A warning to 26M owners: I have a 26M almost one year old. Hull 112. I was sailing at about 6 knots in 15 kts of wind. Heard some thumping sounds on the hull, and saw my daggerboard along side the boat. I was unable to get back into the harbor before both lines attaching the daggerboard broke. My daggerboard now litters the ocean bottom. MacGregor will not call this a warranty item, so I am putting in a new board tomorrow. At least the price is not too heavy...$215 or so. I am going to replace the blue line that comes with the board with black Spectra. This is supposed to resist UV degradation and should be more resistant to fraying, which was the cause of my line failure. Be sure to check your daggerbaord line for signs of wear, especially at the working end.
I would have thought it would be designed like a dinghy..ie, the board can't slip down through the hull once it reaches a full deployment but instead can only be lifted up through the deck. Wonder why it would need to go all the way through the bottom too.
RBuckingham wrote: A warning to 26M owners: I have a 26M almost one year old. Hull 112. I was sailing at about 6 knots in 15 kts of wind. Heard some thumping sounds on the hull, and saw my daggerboard along side the boat. I was unable to get back into the harbor before both lines attaching the daggerboard broke. My daggerboard now litters the ocean bottom. MacGregor will not call this a warranty item, so I am putting in a new board tomorrow. At least the price is not too heavy...$215 or so. I am going to replace the blue line that comes with the board with black Spectra. This is supposed to resist UV degradation and should be more resistant to fraying, which was the cause of my line failure. Be sure to check your daggerbaord line for signs of wear, especially at the working end.
You would think for $215 they would cover it in the interest of customer service
So if a small cord breaks you lose the daggerboard. Brilliant design concept.
Can you attach a steel cable somehow like the early 26X centerboards have? The flex steel cable holds up extremely well against abrasion. The newer centerboards use small line and I think a number of them had failures after only a year or so also. The steel cable seems to last about 6 years and failure is usually just a broken strand rather than a complete break. The cable ends can either be done by a rigger or you can use a $25 nicropress bolt tightened crimp die to make thimble loops.
I must say I'm happy I have a old X with the cable rather than the line. Works great and is much more durable.
On an X the line has to exit the compression post at an angle and often the edge of the tube was poorly finished so it wore out the line. The M doesn't have this issue, the line just drops in the trunk. Seems like wear would be much less.
I'm surprised they don't have some kind of moulded lip or stop that keeps it from falling out the bottom. Seems like you would only want to remove it from the top.
Maybe you should add a eye and a safety teather on the top for extra security if the working line parts.
The M does have a safety tether. It's scary that both lines parted!
Now I'm going to have to take another look at my set up.
Funny thing I've seen on mine. The gelcoat on the top leading edge is all cracked and chipped. I don't see anything that it could be hitting on, but it's sure taking some kind of punishment.
I lost my dagger board to on the second time out (hull 302). The difference was mine had no safety line. I incorrectly thought it was designed so it could not pass all the way through the trunk. I had a crew member put the board down and did not check to see how it was tied off and a little while later away she went. I had a figure 8 in the line but it still somehow pulled through. My dealer, Super Sport, was able to get Macgregor to replace it at no charge. The replacement came with the safety line. This time the lines are white instead of blue, but look to be the same material. I now have a SS washer in front of the knot to make sure it cant pull through.
Paul, The safety line attaches at the top of the board right next to the pennant to raise and lower it. The only difference is it is shorter and is designed to be pass through the small hole in the hasp like devise at the top of the dagger board trunk. There it is to have a figure 8 knot that allows the board to have no more than 57 inches of travel down the trunk. I am on the road right now so I can't get you a picture.
John L.
It turns out that I did not have a safety line on my boat, either. The new board has the second line on it. The hasp with pulley that it passes through does not have a second hole in it for the safety line. I inspected two boats at my dealer, one a new model, and one that is older than mine. The older boat does not have the safety line, the new one does. I replaced the lines Macgregor supplies with a different line recommended by a local marine supply store caller Amersteel(?). By the way, in retrospect, I lost my board because the washer that keeps the knot from traveling past the cheek block bent, and the knot worked its way through the cheek block, then hung up on the hasp. This enabled the board to exit the trunk. It was at this point that the line broke after about ten minutes of the board thrashing around in the water. My dealer suggested that I write Roger a letter and see if he will give me some relief due to the design change. We will see.
Sea Dragon wrote:Paul, The safety line attaches at the top of the board right next to the pennant to raise and lower it. The only difference is it is shorter and is designed to be pass through the small hole in the hasp like devise at the top of the dagger board trunk. There it is to have a figure 8 knot that allows the board to have no more than 57 inches of travel down the trunk. I am on the road right now so I can't get you a picture.
John L.
Took a look at the top of the dagger board on our boat. There appears to be another shorter line, I assume it is the safetly line. I did not measure it, have to assume it is the correct length. I really have got to stop assuming with this boat. Thought a safety line would be a bit stronger looking (steel cable, etc), but it is just line. It should work though if the main line fails for whatever reason. I think I will get in the habit of changing the main line every so often and carry a spare on board. Cheap insurance
I don't know why they just don't put some sort of physical stop molded into the dagger board so it only comes out from the top.
A warning to 26M owners: I have a 26M almost one year old. Hull 112. I was sailing at about 6 knots in 15 kts of wind. Heard some thumping sounds on the hull, and saw my daggerboard along side the boat. I was unable to get back into the harbor before both lines attaching the daggerboard broke. My daggerboard now litters the ocean bottom. MacGregor will not call this a warranty item, so I am putting in a new board tomorrow. At least the price is not too heavy...$215 or so. I am going to replace the blue line that comes with the board with black Spectra. This is supposed to resist UV degradation and should be more resistant to fraying, which was the cause of my line failure. Be sure to check your daggerbaord line for signs of wear, especially at the working end. 
