H26 got beat by Mac Gregor 26

Justin_NSA · Sep 21, 2018

Yes
Macs are under rated

justsomeguy · Sep 21, 2018

Willemvan said:
What went wrong????

4600 lbs compared to 2850?

Jackdaw · Sep 21, 2018

Don't assume this is about the boat's capabilities, and not the sailors.

It does not mean you are a poor sailor. Maybe just not a good racer. Its easy to give away minutes on the race course if you are not racing well vs someone that is.

agprice22 · Sep 21, 2018

When you say you got beat, do you mean you were just heads-up racing? Or were you on a timed course? I would check the phrf for your boats. Maybe you did not do so badly as you think.

Meriachee · Sep 21, 2018

Justin is very right. We used to treat the ballast as "no ballast" in our Mac until it was out of the water. The boat can accelerate like nobody's business if it's upright, and there's virtually nobody that can beat one in a light air tacking duel.

(except this one time a guy with a 26x tried and held up pretty well)

Crazy Dave Condon · Sep 21, 2018

Concur with Jackdaw as knowledge and experience are essential. I was a Hunter and MacGregor dealer. It was difficult who would win given the same level as to experience who would win. In fact taking a new Hunter 26 out of the box racing against a fleet of J 24 sailboats flying spinnakers I would compete and win using stock sails only. Slot had to with experience but other factors include tuning, condition of sails and so forth.
Also due to no backstay on your boat, you have a lot more mainsail than standard. I have heard some say it would be comparative to a standard main and possibly up to a 140 jib.
I concur with Jackdaw that probably you were sailing against a more experienced sailor. I can only assume as I was not there

Bill19233 · Sep 21, 2018

Willemvan said:
Well I got my butted handed to me by a MacGregor 26 yesterday. We were on a port tack and the wind was pretty light he had his 150 Ginny and I had my jib. What went wrong???? When the winds freshened and I seemed to get some more speed ( 5.5 knots)
Does the H26 sail better in heavier air? Was I doing something wrong, should I get a 150 genny, or am I just a poor sailer? Please let me know...... I don't want to hear his gloating for the rest of my life..... thx

I still think that close hauled, a B&R rig is slower than boats the same size that can carry a genoa, in some conditions. There is less overlap and less slot effect that is a force multiplier for the same sail area. Bust off on a reach with outboard sheets on the jib and it's a different story, slot effect is not a factor. The big main will power up and the headstay sag won't matter.

And there's so many other things that can make a difference besides sailing ability. What's underwater on the boats, centerboard? Wing keel? Is either boat water ballast? How many people were on board? Several crew on board can make a big difference, 500 extra pounds on a 26' boat will put you way behind a lighter boat that's not carrying a bunch of junk and full tanks and several cases of beer. And the condition of the bottom of the boat, that can make a huge difference.

Jackdaw · Sep 22, 2018

Bill19233 said:
I still think that close hauled, a B&R rig is slower than boats the same size that can carry a genoa, in some conditions. There is less overlap and less slot effect that is a force multiplier for the same sail area. Bust off on a reach with outboard sheets on the jib and it's a different story, slot effect is not a factor. The big main will power up and the headstay sag won't matter.

And there's so many other things that can make a difference besides sailing ability. What's underwater on the boats, centerboard? Wing keel? Is either boat water ballast? How many people were on board? Several crew on board can make a big difference, 500 extra pounds on a 26' boat will put you way behind a lighter boat that's not carrying a bunch of junk and full tanks and several cases of beer. And the condition of the bottom of the boat, that can make a huge difference.

For equal sa/d, a non overlapping rig is faster and more weatherly. Is why all modern racing sailplans are this design. But difficulty in adjusting rig tension on the b/r can totally factor. Getting the sag right on our jib is key to doing well.

Bill19233 · Sep 22, 2018

Jackdaw said:
For equal sa/d, a non overlapping rig is faster and more weatherly. Is why all modern racing sailplans are this design. But difficulty in adjusting rig tension on the b/r can totally factor. Getting the sag right on our jib is key to doing well.

Yes, you're right, I can see how on a modern racing boat, a jib can be set closer to centerline than a genoa and sail tighter into the wind and is faster. I like your quote in another post about upwind distance is the "coin of the realm" in racing. But, on a twenty year old cruiser with a shallow wing keel, no backstay, and outboard jib tracks that tacks outside of 100 degrees instead of way inside of 90, the overlap may help. When close hauled turns into a close reach, the modern racing boats are putting up code 0's and screechers with an overlap. Now you've got me thinking of trying a barber hauler in light upwind conditions to try to take advantage of the jib.

Crazy Dave Condon · Sep 22, 2018

The original post was about a Hunter 26 water ballast centerboard boat. The design of the boat was for trailerability not for racing. Contrary to what260 v d it is said many have raced competitively and won. The Hunter 270 is the 260 version with wing keel vs. water ballast