26S Forestay attachment

kenr74

.
May 3, 2019
46
Magregor 26S Oregon
Hello all,

I'm new to sailboats(that will be obvious shortly). I've had a ton of kayaks but never anything with a motor.

I recently bought a 1995 26S that was supposedly recently and ready to sail. I'm trying to do a dry run in my driveway and can't seem to get past getting the mast set up.

I'm wondering if the mainstay should attach directly to the foredeck fitting or if I am missing a wire adjusting channel. If I push the mast up in place I still have a good 6" gap between the turnbuckle and the fitting. The manual makes it sound like it should attach directly though so I don't know if I'm completely missing something or not.

I have adjusted other wires so they are loose and not holding back the mast.
 

kenr74

.
May 3, 2019
46
Magregor 26S Oregon
I would say so. If I push it as far forward as I can my wife can't get a finger under it. It isn’t flat on the deck but very close.

Should it be flat? I have all other lines loose so I don't know what would be holding it back at all.
 

Sumner

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Jan 31, 2009
5,254
Macgregor & Endeavour 26S and 37 Utah's Canyon Country
How about a picture of what you have at the bottom of the forestay? Is the sail a hank on or a roller furler?

To get adequate tension on the rigging I always had to loosen the turnbuckle a lot. Then pin the forestay and tighten the turnbuckle back to tension the rig.

I added a Johnson lever and now I can pin the forestay and then pull the Johnson lever closed and the rigging is tensioned the same every time and it is much easier to pin the forestay. More here on that install...

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor2/rigging-24.html

Sumner
==============================================================================
1300 miles to The Bahamas and Back in the Mac...
Endeavour 37 Mods...

MacGregor 26-S Mods...http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/endeavour-main/endeavour-index.html
Mac Trips to Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Canada, Florida, Bahamas
 

kenr74

.
May 3, 2019
46
Magregor 26S Oregon
How about a picture of what you have at the bottom of the forestay? Is the sail a hank on or a roller furler?
2019-05-03 16.54.59.jpg


Your website is what finally sold me on the Macgregor.:clap:

So aside from the owners manual and some googling my knowledge is about zero at this point. These are the areas I think may be the issue though. I have about a 6" gap between pictures 1 and 2(disregard the rope attached to the clevis
2019-05-03 16.54.38.jpg
) .
 
Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
What?????? Is that rope to the left of the turnbuckle?
 

kenr74

.
May 3, 2019
46
Magregor 26S Oregon
That was just attached to help pull the mast up. Not part of the rigging.
 
Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
You might entertain new rigging anyway. The condition of the pins in the pictures is poor, to bad. I know that doesn't help to answer the question, but something to consider.

From here, put the mast up, tie it off and take a few pictures of it, and the rigging. It certainly -looks- like what you have is intact, so there's something preventing it from going up, or, something is in the wrong place.
 

Sumner

.
Jan 31, 2009
5,254
Macgregor & Endeavour 26S and 37 Utah's Canyon Country

Does the mast step plate fold all the way down and flat with the mast up?

Above is a picture of ours. It has a different non-folding mast step. The mast hinges on a bolt through the bottom of it that goes through the sides of the mast step. You can also see the gin pole that attaches to the front just during mast raising. More pictures of the mast raising here...

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor/rigging-2.html

With the mast up the forestay tensions the shrouds. If the shrouds are not set to the right length (too short) they could stop you from getting the mast all the way up. Does it still have the vernier adjusters on the shrouds or has someone replaced them with turnbuckles?

You can also unscrew that turnbuckle more but not enough to pick up 6 inches.

Sumner
============================================================================
1300 miles to The Bahamas and Back in the Mac...
Endeavour 37 Mods...
MacGregor 26-S Mods...
Mac Trips to Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Canada, Florida, Bahamas
 
Jun 3, 2004
1,863
Macgregor 25 So. Cal.
Check shrouds for kinks or sometimes they will catch on something and it takes very little to keep the mast from going all the way up be sure the back stay is loose. Your mast step looks like it has bolt marks on the underside.
 

kenr74

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May 3, 2019
46
Magregor 26S Oregon
Ok, just needed some more muscle. I loosened up all the side stays which helped get the mast vertical. Mast step plate now lays flat on the deck and is just short of those bolts mounted through the hull.

It does still have the vernier adjusters on the sides. I need to do some more homework on how tight the side stays should be. I have a couple that are much looser than others at this point but I'm not sure I can adjust them to the next hole with the mast up. None of them are flopping around but a few are guitar string tight.

Next issue is that I have the turnbuckle fully extended on the front stay which is not a great solution. Fully extended it is 10". Does that sound right or maybe I need a longer one? I would be much more comfortable with at least a half inch on each bolt inside the turnbuckle. I've got it roped up right now since the turnbuckle is so far extended.
 
Jul 3, 2017
30
MacGregor 26D Wheatly ON Canada
Is the backstay loose too? It would be hard to connect the forstay if it’s not. It also sounds like you don’t have or didn’t use a Jin pole or other type of mechanical advantage to lift the mast ( you must be young and strong) Without a pulley system I’d never be able to get the tension required. Hope your issue is resolved and your off sailing.
 

kenr74

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May 3, 2019
46
Magregor 26S Oregon
Backstay wasn't attached when I got it so I hooked it up loose to start with then tightened it up once I had the forestay attached.

I'm guessing that the rigging was all off the boat before I bought it then the owner put it on but didn't adjust it. There was no way the mast was going up as it sat. Once I loosened everything it went up easy enough. I do still think I need a longer turnbuckle on the forestay but everything is up and solid now.

No sailing yet. It came with an outboard that needs work so that is in process now. Hopefully in the water this month.
 
Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
Forestay on the 26 is used to support and tension the mast. That adds pre-bend. If there's another Mac around, see how much bend there is in that mast. You'll probably find that the forestay is just fine the way it is.