MacGregorSailors.com

I have the same issues. My wife and kids do not like to heel much at all. Yesterday, gust of wind put one side in the water, but we did not fall out. I fullered the jib, and we had a great day. I had to give my wife control of the main so she felt she old controll the heel. I am a new sailor as well, so far my family thinks sailing is either boring or scary as hull. I am having fun though.

I can imagine anyone starting out sailing on a Mac will probably freak given the tender nature of a water ballasted boat.Tender means it's readiness to heel which Mac's do very quickly.Our Mac 26X with old baggy stock sails and a badly adjusted rig didn't react well to gusts and was a handful in such conditions.However an adjustment of the forestay and new sail wardrobe transformed our Mac...answered the helm much better.One issue which has been previously covered...stalling...the "overuse" of the rudders...the use of maximum rudder angles...slows the boat to a degree and in combination with the rounding up...stalls the boat...no go no steering...water has to pass the rudders to steer.Heeling & Water over the rubrail and maintaining speed is possible...mind you the Admiral is not totally comfortable

Right... My question was really one of safety, not performance. One of the first times I went out (like I said, many hard lessons by experience), I did forget to fill the ballast, the guy I went with started yelling "We're going over", it just got me to thinking this time, if that were really a possibility, that you could heel over to say 45-50, then stay there. Logic told me, remember the video, the boat wants to come back up. (And I did triple-check the ballast). Actually the first time, I did try and fill the ballasts, but never took out the plug, I know better now.

Weasil wrote:I did try and fill the ballasts, but never took out the plug, I know better now.

There's a common mod (search the mods section) to take a length of hose from the ballast tank vent plug up to the chain locker on the deck, which eliminates the need to do anything with the plug and prevents spillage in case you forget to put it back in when full. All you need to do is open and close the gate valve on the transom.

I store on a trailer with the gate valve open, which means that the tank stays dry and when the boat goes in the water if anything was forgotten, the ballast tank is full not empty. To date I've never forgotten about it.

I'm working on a one-way flapper valve mod to go inside the gate valve which will allow the tank to take on water but will not release it unless you push against it manually once the boat is out of the water. The problem with the first prototype is that it turns out pushing against 1300 lbs. of water on a launch ramp incline is not easy and not a way to stay dry. When I get it perfected I'll post a mod, and then we'll have inherently safe ballast for people who want it.

When you are heeled over in excess of forty degrees, speed is not something to be concerned about. A snail is going faster, but it's fun. Plain and simple, it's fun. If you need to get somewhere, then let out the main, or reef the main. If you are only heeling thirty degrees you will move fine enough. That is not to far off from ideal.


Ray

Again, makes perfect sense and answered my question. Thank you..

I was with Mastreb.. in as much as to say.. I put a sticker.. on the helm.. BALLAST!
I too was and occasionally still am, nervous with heeling.. I am now, Much better than I was, the first few times I experienced it..
I now enjoy it... My Wife enjoys it My little dog? She hates it!!!
Sailing is all about..... the joy of the trip. The serenity. When things are going well ? The Power you feel in your hands when your doing all she'll do, and all you hear, is the water and the wind.. It is for us about the voyage not the arrival.. We have had ski boats in the past.. I skied a LOT!..We love what we have now.. I will in time ADD another boat.. one that is better suited for other On The Water activities.. I have fished from my But its for ME ..far from the ideal fishing boat.. Of our 4 ( of 8 ) grandchildren who have sailed with us all have liked it save maybe one and One .. The Oldest ( 17 ) LOVES it.. I was Kind Of... surprised... hes your typical BMOC Varsity Football Deans List etc etc kind of guy.. He loves to sail.. They ( his parents) own a go fast ski boat.. He slaloms but he loves to tweak every 1/10 of a knot out of our that he can get.. His youngest brother? He's had NO Desire to even go sailing.. He just wants to Slam the throttle and go 70 MPH .. No one in the family was Surprised.. when we brought home the We had been talking about buying a sailboat and We Did.. Go Figure...They were each and everyone surprised at how roomy it was.. The Oldest Boy said: Wellllll I see you and Mom have a new / another vacation home and it has been..