MacGregorSailors.com

Hi All,

We are still away in Europe till the beginning of November. I'm sorry, you will have to do without the treasurer.
Brian, I will e-mail you the bank amount separately

Dirk

As Dirk is going to be away for this weekend's planned AGM, and no one else has notified me as to attendance (or not). We'll delay the AGM until Dirk gets back.

I hope that this does not upset anyone.

Regards

Brian

Hi all, I hope this is transmitted because I'm a new person on this forum. I have had a MacGregor for some years but I always feel that I never use it enough. One of the reason is that I have to select my days. I live in Noumea and most days there is a strong South Westerly. During the first years I had some adventures and had wondered why the boat sails so bad. Fortunately I have a racing background so I know about fine tuning. I have enjoyed making a slow boat sail fast and I'm still experimenting.

We had a similar experience coming from numerous small boats and thru a number of other trailersailers....well....not initially impressed by the Max26X but with some tweaks...whilst never fast the ability to hold a course and sail without constantly rounding up was tuned out mostly by mast rake adjustment and a new set of heavier duty sails direct from US for really really good price.....our caravan with a mast is now good fun...won't win a race but then again don't want to either

Thanks for the comment I now feel part of a group although far away. I had tried to form an association over hear but it seems that The French are different although there are 10 MacGregors here in New Caledonia. My question is what happened to the Association that was being formed from Victoria. The too and from communication seemed to have ended.

Hey Roy,
Are you a New Caledonian or are you living the expat life there or something? I havn't been there in 10 years, at which time I did a short 5 week stint on the Goro Nickel project (before it got shut down). Looked like some absolutely magic places to sail around there

Paul,
No I'm not a Caledonian I'm Australian from Perth where I did most of my sailing. I was once the commodore of Nedlands Yacht Club. These days I'm an outport member of Royal Perth Yacht Club.
Goro is still operating under the banner of Vale.
Yes there are many islands here where one can sail to and discover. Part of the fun.

Well, I have just read about the proposed Association from the horses mouth. And to think that I'm critical of the Caledonians for not being enthusiastic. I'm considering returning to Aus with or without my Mac.
My next Mac project is to develop a longer dagger board.

Hello fellow Mac owners.
I want to share an event and the results with you.
I sail in a racing group at the local club. This club adheres to the world wide regulations. One of which was to weigh all the competing boats. All removable items had to be cleared from the boat. When my turn came to be lifted by the crane my boat was checked and the domestic water had to be removed but not the ballast. My Mac weight in at 2000kg which did not mean much to me until I learnt the weight of the other boats. To my surprise that not only did I have the smallest boat in the fleet but I had the heaviest boat.
No wonder my Mac sailed like a bathtub. Since then I have experimented on very light days, sailing without the ballast. I knew the risk but I was alone. To my surprise the Mac started to sail like a real boat. It went about without stalling. It felt like it was moving faster judging by the upwind wake. I have since been daring and sailed in stronger winds(15knts). The result was unsatisfactory due to excessive amount of sail (Genoa and Main). Although I could not sail the way I wanted I had to run back with the wind to the harbour. I still had control of the Mac. My next experiment is to change the Genoa to the Jib and a reduced main that I have had made. Although I don't want to admit that I'm using my third dagger board. (I have damaged them on rocks and reefs) As you can imagine I have a collection of mutilated dagger boards. I have started a project of developing a longer dagger board from the bits.
Should the manufacturer read this they will be concerned with my experiments but lets hope they will get the message. In the promotion video it is said that the boat is quick. Quick compered with what ?
So be tuned to read the next episode of the adventures of Sound of Silence.

Roy,
2000 sounds about right. I got 1960 on the trailer (no ballast) with a few basics in the boat (included three 20kg batteries). The weight ballast in, is similar to many other larger TSs if not a bit heavier. With the higher centre of gravity (due to the water ballast in hull rather than lead in keel), they do need more ballast.

Yes, that "fastest" thing in Rogers sales pitch, does sound silly. If it were me, I'd market the boat for what it is rather than asking for trouble with remarks that everyone knows are just a bit funny. LOL. Mind you, maybe he is talking about with the sails down and the motor on... Unfortunately, it seems Tatoo is going to follow Rogers lead with those kind of remarks.

There are a few on the forum who sail with no ballast, and the general consensus seems to be that they are crazy, although they give the impression its nowhere near as bad as the rest of us seem to think. Apparently at least one has had his boat on its side a few times and it isn't hard to get back up. I've passed a number of other trailer sailers and keel boats on a run down the Southport channel and seen some surprised looks. I too want to try it with no ballast, but definitely not game to play like that, when I have my young ones aboard (which is all the time...)

Paul,
Thanks for your answer.
I will be over attending to business at the end of the month.
If you want we could meet and we could try a one day sail without the ballast weather permitting.
My plans are to depart Brisbane 23rd July and head for Maroochy for a few days. I'm not sure where we are saying. My wife attends to those matters, I just hire the car.
Might see you.
Roy P

That would be good but could be a bit hard for two reasons. Firsty, we have some almost no free time issues at the moment, and second, We have taken the mast etc off the boat, which is our winter plan now as we just do day trips in winter in powerboat mode (setting up too much hassle and time consuming for day trips for us).