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Ok guys, a little help here. We bought a 2002 26x. It is not our first sailboat, or our first power boat, so we are not new to either. I was impressed with the boat, not real fast, but not near as tender as some have said either. We took it into Tampa Bay yesterday, the weather was nice starting out, but gusting to a little over 25 mph by the end of the day. I never felt the need to reef, so I was impressed. HOWEVER........docking this boat was a nightmare. There was NO controling it coming into the dock. The wind just took it where it wanted to. I had the rudders down for aid in control, but that did not help either. I finaly had to yell at some guys on the dock to catch me as I got blown up to it. Got some nice scratches. Any advice for docking this beast?

Did you have the centerboard down while approaching and docking?

In any kind of wind, it is a requirement to have it down for docking, in my opinion.

Yeah, the bottom line is that these things are pretty uncontrollable with the fins up at low speeds, and of course, they are dangerous with the fins down at high speeds. So, you gotta transition the fins, and you gotta do this while the boat is moving slow...

Once you've slowed down to come into the dock, you should be working to drop all three fins... The dagger/center board is even more important than the rudders, since you got 50hp of rudder if need be... But, I always drop all three...

You'll notice that the boat wants to basically pivot on the centerboard. Once you understand this and get the hang of it, you'll be docking like a pro...

No I did not have the center board down when coming to the dock. The water is only about 4 ft deep there. Would this have helped the "sideways" blowing of the boat? I will have to remember this.

Nettech wrote:Would this have helped the "sideways" blowing of the boat?

Please understand that I'm not trying to sound condesending, but that's the whole purpose of a sailboat's keel isn't it?

ON EDIT:
Since the water is shallow, you may not be able to drop the board all the way. Also, since you're not dropping it all the way, its center of effort (or whatever the term is for the keel) is going to be aft of where it is when fully deployed. This might reduce its effectiveness at helping to control the bow. But, it will still be better than nothing and this is just something else that you'll eventually get the "feeling" for...

On an M, the dagger board just goes straight down, so its center of effort doesn't change. But, of course, we gotta be more careful in shallow water, as our board doesn't just rotate back up when it hits something...

Wow, guess I should have thought of that. I just plain flat was thinking stupid. I will remember that.

I learned the same way the first time I tried to dock. The difference is huge. If you were sailing upwind with the CB up you would just get blown sideways. I don't drop it all the way-I use about 1/3 of the line to drop the CB since my dock is shallow.

I have been in really windy conditions with the board and rudder down and still had trouble- there was a current and the wind. I got it on my 3rd try- it required a precisely planned approach with a turn at the exact time to minimize the effect of the current.

This boat isn't easy to dock, but it isn't hard either with the right setup.

Jeff S

yes...the centerboard must be down about half way to improve stability at slow speeds, especially in winds. some on this board recommend using the rudders as well.
however, a 14" prop does help but not all motors can accomodate that size.
also, you will learn to anticipate where and how quickly the front end will move in a big blow around the docks.
the good news...it will get better for you as you familiarize yourself with the boat.

Bob T.
"DaBob"
'02X w/ '04 90 TLDI

We all had to learn this lesson, many of us "the hard way"...

...ditto that, although some if us learned the "west way"

as in, the west epoxy system to fix the damage...

One nice trick you can do on the is to mark the Centreboard line for the "fully out of the trunk" location - you only increase your draft by roughly the centerboard width (about 12 inches) or so, so grounding it isnt usually an issue, but you get the full effect of the centerboard preventing leeway, or wind induced drift. On Catigale,this is about 3 or 4 inches of CB line only!

You dont get the advantage of putting the center of effort at the board though, so practice how the boat handles away from your neighbors in this configuration.

I keep trying to improve my docking ability also, and I've had trouble at the docks also. The Mac X is okay with two folks, one using a "pier hook". The "pier hook" is definately a handy gadget. . My prev. boat, a Mac 26S, handled a little easier with its lower profile and 8 HP engine.
The MacX will slide all over the place without the keel partially down.
MacGregor boats are still the best in versatility.

As already mentioned Nettech, we've all done it. My first attempt at docking next to the mega power boats in my marina (with all fins up of course ) ...I got about 1/4 of the way down my lane toward my slip and a gust blew me 180 degrees around. I ended up coming down backwards. Luckily I had a couple of feet to spare on each side and was able to turn in around again. Needless to say, I had several helpful people running to help me...or were they just worried about me hitting their boats?

We've found that the small plastic 2 step stair set from Walmart that we screwed to the dock to help the kids step aboard also helps get the bow in to the dock against the wind. The Admiral grabs it with the boat hook and I throw a loop around the stern cleat and we both pull. If I can't get the loop on, I just wait til she has a good hold on the step and reverse to pull the stern end in. Our mega power boat neighbours are much more impressed with us now. They don't even look up from their books anymore. They just look up and sneer. Their docking skills are propbably much better than mine, but then I can't be sure because they never leave the slip.

All fins down, if you have the depth.
Use the wind if you can instead of trying to fight it.
If the wind blows the nose around, let it go and back the boat in. Aim the prop on the obm where you want to go. The boat will follow.
The mistake I see most often is coming in too slow, so that you lose your steering.
Practice, with the fins down, in open water, to see how fast you can go without losing control.
Come in a little bit slower than that, turn toward your slip, shift into reverse and give it some gas to stop it. It is a fairly heavy boat when ballasted so prepare to stop soon enough, and you may have to gas it more than you might think to stop it.
I would aim for the finger pier with my bow, at about a 30 degree angle, shift into neutral, aim my prop where I want the stern to go, hit reverse, and the prop would bring the stern to the pier.

The first few times we loaded the X on the trailer we tried it with the centerboard and rudders up...you already know what happened...the boat went everywhere but where we wanted it to.

Jim has since become pretty good at loading....centerboard part way down..when the bow is even with the guides...up comes the centerboard. So far...it works pretty good. If you add a short piece of line to the centerboard line you can have it in your hand while at the wheel and be less apt to forget to yank it up.

We even use a very small amount of centerboard when powering if it is windy...but we seldom travel above 6mph.

This won't work for loading on the trailer, but in other really nasty, windy docking situations I have found approaching the dock in reverse gives you a lot more control. I almost always choose to back into a slip. With all fins down of course. You'll find you have more directional control in reverse when driving into the wind. You can also stop better with a burst of forward power.

The key thing when docking an X is to keep the boat moving so your fins are giving you good control. Creeping into the dock is harder than driving in like you mean it and stopping at the appropriate time.

Practice is the key. Go find an empty dock and spend some time dong it over and over from various angles and wind situations. Once you have a feel for the boat you'll be much more comfortable. Remember, fenders are your friend. Put them to good use.

Also, spend some time learing how to use spring lines. They can be extremely useful when the wind is against you. If you can just get one line to a dock cleat even with the boat at a bad angle you can power against that line and make the boat turn in amazing ways, even against the wind. Learning to use spring lines will make you look like a real pro around the docks.