Poll: Sailing the Mac 26X or 26M in blue water.

[aya16]

Now theres an Idea...anyone interested in a night cruise to catalina?
Leave Friday night get back sunday afternoon. Say in a couple weeks?
Leave around 7 at night or time it with the moon. Night Mac attack on the Island.

[Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL]

A nice time to go sailing is the day of, or the day before, a full moon.
You can see the sunset to the west and the moonrise to the east.

[Dan]

I consider any open ocean to be "blue water." I sail my 26m in the western caribbean but normally not far offshore of the cayman islands. once you leave protected harbor in my opinion you are in blue water. I have only had my mac for about 6 months, and when i am comfortable enough with her I plan on visiting honduras, jamaica, and maybe cuba. I wouldnt consider my mac to be a true blue water cruiser, and i certainly would not try to cross the atlantic in her. But properly equiped with nav gear and safety gear I would not hesitate to sail the entire caribbean or similar bodies of water. that is my 2 cents worth.

[waternwaves]

Nauti

I set centerboard as per the needs of wind, boat velocity and sea condition.

Obviously quartering into the oncoming wave train is going to generally give more control, but when things really get dicey, and the wind and spray is noisy through the rigging and the boat is bare poled....in almost all cases you are better off keeping the centerboard all the way down to minimize rolling. (caveat, ya cant do that for long if you are trying to smash through them at 7 kts. ) but the full centerboard position does hull prevent much of the roll and stiffens the boat.

as far as partial board noise, mostly a function of the rolling seas underneat. short period wave trains are noisier, as the boat undergoes more rotation (yaw) in a given interval, more force >> more strain. more noise.

and when it gets really crappy ya set the drogue and pray......... bu the truth is, in coastal sailing here, in the few times I have used the drogue, a properly shaped staysil would have been more effective. you still have to tend the drogue, since the wind and currents rarely are exactly the same for a long period within 50 miles of shore. SO use a long fairlead on the drogue. Additionally, our deck cleats on the old X's suck when your hands are cold and wet. let alone having the drogue add to the upset pull.

Design idea coming.........

Someone otta have attachments for the drogue low on the hull and around the boat.........lol

[Morimaro]

In August we had a small rally from the UK MacGregor Owners Assoc do the English Channel East (UK-Calais) which is around 30-35 nm. The biggest problem is the shipping lanes as long as you have a decent weather window.
There have also been lots of members do the Western Channel (UK - Cherbourg) which is just over 70 nm, again the bigest challenge is the shipping lanes not to mention the longer weather window.
Folks who even having a good weather forecast, find themselves in higher then forecasted conditions, usually report the Mac can handle the rough weather far better then the crew can. (same with most boats!)
The same holds good for the Irish sea crossing which can blow up pretty rough.
Personally I have stuck to coastal cruiising which sometimes takes in large bays where you loose site of land for a few hours but means you got somewhere to run if need be.
Having spent a few years in the Merchant Marine I always think blue water sailing is for people who have to do it, I have sailed in France and Ireland with my 26X but it went across on a ferry on its trailer the easy way.

[Terry]

A Drogue?
Well, that's a new one for me, had to look it up to see what it was. Looks like a pretty good idea if you happen to out in conditions that warrant one. I hope I never have to be out in such conditions though, I prefer to be a fair weather sailor.

[richandlori]

Drodge? with a Mac? that's why I have my Honda 50 to be able to get the hull out of there before I need one!

[waternwaves]

Me Mine.........

That drinkin is for after............lol,

<--probably does have a bad attitude tho......, hard drinking is for younger men.

[Gerald Gordon]

If I'm ever in conditions where I would need a drouge I wouldn't know how to use one and I would regret being out there in the first place.

Still, I wonder if instead of a drouge I could lower the 50hp and shift her into reverse?

[James V]

Motor in reverse? From what I have read about diesel's is that the fuel mixes with the air so much with less than a full tank that the motot stall's. Not much said about gas outboards execpt that they will not run sometimes. Better not push your luck unless you have to. It might be best to carry a storm sail as more speed may be better than less.

[Chip Hindes]

If I'm ever in conditions where I would need a drouge I wouldn't know how to use one and I would regret being out there in the first place.

Still, I wonder if instead of a drouge I could lower the 50hp and shift her into reverse?

Motoring in reverse is completely missing the point of the drogue. The idea is to trail it off the bow and use it as drag to hold the bow to the wind. Without one, the only reasonable way to keep the bow pointed into the wind is by motoring forward, not reverse.

No matter how many HP you have, backing in high winds is a fundamentally unstable process, and you can't back the boat fast enough to overcome the tendency to fall off the wind. Make the slightest steering error, or if the waves are coming from a slightly different direction than the wind, and there's no way you can back the boat straight whether you have 50 or 150HP. You'll fall off the wind in either direction. As soon as the wind catches the massive freeboard of the Mac, the bow will come around, turning you broadside through the wind and waves as it does so. That's what you're trying to avoid with the drogue.

[DLT]

Isn't there a difference between a drogue and a sea-anchor?

I agree that backing would be problematic, since the prop is working against moving water...

I thought the idea of a drogue was to as a parachute off the stern acting to minimize the yaw effects of quartering seas... When that wave hits your butt, the drogue provides resistance. Sort of fighting water with water...

Whereas a sea-anchor is designed to hold the bow into the wind and/or waves.

[LOUIS B HOLUB]

A fella that uses the name "MADDMIKE" has lived aboard his 1995 MAC- X since 1996...travelled So. America, Anartica, and is in SriLinka now. The UPGRADES to his Mac-X are significant...but obviously, the BOAT is capable of going just about ANYWHERE on the WATER. The ingredients involved are obviously: Upgrades, Experience, and dont forget "COURAGE"....His boat name is "ZENOSARROW", A VERY INTERESTING MAC-X.