Stability??

[magnetic]

so did mine; that single fact probably explains why the previous owners wanted to sell

[mastreb]

I've been heeled over to the point that the rub rails were submerged. There's no danger to heeling in a Mac if properly ballasted. That said, the boat does not have infinite righting moment, so if something does cause it to go over beyond 120 degrees, it will turtle rather than rolling over and self-righting.

To be clear, I'm only saying that its possible for a Mac to turtle even fully ballasted, not that its at all likely. I would have to rolled beyond 120 degrees. That said, the Mac 26D that capsized in San Diego recently did turtle. The operator claims it was ballasted but I don't think it was.

[seahouse]

Taking waves at an angle is a rule of thumb, but doesn't apply in all conditions. Two weeks ago we found ourselves (but not unexpectedly) in 8-9 ' high rollers, 20+ kt * winds off Point Abino in Lake Erie on a trip to the next windward port an hour and a half or so away. Fifth time out in the boat for my wife and me; so let's see what this little Mac can do.

I did not want to hoist sails, in fact, did not want take attention off the waves and helm to do anything non-essential at all! I have had powerboat experience continuously since a pre-teen, but sailing experience, not so much, so I chose the familiarity of power as my realm. I was very impressed and pleased with the helm and throttle response, stability, and over-all performance of the Mac in these conditions.

I tried various angles into the waves, but roll particularly, and yaw somewhat, increased. Taking the waves 90 degrees head-on was by far the best approach, and the boat motion was reduced to mainly pitch. It was the most fun as well, and the dodger was awash, but kept us fairly dry. I did try various power settings, and while I was very happy to have a full 60hp at my disposal, I never needed full throttle at any time.

Rudders up, dagger full up, ballast in, and, surprisingly, at no time did the motor cavitate. Used mostly the 1800-2300 rpm range. The engine is more prone to occasionally cavitate while motor-sailing in heavy (3-4') following seas, I have since found.

A Beneteau 34, (displacing 9000# IIRC), accompanied us, motoring as well, and he also found that straight into the waves was the way to go. Watching them bash the waves from alongside them was an awesome sight to see, and was reminiscent to me of the shots I saw in childhood of the Australian life guards battling the off-shore surf with their rescue boats. He did not appear to be getting a smoother ride to either us, or to them, but physics says, he must have. The top of his bimini, later measured at 9 feet above water level, almost dissappeared from my view with every wave.

Of course, we had the companionway and hatch closed up tight, and no sails up allowed us to choose a heading based solely on the wave direction, which, under these conditions, is not necessarily correlated with the wind direction. I would guess that the wavelength that day was 5+ times the boat length.

What a blast! And I think the Admiral would do it again!

Did I say I LOVE my Mac?

-Brian.

* On Edit - I now realize that since a small craft advisory was in effect that the winds must actually have been between 22 and 33 kts (25 - 38 mph). Also - a 26' Mac is well within the bounds of a "small craft" for this definition.

[c130king]

We were in 10'+ rollers coming around the Isle of Wight in RickJ's 26X. We were motoring and the waves were coming from dead astern to maybe 45 degrees off the stern.

Not real comfortable. If we tried to go slow with boards down we would find ourselves surfing at 10-12+ knots on the downhill side. And taking them from 45 degrees off the stern with boards down was very uncomfortable. The boat kept trying to round up with the boards down.

I think I would go boards up in those situations in the future and use engine power to keep the bow pointed in the right direction.

Cheers,
Jim

[Catigale]

You need a sail up (preferably the main) to dampen the roll from the waves. It stops the rolling of the boat you only pitch.

Quuote from Jim above...the damping effect of a sail is huge - the first time I tried this I was amazed at how much more comfortable the boat was in tossed salad seas. The main is much more effective as noted imhe too.

[dlandersson]

You gents are made of sterner stuff than I.

We were in 10'+ rollers coming around the Isle of Wight in RickJ's 26X. We were motoring and the waves were coming from dead astern to maybe 45 degrees off the stern.

Not real comfortable. If we tried to go slow with boards down we would find ourselves surfing at 10-12+ knots on the downhill side. And taking them from 45 degrees off the stern with boards down was very uncomfortable. The boat kept trying to round up with the boards down.

I think I would go boards up in those situations in the future and use engine power to keep the bow pointed in the right direction.

Cheers,
Jim

[ROAD Soldier]

You need a sail up (preferably the main) to dampen the roll from the waves. It stops the rolling of the boat you only pitch.

Quuote from Jim above...the damping effect of a sail is huge - the first time I tried this I was amazed at how much more comfortable the boat was in tossed salad seas. The main is much more effective as noted imhe too.

Dido and if the winds get severe (above 30 knots) I leave just my storm jib up.

[beene]

I love reading these sailing stories.
Glad to know i am not the only guy who is borderline insane.
LOL

I have sailed my M for hours holding 40 to 45 deg heel.

Not great for speed
30 is best
But i was out there with double reefed main and 30% headsail
So there was not much more I was willing to do to get the heel down
Mind you 90% of my passengers would never like that amount of heel
So I only go out in conditions like that solo or with another sa sailor who can handle that.

G

[Crikey]

pressure makes diamonds.

I'm lovin that statement!

[seahouse]

We chose to keep all sails down because the wind direction under the various headings we made would have caught the sails and almost certainly have amplified the degree of roll. The wind was turbulent, particulaly in the troughs of the waves. There were times when I thought that the high freeboard was caught by the wind and multiplied our roll, and thought to myself that it was a good thing that I had no canvas up to add to that. It also meant less stress on the rigging.

In somewhat less severe conditions and with a more uniform, continuous blow, some sail up would dampen the roll. We did experience precisely that on another trip, where we were using the genny only, starting with it partially reefed. The Admiral had jibsheets in hand ready to release on command, just in case.

At some future point I/we do hope to achieve the level of skill necessary with the Mac so I could safely handle a similar situation with sails only, although there are wave vs. wind direction combinations which can only be handled under power alone. I felt this was one of them.
- Brian.

[ROAD Soldier]

We chose to keep all sails down because the wind direction under the various headings we made would have caught the sails and almost certainly have amplified the degree of roll. The wind was turbulent, particulaly in the troughs of the waves. There were times when I thought that the high freeboard was caught by the wind and multiplied our roll, and thought to myself that it was a good thing that I had no canvas up to add to that. It also meant less stress on the rigging.

In somewhat less severe conditions and with a more uniform, continuous blow, some sail up would dampen the roll. We did experience precisely that on another trip, where we were using the genny only, starting with it partially reefed. The Admiral had jibsheets in hand ready to release on command, just in case.

At some future point I/we do hope to achieve the level of skill necessary with the Mac so I could safely handle a similar situation with sails only, although there are wave vs. wind direction combinations which can only be handled under power alone. I felt this was one of them.
- Brian.

With experience you will learn. However in the mean time carry a lump of coal with you to sit on during these situations so you can make your wife a nice anniversary gift .

[seahouse]

RS -

Yabbut Superman can make one in his bare hands!


(Or maybe I would just get methane out of it).

[raycarlson]

you just need to re-educate your crew, let them know your out to have fun and excitement.the fun doesn't start until after 15 degrees,and excitement comes after 25 degrees.my crew fights over who gets to ride the bow while heading into 4'-5' waves, its better then any carnival ride or rollercoaster anyday.of course this is in 80-90 degree water in 100 degree weather, i don't know how enjoyable this would be in the NE or great lakes wearing sweaters and coats and dodging icebergs while out sailing.

[dlandersson]

Ice - shmice...it's just a matter of re-educating the crew...

you just need to re-educate your crew, let them know your out to have fun and excitement.the fun doesn't start until after 15 degrees,and excitement comes after 25 degrees.my crew fights over who gets to ride the bow while heading into 4'-5' waves, its better then any carnival ride or rollercoaster anyday.of course this is in 80-90 degree water in 100 degree weather, i don't know how enjoyable this would be in the NE or great lakes wearing sweaters and coats and dodging icebergs while out sailing.

[ROAD Soldier]

you just need to re-educate your crew, let them know your out to have fun and excitement.the fun doesn't start until after 15 degrees,and excitement comes after 25 degrees.my crew fights over who gets to ride the bow while heading into 4'-5' waves, its better then any carnival ride or rollercoaster anyday.of course this is in 80-90 degree water in 100 degree weather, i don't know how enjoyable this would be in the NE or great lakes wearing sweaters and coats and dodging icebergs while out sailing.

Plus no sharks in Arizona. Now for 4-5ft waves on an inland lake are you sailing in Chinook Winds (Colorado Language)or in California they call them Santa Ana Winds?