MacGregorSailors.com

you should really take your boat to a scale and get a base line weight empty, depending on what mods previous owner did your boat could weigh several hundred pounds more than an unmodified one. I know my boat with five additional layers of heavy 24oz roving on interior hull,and all storage compartments individually sealed up water tight and gelcoated along with twohundred pounds of lead shot glassed into hull would contribute to a lower top speed compared to a stock M, but unless you weighed it you would never know it was much heavier than others who get faster speeds with same motor.

I have a 98 w/ 60HP Merc. I can get up to around 15MPH with ballast in, 2-3 people on board, lightly loaded (I'm still too scared to run unballasted ). The boat has a thick coat of anti fouling paint that is pretty significantly pitted.

is 15MPH pretty reasonable in a ballasted configuration? Or is that paint coat slowing me down significantly?

bobbob wrote:is 15MPH pretty reasonable in a ballasted configuration? Or is that paint coat slowing me down significantly?

I get 16 mph with 50 hp. Unballasted! I think you're doing pretty good.

Depends on the conditions.

I have a 50hp ETEC, and I have bottom paint. The best I have ever seen was 16 knots, and the worst I have seen was 7.5 knots at WOT. The 7.5 knots was into tide and wind and I was towing the dinghy and I also have way too much junk in the boat...

Generally I get around 12 to 14 knots at WOT, but I am almost always towing a dinghy.

Of course if you're on a lake with no wind and your getting a consistent 8 mph, then its likely one of the problems already mentioned.

Bob, I dont know about the X, but with the M, theres nothing scary about the boat being unballasted - its just like all the other power boats out there. If not sailing, we are almost always unballasted and I do high speed turns, surf down Gin palace bow waves etc etc without any concerns.

Windsong runs 15knots ballasted @ 5400 rpm in flat water and no wind assist. I have a SS 13 3/4 x13 prop on an ETEC 60HP. With 3-4 on board it always gets up to, at least 14 knots @ 5400 rpm under most reasonably flat conditions. That's with no antifoul. Of course it is blue

Thanks. Sounds like I'm about par without having to sand off that paint and redo (a job I was not looking forward to).

I'm half kidding about dumping the ballast, but I just got my Mac and settled on leaving the "training wheels" on for a while

With my 50 I was at 8mph with ballast and 16 mph without. With the 90 it's at 20mph with ballast and 24mph without. So an almost-doubling of the Hp picked up 50% top speed with without ballast. Not terrible and well explained by others on this forum. I have to admit Victor's stories and videos at 30+ mph set my expectations too high. I'll blame it on the bumpy bottom paint too. Anyone know what the paint is really worth in top speed?

Mac26Mpaul wrote:Depends on the conditions.

Bob, I dont know about the X, but with the M, theres nothing scary about the boat being unballasted - its just like all the other power boats out there. If not sailing, we are almost always unballasted and I do high speed turns, surf down Gin palace bow waves etc etc without any concerns.

Mac26Mpaul thanks for your comment about "nothing scary" unballasted speed. When I bought our 2007 from previous owner, he told me the was too unstable at any speeds unballasted. Therefore, I assumed he was correct and so we have never left the marina unballasted under power. I am now determined to perform some sea trials to see what she will do unballasted and under power. Thanks.

I agree there is nothing dangerous about being underway unballasted, as long as you aren't sailing and/or you don't allow more than 1 or 2 people on the cabin top. I think the Manual has a warning about that.

too unstable? The boat is as stable as other power boats. Yes, if everyone sits on one side of the cockpit, you will be on a slight heal, but its still perfectly safe.

I believe Macgregor even tested the boat to be self righting without ballast (I remember seeing the figures for how much weight was required at the top of the mast to hold it on its side both with, and without ballast). Dont think many other power boats out there would pop back up from being pulled on their side.

I wouldn't load up the cabin top with people and pull high speed turns or anything, but I have no concerns with a couple of people on the cabin top underway, and my whole family will sit up there fishing or whatever while at anchor.

The only thing I worry about under power is the centerboard rope breaking on my X. There are at least two posts about that happening and apparently the sudden severe heel can be quite dangerous. I haven't seen a post about that happening on an M but I suppose the same thing could occur.

I recently left the board down by accident and powered up. As soon as I entered the first turn it was immediately obvious that the boat was leaning the wrong way: to the outside of the turn not towards the inside. Thanks to a post by Mastreb I immediately knew what was wrong. Oops.

Starscream wrote:
The only thing I worry about under power is the centerboard rope breaking on my X.

I'd worry about the rudder brackets as well. I keep the speed under 5 KTS with the fins down. Faster than that, any sudden swerving and all bets are off

on an M anything above 4-5 mph and your daggerboard would never drop down as friction keeps it from falling, I added 20# of lead just to help it fall at idle speed.have been at wot with board down and never experienced anything scary...

"yet"

raycarlson wrote:on an M anything above 4-5 mph and your daggerboard would never drop down as friction keeps it from falling, I added 20# of lead just to help it fall at idle speed.have been at wot with board down and never experienced anything scary...

When you guys say cabin top do you mean cockpit? I don't know if I would ever have anyone on the cabin top if I was full WOT, ballasted or no. Maybe I'm just too cautious