Power Without Ballast

[Kevgrn114]

Every time!
...and yes I do!

[DaveB]

I thought the same, maybe he was in light winds and wanted more Air.
Passing Gas on Leeward side only, as it won't have any DNA.
I need to go Sailing this weekend to avoid computer mistakes.
Dave

people do sue each other for farting! It's crazy! Liability is strangling the adventure out of life..

Passing wind is an adventure for you, Kevgrn?

You really gotta get out more.

people do sue each other for farting! It's crazy! Liability is strangling the adventure out of life..

Passing wind is an adventure for you, Kevgrn?

You really gotta get out more.

[NiceAft]

Sailing a boat without a righting factor is foolhardy. Not feeling unsafe, and being safe are not necessarily the same thing. This is not condemnation for those who do, it's their life they are risking, but for those who are thinking about it, seriously think again.

Ray

[06HARLEYULTRA]

We motor unbalasted on the lake, and she handles just fine. One of the go-fasts powered by us at about 70 mph last weekend, and the resulting wave hit us broad side while anchored (again..unbalasted). We rocked something fierce Everything on the table was on the floor, and me and my kid were hanging on to the pedastal laughing . Learned a good lesson about stowing gear, anchoring in open water, and being aware.
I would not sail unbalasted, as the risk does not match the reward for me. To those that do...good luck
I think it's up to each captain to decide what that risk/reward is for them.

Just my 2 cents,

Rich

[Mac26Mpaul]

Ray

Since I'm the one that last mentioned "not feeling unsafe' I assume you are referring to what I said.

If I were to sail unballasted, I would indeed feel unsafe, because I know that I would have just turned my sailboat into a big unballasted dinghy, but powering, no, because the boat is as safe, in fact probably safer than zillions of other trailer boats out there that dont have a thousand pound of unessesary, ballast.

With the ballast in, I'd bet that as a trailerable powerboat, its probably one of the safest out there, but without it, in reasonable conditions, the boat is simply not going to go over
It was designed to be run as a powerboat without all that ballast, just like other power boats and it does what it was designed to do, just fine

I'm actually pretty surprised by this thread...

As to laughing when the stinkpots go by, if you go into the busy area of where I am on a weekend, you are constantly being hit by 4 foot bow waves from giant zillion dollar gin palaces and laughing will deffinately be replaced by cursing

[NiceAft]

Nope, I was referring to Tom's statement on sailing without ballast.

As I said, I am not condemning anyone. Just my opinion on the subject. Which was SAILING without ballast. I have motored without ballast many times.

Peace to all, and pleasant sailing.

Ray

[Mac26Mpaul]

In that case, I aggree, but I'd still happily go sailing with Tom on his unballasted boat to see how it works

[Paul L]

What Ballast?? ...just kidding

Seriously, I've more or less quit paying attention...leaving the valve open all the time.

At high speeds it empties. which is what I want.

When I slow down (or sail) it fills back up.. which is what I want.

Simple... automatic.

[Mac26Mpaul]

I'm not so sure thats the right idea...

Couldnt your ballast tank partially empty itself if sailing on the same tack for some time, leading to what might be the most dangerous situation of them all,

Or under iron Gen, you might end up powering into a situation with a a part full tank, that would be much safer full OR empty!
I reckon, being hit broadside by a 4 foot Gin palace wave, with a half full tank, could be scary...

[jennlawrence]

I agree with the others - sailing a Mac without ballast is just asking for some very serious trouble - at the very least you could get wet or something on the boat could get damaged, and at the worst you or your passengers could be killed. DON'T DO IT.

Powering without ballast is fine - indeed, I prefer to run that way. But please be careful on hard turns and do NOT allow folks on the fore-deck when powering... keep the weight low. The boat will easily and safely do tight powered turns so long as you do not have a lot of weight topside... I've often done so when towing an inflatable toy for the kids in order to tow them over the wake. Naturally, you should lower the mast to keep that center of balance as low as possible.

[Catigale]

Capsizing a boat is not only something not to be feared, in dinghy sailing, we require it of our students. In the fall, we have an outing where everyone brings two sets of clothes....

That being said, if I'm in the Mac, it's because I have a crew on board, and I'm not interested in capsize drills.

Chip Hindes wrote up a capsize recovery story about 5 years ago IIRC....

[phil kelly]

Thanks guys for all replies, quite a mix of opinions especially on the question of sailing without ballast.

I'll be leaving my ballast in when sailing but the results of this thread convinced me its worth trying out
powering without ballast whilst keeping in mind all safety aspects pointed out.

This forum is a great source of information on these boats

Phil. UK.

[mastreb]

What Ballast?? ...just kidding

Seriously, I've more or less quit paying attention...leaving the valve open all the time.

At high speeds it empties. which is what I want.

When I slow down (or sail) it fills back up.. which is what I want.

Simple... automatic.

You should consider putting a back-flow preventer on your gate valve if you're serious about this. The problem is that when you've got the boat heeled over under sail either direction, water will immediately begin flowing out of the tank and back into the water--whether the gate valve is below water or above makes no difference, as the weight pressure of the water will force the tank to drain. You'll be reducing your ballast considerably and making the ballast moveable and therefore unstable. The rate at which it drains depends on a lot of factors, but five minutes heeled over and you've almost certainly lost your ballast.

I spent a lot of time thinking about an automatic fill valve, which is easy to do, but there's no way to get to a valve that will automatically fill and automatically drain appropriately in every situation. I personally prefer auto-fill/manual drain because it's inherently safe, but I didn't design this boat and it certainly appears that a lot of people are safely using the boat unballasted.

[Paul L]

The problem is that when you've got the boat heeled over under sail either direction, water will immediately begin flowing out of the tank

Good point and I'll keep it in mind. I guess I've gradually been leaving the valve open more & more because I find myself doing so little sailing and just plain boating instead. The summer breezes are so light & intermittent up here in protected Puget sound (esp compared to the strong tidal currents). The little bit I sail involves very little healing. Mostly, I'm just powering to a quiet anchorage where I can drop anchor, make a cup of coffee & read a book in my little camper on the water.

[ginks]

I have been wondering the same thing! by any chance does your motor alarm out while @ WOT and fully ballasted???
I recently purchased a 12v water pump to empty my ballast while sitting still on the water, so as not to take any chances with a partial ballast while moving....(huge yachts seem to appear outta nowhere around here @ WOT )
I got the pump to test the alarm issue before i really tear into my motor ....

A couple days ago I was sailing and decided to pull up the boards to give the engine (Nissan NS50) a little workout. I've done this many times, but after just a few minutes I got the over temp alarm (WOT). The motor intakes are clean, prop not fouled, still not sure why it did this. I did get the over temp alarm last year when the water pump failed, that was an expensive and 2week repair. But here the motor was "peeing" fine (though I don't think I've ever seen water also coming out of the "idle port" which the manual says it should do, not sure what's up with that). Anyway I was also wanting to try motoring with empty ballast but until I identify this issue I'm not going to try it. Sailed again tonite with friends and kept rpm to 2000 when leaving and returning to dock, maybe 5 knots, and no alarm issue. Next time I'm solo I'll try WOT again and see if I can figure out what's going on.