Beam: Whaddya think?

[AWKIII]

There has been plenty of discussion on this board over the years about boat beam.

Most local roads, interstates and freeways have a legal max width of 8'.6" and that includes the tires and fenders themselves.

The Mac comes in at 7'.11". Not sure what the width is outside of fender to outside of fender.

I see massive powerboats coming and going to the lake and ocean every weekend with beams well in excess of the 8'.6" limit. Hunter used to build the trailerable water ballasted 260 and that carried a beam of 9'. There have been well over 5,000 J/24's built and they routinely take the road for races 12 months a year and they are 9' as well.

Here's the question:

If a hot new affordable sailboat hit the market tomorrow with a beam of 8.6 to 9.0 would it be a deal killer?

[Hamin' X]

I doubt that it would be a factor for the US market. If you are planning an export market though, it might cause trouble.

~Rich

[JustSail]

It wouldn't be a deal killer for me, in fact it would be a plus.

If it's going to be a big boat, the weight might be a killer. I don't want to have to buy a monster truck to pull it around.

[Terry]

I met a guy in a honkin big power boat in Bedwell Harbour (Poets Cove) and saw a bow hook/eye on his bow for the trailer winch. I t seemed like an awful big boat to trailer (10' Beam) so I asked the if he trailers it. He said yes, with a big Dodge Ram Cummins diesel with 11,000 lbs class 5 tow hitch and wide load permit. Plenty of trucks with that towing capacity around so that was no problem but I inquired further about the permit. How much and how to obtain? Well, "piece of cake" he says, just go to the MV branch and get a $14.00 wide load permit, after which he says, "but I don't always bother because I have never been pulled over or checked for it yet." I thought it foolish that anyone would take such a risk given the chance for an accident but never voiced it, but I was surprised just how easy and common it is for people to do. I would venture to speculate that these permits are relatively easy to get in any jurisdiction.

A wider beam would not be a deal killer for me, it would be an incentive to trade up to the wider beam. My biggest complaint with the MacGregor has and always will be that it is a skinny boat. I can't imagine a 9' beam putting the total towing weight over a class 3 which is 3500 - 5000 lbs so I'd still be able to tow it with my current vehicle. There are many of us who only tow to the marina slip and back each season so we'd only need to get the permit twice a year, once for launch then again at the season end to bring it home for winter. Rodger should have gone to 8'6" right from the get go and dismissed those few rogue jurasdictions that had the 8' max limit.

[AWKIII]

I am 50 and have been around sailboats since I was a tyke.

It is interesting....I have never heard a single story about someone getting nailed for being too wide.

I have heard about commercial pullers going into weigh stations and being too long. We used to haul two Macs at a time on a flatbed and the driver's would say there were times when it got down to inches.

Although boat weight is a concern for all of us, please do not let it affect how you would answer the question. Let's just say it wouldn't need a tow beast to haul it.

[Hamin' X]

Noncommercial permits are not hard to get, nor expensive. They issue the permit with a map of allowed roads. The main purpose of the permit is to insure that you do not use roads that would be a hazard to others, or yourself.

~Rich

[AKCoastie]

Not a deal killer for me.

[sailsurfski]

Besides the rougue 8' wide jurisdictions, My understanding was the 7'10" beam was to allow two macs to fit into one shipping container nose to nose and overlapped.

If a new boat was going to be 33', fitting two per container is already not an option regardless of the beam.

I think about an upgrade all the time, but am spoiled by my 90hp and top speed. The folding tri-marans are my next logical upgrade unless something else comes along.

I was at the BEER cruise this year, and a guy from GA was in the slip next to me one night and he had the Hunter 260. Trust me, you can't believe how awesome the cockpit is with the added beam unless you see it for yourself. Hunter now has its copycat powersailer with mac like measurements. Since the 260 had water ballast and was trailerable, I think they missed the mac upgrade market by not making the powerailer on the 260 chassis.

[Love MACs]

9' Beam could only improve the saleability and maybe even the sailability

Allan

[AWKIII]

Most folks don't realize the impact of adding 12" of beam on a relatively small boat.

It opens up a whole new world topside and down below.

[Love MACs]

Idea sounds great to me but then what would that do to the projected (or at least previously discussed) price Larger boat with affordable price or are we now up to the Hunter price range?


Allan

[pokerrick1]

I'm probably NOT a potential customer as long as I live in Las Vegas, but the wider beam is not only NOT a deal breaker - - - but a positive. I don't like to trailer much anyway - - - I much prefer my boat to be in a permanent slip, and below deck comfort is important to me.

Rick

[Trouts Dream]

So now we just have to wait for some of the more intense modifiers to cut the boat down the middle and insert a 1' spacer.
Can't wait to see that mod.

[Indulgence]

I cannot believe no one has said this yet.
Yes Art, go ahead and

" BEAM ME UP "

With apologies to all,
Laurie

[Highlander]

OK
Where do we start at the boweye or the dagger board Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm !!!

J