks get that fore stay snug or is it Ok to have a bit of play.

Thanks.......Jim

PS any MAC Folks in the vicinity of Goderich to Stratford Ontario esp 26M would love to see an operational Mac up close.
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Jim B Mack
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Re: New to the forum the 26M and boating.

Post by Jim B Mack »

dlandersson wrote:Did you attend the seller ceremony? 8)
Jim B Mack wrote:
NiceAft wrote:Jim,

Welcome. You didn’t settle on a Mac, you proudly bought one.


Ray
ABSOLUTELY...................Guess I should have said after looking at a ton of boats we found our Baby!

Don't know what a seller ceremony is..........do tell.
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Jim B Mack
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Re: New to the forum the 26M and boating.

Post by Jim B Mack »

Jim B Mack wrote:
Jimmyt wrote:Welcome to the group.

If I understand you, the answer is no. It is not normal to have a halyard involved in your forestay.

Do you have a manual for the boat? If not, I think you can download it from this forum. If you can't sort it out, we can get you through it.

My Genoa Furler is attached to a mast hound at the top, and attached to the anchor roller at the front with a special pin from BWY that's easier to handle than the stock pin. I would recommend getting the pins to replace the bolts at the mast base and bow pulpit to eliminate tools from the rigging process, if the boat doesn't have them already.

Image

Keep asking if you need help.

The Halyard you see in that mess is what the previous owner used for the asymmetrical Spinnaker. It fouled the Furler regularly, so I pulled it out and will add a new hound that's higher up to prevent fouling.
Thank you just looking at the top of your mast there where the stay attaches to the hound. I can't see a swivel do you not use
or need one? This is probably a dumb Norman New Guy question but does the foil just rotate around the stay and no swivel at the top required?

I was out at the boat today and took that crazy halyard rig off then put the stay on the hound no swivel just to see how close I would be to the fore-peak connection point I'm a good 9 inches short of of hooking up and the Stay/Genoa combo is quite heavy no way was I going to be able to attach the bottom of the furler to the chain plate. I did get the furler to slide up the foil and get a look at the turnbuckle (not easy to fiddle with) The turn buckle is closed right down so there is room to expand length but its neat and tidy and choked with safety wire so I did not touch it just eyeballed it for a while.

I'm thinking a Johnson Bar but all sold out of every West Marine within a reasonable dist so I'm starting to think we may have the whole winter to sort out this dilemma. Ordered it online bit spendy Johnson Marine Quick Release Lever (#14-205)

Definitely going to order the quick pins from BWY's hope they will ship to Canada.

So how do folks get that fore stay snug or is it Ok to have a bit of play.

Thanks.......Jim

PS any MAC Folks in the vicinity of Goderich to Stratford Ontario esp 26M would love to see an operational Mac up close.
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Jimmyt
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Re: New to the forum the 26M and boating.

Post by Jimmyt »

You are correct. There is no swivel on my forestay. The Furler foil spins around the forestay, so the stay does not need to rotate.

I would rig a temporary line to act as a forestay, or use the mast raising system if you have one. Get the mast rake set where you want it, and then adjust your forestay to the correct length if possible. It seems the previous owner has left you some setup issues - not uncommon. If it turns out your forestay is too short, you can get a longer one fabricated. But you need to be working toward the correct mast rake, not simply getting it rigged where it will hook up.

Also, I use the big pin from BWY, in lieu of a Johnson lever. The M rigging is not under much tension to allow mast rotation. I find it pretty easy to pin using the MAST RAISING SYSTEM. Review the manual carefully as you are correcting your setup.

And keep asking questions.

Also, if you can photograph your items of concern, the smart guys will be able to give you better input. I am not the sharpest knife in this drawer.

I can shoot photos of anything you need to see as time permits. My boat is downstairs.

Jim T
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Ixneigh
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Re: New to the forum the 26M and boating.

Post by Ixneigh »

Two happiest days in a sailors life: day he buys the boat. Day he sells the boat ;)

Ix
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